Unwelcomed Arrival

[cntrstrk14]

The skyline of Otogakure no Sato would not look the same as it had in the past. As the trio would approach, they would be able to see two columns of smoke rising from different areas, signs of the fire that caused them. From high atop the boss summon, one would be able to clearly see the leftovers of battle, kunai stuck in houses, a few bodies and wounded in the streets and small burns and explosion marks left along the rooftops and roads were only a few examples of what they would see. Though there seemed to be no fighting at the moment, there would be a strange sense of urgency. Almost as if the life of the entire village was left on one fragile string. Once within a near enough range of the village however, the three would be approached by a group of four men, all dressed in Otogakure no Sato jounin vests.

The closest to the group was dressed with a tightly bound long sleeve shirt and pants, both black in color. His brown eyes would peer at the group through the long bangs of bleach blond hair that hung in front of them. He carried a single rectangular blade about a foot and a half long horizontally along his back as well as a standard kunai pouch on his left leg. His headband was secured tightly to his forehead.

"I-Identify yourselves!", the man would call upwards towards Raz, obvious that the large toad intimidated him. Even so, none of the group seemed ready to back down from a fight if it came to that.

[Eechi-go]

"Oto…I hope we aren't too late…”

The young man thought, regaining his balance on Gamabunta's head, chakra disconnecting from his slimy skin, allowing him to walk freely. With his hand, he swiftly assisted Korin to an upright position, as he knew she had issues traveling on these types of creatures by now. Once she was up, he gazed upon the scarred Oto, his eyes tracing the roads he had crossed as a child, the convenient store his mother had him run to in order to get dinner for them, up in flames. Each second he gazed at the village, he felt his fond memories burning, He snarled slightly, briskly moving between Gamabunta's eyes, his coat fluttering angrily in the wind.

"I-Identify yourselves!"

A feeble voice called from below, and if Raz hadn't been an Oto-nin, he most likely would have overlooked it. His glance fell down towards the earth, which seemed so far from up atop the Toad King's skull. His arms prepared to fly to his guitars if necessary, but he didn't overreact. He studied their movements, their actions, and their clothing. They wore Otogakurian jounin vests, so they most likely were indeed just that, Oto ninja. He smiled faintly to himself, a sigh of relief as he saw men still stood, before he crossed his arms, looking sternly down at the men, and spoke with a tone of confidence, as if to have them instill their trust in him, as they seemed suspicious of him, and he needed them to lead them to Brash.

"I am Kinsen Rasen, deemed the Divine Wind of Otogakure no Sato by the Gobi of Kusagakure no Sato. I am here to reclaim my home. Is Resumo Brash okay? What‘s the situation on the battlefield?”

Gamabunta remained silent, simply standing there, a smug expression over his froggy lips, before letting a puff of smoke rise from his frog clan pipe.

[cntrstrk14]

The man seemed to consider the trio for a moment, but the mention of Brash had seemed to sway his disposition. Looking at the boss summon as well as the panda, the man would nod.

"The situation is... complicated. I think it would be best if you reported directly to Brash yourself. The enemy is using tactics and techniques we have never seen before. Brash was last seen near the Kage's Tower, he's been directing the movement from there despite he want to fight himself.", the man said, looking towards the three, and almost as an afterthought he would speak again.

"I hope you don't plan on stomping through the village on top of that.. um... summon.", the man said, stumbling across what exactly to call the gigantic monstrosity that was Gamabunta.

ooc: Part I; Get to the Tower

- Move towards the tower on foot.

- 3000 word minimum total; Maximum words that count towards word total in a single post is 400. No double posting. Wait for a post from me after everyone has posted.

- Post your speed, evasion and taijutsu modifiers along with a d100 roll after every post you make.

[Cho Hakkai]

Hakkai's chakra level was normal enough to be able to withstand using his cloud. He floated towards the ground as he zipped through the fields towards the smoke that he could see. The fight, Hakkai thought, was over. At least, in Oto. But the smoke made Hakkai think otherwise. He needed to get this village back. The NCIA falling was only part one of his debt. He owed the Kyoukage this. She protected him in his time of need, now it's time to repay her.

He had caught up with the toad summon and was trailing a bit behind, but once the toad stopped Hakkai managed to catch up. The man asked who they were. Raz had said who he was and Hakkai said, "I am Cho Hakkai. Deemed Cho Hakkai by… people." Hakkai then pointed to the Otogakure no Sato headband, covered in blood and scuffed, but the stiched kanji of Lightning showed brightly against the sage green sash. He looked at their vests, showing their rank being Jounin. Hakkai became slightly envious of the four men. Hakkai was still a gennin and hadn't been able to receive any form of vest through the years. Then again, there wasn't any time where he could be promoted. Looking up at Raz he saw that even his student had obtained a vest. Where he had gotten it from Hakkai didn't know, but nonetheless he owned one.

A chill ran up Hakkai's back. Not having a shirt of any kind made him feel a tad bit uncomfortable.

After hearing the situation, Hakkai looked at Raz and Korin and the back at the man that spoke. The village wasn't in great shape. It lacked the luster it had before the war. Though Hakkai didn't expect much especially with the fact that Oto has been under NCIA rule since the invasion. Maybe the fight would be easier now that the organization fell along with its ruler. Maybe it would be harder. Only time could tell us what would happen.

Hakkai dispersed his cloud and stood on his own to legs, about a foot apart from each other. His body hurt still from the battle he had. The last couple weeks seemed to be fight after fight after fight. He hadn't gotten the chance to get much sleep either. He was tired but his heart continued to burn on to fight for his village. They had taken him in after that night and he had so many people die for the sake of the village. No backing down.

Hakkai looked at the man and asked him a simple question. "Is there any information about what we are to expect before we head out?”

(448)

[(Taijustu) 250 | (Speed) 800 Not sure what you meant by modifier | (Speed) 400 | Dice Roll 30]

[Eechi-go]

Complicated? How complicated could it be? It seemed fairly simple at a glance, a crazed general was searching for power over Oto. Of course, Raz took his word for this, as he was likely more in tune with the situation then himself. His eyes glanced to Oto, and out from the center of the city, the Kyoukage's tower stood erect, proud, and firm. That was their goal, and so, they'd set out that way in order to purge the village of it's invaders.

Raz's eye cocked an eyebrow at the cowardly jounin who made praises to kami that he wouldn't storm the village with Gamabunta. Indeed, it'd be a foolish idea. They were supposed to save the village, not obliterate it. Raz only hoped that the toad's help would not need to be called upon once more in order to free the village. Gamabunta's eyes rolled up at Raz, which looked oddly eerie from their current position, before blowing smoke out of his lungs.

"You three go on ahead, there's not much more I could help you with anyway.”

Raz smiled slightly, a tiny chuckle coming from his throat, as he nodded in agreement. Though Gamabunta stood strong, he was still beginning to get old, and no longer could he fight for hours at a time. The boy understood this; while with age, a man grew in wisdom, where he lost in durability.

"Yes, Gamabunta-san. Go home and rest, you've earned it. Tell Gamakichi that he can visit whenever he likes.”

A low grumble of a laugh, before Gamabunta nodded, indeed, that he would. A giant puff of smoke blew into the air, before Raz and Korin would find themselves in front of the ninja squad. He brushed off a bit of dirt that had begun to show through his pants, before nodding to the men, prepared to take his journey onward. As he took a step, he felt the horrid plague of exhaustion begin to creep up on him again, almost enough to bring him to his knees. He stood strong though, telling his body that he'd just need to endure a little longer, just a little bit more…

Hakkai asked for a bit more information on what they'd need to know, but Raz just assumed that there wasn't much more to know until they had achieved entering the Kyoukage's tower. After all, it was complicated, was it not? The sound of air sifting through the rice fields brought a calm to his mind, a center of being, where he'd focus his chakra. Rice and wind became one, here on this battlefield. With a few steps, they were off to the tower.

446 Words

400 Total

Taijutsu Modifier; 25

Evasion Modifier; 400

Speed; 1000

Rolled; 91

Edited November 9, 2008 by Eechi-go

[Cloudnine]

Arriving in Oto, Korin sat in an anemic daze. If the factor of time wasn't involved, she really would have preferred Shiretsu to carry her to the Rice country. Gamabunta's single bounds wasn't kind on her severely empty stomach. She was already lightheaded from hunger, but to have the world whiz by in a matter of seconds [to her] added an unshakable nausea that ironically prevented her from thinking of eating. Her arms were shaking from clinging onto Gamabunta. Did she even look the part of a jounin? A revolutionary who downed the Raikage- a risen figure on the face of history? Scarcely.

Raz had offered her a hand, and the girl thankfully obliged. Korin veered, wobbled a bit as she stood. She looked down, down [not in her best interest] to the… ground and her head spun. A voice echoed around until it hit her ears with a groggy reception as she focused on the owner. From the way he stood, his voice, and what she'd felt as she lightly picked at his mind before he spoke, the revolt in Otogakure is long, shorthanded. Identify themselves? Korin let Raz and Hakkai go before her… she had to think of something to say. For the sake of time, she'd have to shrink her back story, but how much could be taken out? Surely the ‘I'm the girl who helped blow these two sound-nin up' part of her history should be excluded for this circumstance. Honesty was an issue with her, but it wasn't a lie if she simply didn't mention it- doing so was not to bend the truth.

"Haramatsu Korin of Kusagakure,” she called down, hopefully loud enough for the people below to hear. Her voice didn't project well, and it was expected if the shinobi of Otogakure below could only hear the harsher accents of her name. [Well, this was sound-nin she was addressing, and it did influence how much effort she put into saying her own name with clarity.]

She gazed out into the village's expanse. The place bore scars of struggle like all the other villages must have by now. Korin frowned. Warfare was such a bad state. Averting her eyes to the path behind them, she estimated Shiretsu to arrive within the next hour. She hoped the bear would have the sense to lurk outside the gates and avoid drawing attention; the last thing Korin wanted was to have a polar bear lugging a dead body to try and seek her in the heart of Oto. Korin found herself on solid ground again as Gamabunta vanished. Still a little unsteady, she set her sights on the tower the man pointed out.

--

446 [Coincidence. xD?]

Taijutsu: 8o

Evasion: 164o

Speed: 9oo

Roll: 54

[Khaos]

As Nidori neared the village, he noticed, as expected, that all wasn’t well in oto. Watching the two columns of smoke touch the sky indicated fire. Looking lower he noticed a rather large beast, as his eyes focused, he came to realise it was a toad; no less than the almost instantly recognisable Gamabunta of legend. This potentially made matters even worse if he was summoned by NCIA operatives; though it dawned on him that he knew nothing of the two sound-nin’s abilities, or whoever else that’d travelled from the capital with them, it could have possibly been a friendly summon which would be quite reassuring of the outcome of the ensuing battle.

He reached the entrance of the village and was stopped in his tracks once he acknowledged the image of his home, burning, broken; it instilled him a desire that he have only wished to utilise during the climax of the main revolt. While looking at his surroundings; memories of a proud village fractured, he heard formal words being spoken, and others he could not quite make out from his position; at that point he knew the others had arrived. He listened in concentrating on the direction it was coming from, believing that they would only be his orders also so he wouldn’t have to go through a separate long winded dialogue with whoever was speaking to them. For those moments he ignored the gigantic amphibian before him, not realising he would walk into it if he walked in the same direction for a little further. He only noticed it once a cloud of smoke enveloped the immediate area; holding his breath Nidori took up a fighting stance, not sure of what was going on. Ambush?! he stayed silent as to keep his position unknown as he dashed to the side. Not five seconds later did the smoke disperse into the air, calming the ninja down as he saw Hakkai, as shirtless as he left him, with two others speaking to what appeared to be native jounin he heard not long beforehand.

Not really the time ot be jumpy... or whatever that was...

It didn’t take long to recognise the other two, one obviously being Rasen and the other being an ex-member of the NCIA hunter ninja squadron he briefly was a part of. He couldn’t recall her name but if he got a decent lengthy look at her face, he’d know.

He strode towards them, stopping six feet away, he wasn’t sure if they knew he was behind them but even if they did, they probably were ignoring him anyway.

He forced a cough, for acknowledge of his presence then spoke, offering his name in anticipation of the question; Kazuo Nidori. I’ll make my to the tower also. How many are we up against?

~~~

Word Count: 467

Total Word Count: 400

Taijutsu Mod: 25

Evasion Mod: 250

Speed: 1250

Roll: 2 ((I hope that's a good thing...>.<))

Edited November 9, 2008 by Khaos

[cntrstrk14]

"The village is... not as it seems...", the man said, turning back to look towards his team of three they all seemed to give a look of equal lack of information.

"I really don't know how to explain it, it would be best if you traveled towards the tower yourself. We have been assigned border patrol and were forbidden to enter the village walls. There isn't much else I can say or even know."

ooc: Bumped to 4000 words for the 4 of you combined. Nothing happens otherwise. Keep rolling after each post.

[Cho Hakkai]

Hakkai's head turned quickly and sharply at the voice behind them. There he was, the real him. Kazuo Nidori. He had come along after all. Hakkai respect his decision though he'd prefer that he had gotten the hint that they didn't want him to tag along.

Hakkai looked at him in an awkward kind of staring fashion. A small form of rage was burning within his body. The more Hakkai saw of Nidori the more he just wanted to take him out. Raz wouldn't be against it and since Korin wasn't a member of Hakumei anymore, Hakkai was almost positive that she also didn't care. Just the thought of how he was set on fire made Hakkai feel warm. Really warm…It was an awkward kind of warm and it didn't cease.

However, Hakkai's rage made him not realize he was feeling a tad bit warm. A pain did come about his body. A sharp and quick one on his right bicep. Hakkai winced and grunted at the pain, taking his left hand and holding the place where it hurt. Hakkai lifted his hand almost a split second to wonder why his arm had hurt so much. Hakkai's eyes opened realizing what was hurting.

Turning around, away from Nidori, Hakkai looked at his right bicep seeing his cursed seal. The black ink that was the mark had fully appeared, with the head of the dragon closing its jaw on Hakkai's upper arm. Of course it would look weird that Hakkai had suddenly sprung a tattoo out of nowhere, but Raz would be the only one who knew for sure what this could be. Nidori wouldn't know, he couldn't have. Korin, if Raz's cursed seal opened in front of her, would have most definitely had an idea of what it was. The eye of the dragon seemed to be looking at Hakkai and it seemed to be smiling. Hakkai, however, figured he was just growing crazy. The Gobi wouldn't be making the seal mock Hakkai. Or he could. The Gobi was a douche bag like that.

Hakkai closed his eyes and took a deep breath. In through the nose and out through the mouth. He wanted to suppress his rage as much as he could. He had no idea what would happen if the seal activated except that he'd be in horrible pain and something would go horrible wrong. Hakkai put Nidori in the back of his mind. Even though he didn't enjoy him being here, there was nothing he could do about it. The more help they had the more chances they could free Oto.

Hakkai sighed and returned to a smile as he looked at Raz and Korin and then at the four men in front of them. Nodding, he said, "Thank you men. You are doing an absolute amazing job protecting the village. It is truly an honor to fight alongside men of your dedication and power."

Hakkai then stretched, his ink still fading away quite gradually now, and let out a yawn. When he finished, he looked at Raz and Korin and said, "Let's go. Brash needs us and we can't let him wait.” Hakkai then jumped over the men that were in front of him and began to run, his left hand firmly grasped onto his sword should they encounter anything along the way to the Kyoukage tower.

His right arm twitched and the ink began to succeed back into his arm. The mark became again a series of four marks that stuck out like an "X" with what seemed to be small licks of flame. Hakkai was worried for his life and the ones of his comrades.

611 words

2418/4000 words total.

33

Edited November 11, 2008 by Cho Hakkai

[Eechi-go]

A cough, and Raz's head turned slightly to the newcomer. Of course he followed, why did he believe he wouldn't? His eyes sharpened as he glared at him, before quickly snapping his head forward, back towards the village. He hadn't a thing more to say to him, nor would he even want to at this point. One could argue that, because Korin was once on Hakumei, he could forgive Nidori for the same act. However, that wasn't at all why he forgave Korin. The girl had risked her life in order to protect him, a total stranger, by going against the commands of her superior. Nidori mercilessly attempted to slaughter Hakkai, and had no qualms of doing it, even raiding his would-be corpse afterwards for loot.

For now, he'd ignore the bother, since Oto's restoration was the boy's number one concern. Instead of turning his head every few seconds to see what the man was up to, Raz would place his attention in the wind, his ears picking up every sound that would break it. If the man had made any suspicious moves, he'd know about it. This also helped him create a ‘radar' of sorts in case they were to be attacked on their way to the tower.

Hakkai's seal had been revealed to Raz now, and it looked a bit different then it had back in Kusa. A throb went through his spine, causing his own hand to absentmindedly slide to his neck, his fingers gently running along the seal and kanji. He was terrified of these seals, not because of it's power, or the Gobi, he was afraid of harming the few people he loved the most. When the seal had almost broken in fang, Raz felt his other half's intense lust and hatred. He had assumed that, with the cursed seal, his extremes were now divided upon his curse. His love and happiness lay in the realm of his normalcy, which his lust, anger, and bravado began to feed into the seal. However, he was lucky; Korin acted as a barrier, a method of keeping the seal under wraps. He feared the day that she may run into harm, and the barrier might finally break. He'd keep her safe though, this is why he trained so hard in the first place.

He quickly jammed his hands into his pockets, chakra flaring up around him, as he nodded to Hakkai, Korin, and the men. And with a push off the ground, he flew forward, into the streets of Oto, gazing at the wreck of once was a proud, close-knit village.

"Let's get going!”

436 Words

800 Total

Rolled; 73

[cntrstrk14]

As the group would pass the walled barricade that surrounded the entire village, they would notice that it was eerily quiet despite the fact that they were passing through the market in mid day. In fact, not a soul was around as if the entire village had been completely deserted.

Suddenly, Hakkai would disappear from Raz, Korin and Nidori's view.

From the point of view of Hakkai, he would be walking in the deserted village one moment, and the next they had taken a step and the entire air would rip open with the sounds of battle. His friends had vanaished, and all around him the same village that had been empty only a moment before was being ripped and fought over. The skirmish seemed to be centered directly where Hakkai stood, and even the village and buildings around him were in much worse condition than they appeared to earlier, some reduced to mere rubble. Men in Otogakure vest and others in what appeared to be gray vests bearing no NCIA logo on them fought, there was something odd about the men in gray vest, but there was no time to tell what.

Two kunai would fly towards Hakkai's chest, hopefully he could gain his bearings in the situation he suddenly found himself in.

[25% chance to hit each]

[15 damage each]

[Please keep track of your HP from now on]

[Hakkai's word count from here no longer counts towards the 4000]

[Cho Hakkai]

26

17

Hakkai entered the village. Creepy it was. No sound. No life. Just an awkward silence as nothing happened other than the breathing of the people around him. Hakkai felt sick. Why was the village so quiet? Is this what happens in the aftermath of a battle? But where was the stench of blood and decaying bodies? Hakkai stopped in his tracks to look around but he saw nothing that was that unusual.

He walked into a direction viewing his surrounds. What was going on? Looking down and towards the group he realized that the people he had entered with were gone and now he was all alone. Hakkai's eyes opened wide. He worried for what was about to happen.

Blink…

In the blink of an eye, his was surrounded with battle. Oto ninja against a weird foe. The buildings no longer had their normal appeal but instead some were now in ruin and some were obviously scarred from the battle. But where did this battle come from? Why did he come in the middle of it? Damn these questions.

A wizzing sound caught Hakkai's attention as he moved to the side. Woosh, a kunai zipped by his head. But another kunai cut his left bicep. Hakkai turned around and yelled, "What the hell is going on?” Confusion was climbing into Hakkai's mind like a rabbit into its hole running from an enemy, quickly and it was staying there.

850-15=835 health left.

1297 words total.

Edited November 11, 2008 by Cho Hakkai

[Khaos]

As the two Oto jounin relinquished what little information they could Nidori felt an air of dissatisfaction run through his body. Initially thinking there was something odd about what they said but shoving that to the back of his mind once he looked at the trio who had arrived before him. Their varying stares seemed to pierce through him, however briefly.

Awkward...

The young man stood there as though they expected something of him. He didn’t take long before settling on what his plan of action would be through this excursion – at least till they arrived at the tower. Just don’t. It would be what he would have to remind himself about every time he felt the need to socialise with any of the three. It was clear that they were not on good terms; that was an exceptional understatement. He would just focus on the task at hand since it would be the quickest way to achieve anything. Complications between the four of them centred on him would not help the situation.

Before his gaze left them, he noticed the two boys, Hakkai and Rasen, hold particular body parts in quick succession, though the only thing he felt was odd at the time was that they both seemed to wince or appear startled; he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he knew, Just don’t. He didn’t need to know presently so he wouldn’t ask.

Taking steps through the village’s barricades, Nidori turned his head, nodding to the men in thanks for what they did contribute. He turned round into an atmosphere that seemed to be entirely different from the image of Oto he’d been living with up until then. The once solemnly buzzing streets were now reduced a condition worse than those found in the slums of the empire capital. A shiver travelled through Nidori’s body as he knew that the four had entered unfamiliar territory, regardless of whether it was the majority’s home or not.

Walking further, it seemed everyone was keeping a similar pace, not completely slow, but definitely cautious of their surroundings. As Nidori was trailing the others, for obvious reasons, he took it upon himself to watch the rear. Regardless of whether the other trusted him with their lives, he was sure they’d trust him enough to not allow for an ambush; if not for them, but at least to not put him in a difficult situation.

Turning forward every few seconds, Nidori was shocked by the third time he glimpsed ahead that one of them were missing. He instantly realised it was Hakkai and promptly checked if he had gone on ahead as a scout. No luck; he was nowhere to be seen, there hadn’t even been a sound to indicate his disappearance. He looked towards the other two, for reactions; but it had quickly become apparent that, given the two cents they had each put in after the conclusion of the toppling of the Raikage; he may have found himself now in more danger than when Hakkai was present. On top of that and the puzzlement of the whereabouts of Hakkai, it had become all too apparent that the mission had only got started

Things had become complicated.

~~~

Word Count: 537

Total Word Count: 800

Health: 1000

Taijutsu Mod: 25

Evasion Mod: 250

Speed: 1250

Roll: 84

Edited November 12, 2008 by Khaos

[Cloudnine]

Korin put her good foot forwards, her stride weary and hardly definitive. She lacked the presence- the eminence of a cause and an air of confident righteousness- rather than being the harbinger of liberation, the girl’s slump looked like she was taking a final stroll to the gallows… or something. But her shoulders stiffened as she noted the presence of another Oto-nin, most likely the one Hakkai and Raz had encountered in Fang. So it is you. In the medical tent, Raz had appeared distracted; Korin took the opening to peek into his mind a little… only to the extent to tap into the timbre of this voice.

Memories flashed before her eyes in rapid succession. The girl’s frosted gaze drifted towards where Kazuo Nidori stood, but she didn’t turn to face him. The ache in her chest was constricting. Had it not been for her determination to keep her composure, the anxiety would have left her gasping for air like fish out of water. She could feel it coming- that stupid, inconvenient piece of compassion that just twisted her heart until it hurt. It wasn’t anger anymore, but a tearful ‘why?’ Perhaps she was expected to show more empathy towards Nidori- a common ground between one traitor to another, but the camaraderie hardly registered. He’d betrayed her, hadn’t he? Killed his old Sound teammates, killed their teammates… razed the City of Tin in wicked pursuit of the few escaping Hakumei. And she made it… made it to Fang in a heap, bawling on the dirty doormat of the NCIA headquarters lobby. Yet in the end, Nidori was no more traitor than she was. It was just her perspective angling the situation to play against his favor.

This was no place to start a scene. It was frustrating, tearing up the corners of her eyes. Her fists were clenched beneath the gauze- the purpley-red and blistered burns cracked on her now leathery hands. There was nothing she could do- no way to win back her piece of mind, a resolution to the lives of Senuskai Kirro and Nirobi Taj, the lost souls of Tin, the lasting burns on the lives he’d incinerated. She turned away, dabbing at her drippy eyes with bandaged and grubby paws, dealing with her own… demons, so to speak.

No, she finally decided, for now there will be no revenge, no further acknowledgement of his presence. As her vision cleared, Hakkai was out of sight.

409

Total: 855

-

HP: 1000

Roll: 69

Edited November 12, 2008 by Bifröst

[cntrstrk14]

ooc: I was waiting for Eechi to post, I guess if he doesn't post today I will make something happen. Just as a heads up though, for everyone except Hakkai, nothing else is going on there. He just disappeared.

[Eechi-go]

The sound of light material pressing against the rooftops for half a second, every five seconds or so, filled Raz's ears. Swiftly the platoon of shinobi made their way towards the tower of the Kyoukage, a place he had never step foot in. If the Kumo war would have sparked a week later, perhaps he would have gotten a chance to do so, but alas, his graduation day from the academy was interrupted, and a slew of memories in which he wasn't very fond with hit him like a brick. He had completely lost focus; his body just pushing him forward near robotically. It's not like it was too dangerous, as he knew Oto like the back of his hand, but he was liable to get into trouble if they were ambushed, which he had to remind himself.

It was the haunting replay of the invasion the Gobi put him under that boggled his brain at the moment. It all slowly began to flow back out of his head. The invasion, the screaming, the death…they just couldn't all reach the shelters in time. Of course, this was nothing compared to what Raz considered as his greatest failure to this day. He allowed a cornered child to be murdered in cold blood by a ninja who had a vendetta against his clan. Raz tried to save him before the final blow was struck, the sobbing, small child cowering in fear as the man swooped in for the kill. He was a genin fresh out of the academy at that point, and there wasn't a thing he could do but toss shuriken weakly at the experienced jounin, before he was quickly knocked out. Of course, not before he watched the child die right before his eyes, and right before help came to save him. Why couldn't they appear but a few seconds earlier? Raz would have rather the other child saved then himself, he found it difficult to live with the guilt of being totally helpless, as well as useless.

His cursed seal ached, as his body found the strength to push himself faster, far faster then he was normally capable of without the help of jutsu. His face contorted in anger, trying to hide it from his comrades by glancing down at the street. Perhaps it was the adrenaline from his nightmare, or maybe the seal had begun to crack once more. He burst forward, before noticing Hakkai had completely disappeared from his view. His feet slammed down in the Oto streets, skidding several yards ahead, before quickly jerking his body around, his eyes quickly scanning for Hakkai. Dammit, they were so close to the tower too.

"Hakkai!?”

444 Words

1200 Total

Rolled; 12

Edited November 18, 2008 by Eechi-go

[cntrstrk14]

"You're friend has fallen victim, like the rest of the village.”, a raspy voice would call from in front of the group. Upon looking the group would see a single black crow amongst the otherwise abandoned stretch of street.

"Little does anyone but the one with the cross know, and little still does he know.”, the crow would say, his black eyes looking up almost inquisitively at the group. He hopped a few times towards them, twisting his head quickly side to side. Had he not just spoken he would appear to be nothing more than just another bird.

-----

A horn would sound from the distance, a large cry would rise up and the men in gray vests would turn and retreat, each of them flickering and instantly disengaging the enemy one by one. As they disappeared the Otogakure ninja that had been fighting them seemed to not bother to give chance, instead working to heal the wounded and get those who had fallen out of the way of danger. As of yet, no one had seemed to take much not of Hakkai, nor did they seem to fear his appearance. They merely moved around him as if he had been there the entire time.

The mountains in the east seemed a bit further than normal, though it may have been some trick of the weather. A strong wind blew across the village towards the west off of the mountains, and it seemed as if it was near raining with dim lighting though the sun was in the sky and there was barely a cloud in the air. The few clouds that were there would slowly move towards the mountains, almost as if they were drawn away from the village itself, or possibly fleeing from it.

[Cho Hakkai]

Hakkai looked around at his surroundings. The battle was dispersing. What was going on? First Hakkai waits forever to get back into his home country else face persecution and possible execution. Hakkai sighed. Apparently he fit into this setting quite well to the point where no one was noticing him.

The wind came across Hakkai's bare back. He shivered as the cold ran up and down his spine like a small mouse. Damn it he wanted a shirt. He eased his tension up as the wind died down. This area seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He took his hand off of his sword and allowed it to just dangle at his side.

He looked left. He looked right.

He didn't recognize any of these Oto ninja. Hakkai placed his hands into his face and rubbed his face while sighing again. Nothing was making sense. First, he was with his friends and Nidori and now he's all by himself and a fight just broke out and stopped in just the same blink of an eye. Hakkai didn't enjoy what was going on. Was he trapped in a Genjustu? Could the Gobi be doing this?

Hakkai figured that the Gobi couldn't be doing this. He didn't have that much control over him to mess with his mind to the point where he was like this. Maybe inside the temple where he resides or the forest, but in another country… It seems very unlikely.

Hakkai decided that no matter what this was, he needed to at least find out what just happened. Maybe even more. Hakkai looked around and then ran towards a male oto ninja and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me,” Hakkai asked. "What just happened? Why was there a fight? Where are we? And if you don't mind, what year are we in?”

1608 words

[cntrstrk14]

The man would turn to face Hakkai, his brown hair sticking out from the side of the headband that was wrapped multiple times around his skull. His indistinct hazel eyes looked over the man for a moment before replying to his slew of questions.

"Its spring of 2110, or at least it was this morning. I'm not really sure what happened myself. We were fighting in the village and it had seemed that we were just at the point to take control of the village. Brash-sensei had moved ahead with a group of four towards the tower and we were charged with securing the surrounding grounds. What you see here is all that we have, there are only about twenty of us in all. Including the task force with Brash and the perimeter guard there was only about forty people in the entire raid. Its been hours since then and we can't seem to find anyone. Its as if everyone vanished, and whats worse is that we keep getting attacked by these ninja in the gray uniforms. They are strange though...", he said all this while others moved about preparing around them, a strange feeling of unease stirring amongst those still standing. Of the twenty three people in the immediate area, seven were wounded to the point of disability, leaving sixteen that were able to fight. From their uniforms it could be told that at least two of the sixteen were trained medical ninja, and they were more than likely not trained or charged for combat. The brown haired man would run a hand over his head, the black headband he wore dampened on one side as if it was covering a wound. Along the right arm the man wore an brace on his forearm, two metal wheels protruding off of it and what appeared to be another piece of metal arced over them. It was a strange device to say the least.

"My name is Raeyn by the way, yours?"

[Cho Hakkai]

Hakkai listened intently to what the man had said. Surprisingly, he didn't react as if Hakkai were mad. A good thing in all truth. He had thought that maybe he was attacked and hit on the head so he was in a flash back and he was having one of those out of body experiences. This isn't a flashback, at least to the point where Hakkai recognized where he was. This man he had spoken too had no knowledge as to what was going on, but it was apparent that Hakkai actually existed in this place where he was. No, he wasn't a ghost and this felt pretty real. If Hakkai were in a genjustu, then he would have known something to be off by now.

Hakkai sighed and rubbed the back of his head as he tried to figure out what was going on. These people didn't even know who the ninja in grey vests were. Such a large amount of ignorant people, fighting something they know nothing about with several wounded and only two medical ninjas. The odds weren't very good Hakkai thought to himself.

And then the man before him introduced himself as Raeyn. He seemed like a good man and Hakkai remembered that he had forgotten his manners. "Oh, I'm sorry,” Hakkai said bowing to his fellow Oto ninja. Raising his head and torso up, he smiled at the man and said, "I am Cho Hakkai.”

Hakkai had taken notice to the weird invention the man had on his arm. Hakkai wondered what was inside it and what it could be used for. Was a sound amplifier? Hakkai decided to no longer gawk at the brace and went back to looking at Raeyn.

287

1895

[Eechi-go]

".:Fuuton; Kaze Shuriken :."

[Wind Release; Wind Shuriken]

The instant the voice had become apparent to the team of ninja, three shuriken composed of hyper compressed wind formed between his fingers in both hands. The sound of what seemed to be similar to a buzz saw spinning would echo through the streets. Poised to kill, Raz was just about to lash out at anyone who approached them. After all, Hakkai had already been snatched up, obviously, and he wanted to ensure that an attempted ambush would fail. Of course, he wouldn't toss the shuriken wildly, as he had learned by now that the ‘kill first, ask questions later' method always failed to work. His eyes fell upon the crow that had called upon the ninja. His eyebrow cocked, his head tilted, as he observed the feathered creature. Raz had begun to believe that he was being stalked by magical, extraordinary animals. He once had a squirrel teach him ninjutsu, and took orders from a bear. Now a crow was spouting mysterious, cryptic shit at the group.

He'd never eat anything that came from Kusa ever again.

He kept himself armed with the shuriken, just incase it had attempted to attack them anyway. Better safe then sorry, after all. Raz grew angry at this bird; it knew what happened to Hakkai, and it was just blowing smoke up their ass.

"Don't bullshit with us, what are you anyway? Where'd Hakkai go?”

The only message the bird replied with spoke of a man with a cross, and even his understanding was limited. A cross…how familiar that seemed. His eyes closed for a moment, searching through the bowels of his mind in an attempt to find some form of similarity that would allow him to connect the item with a person. He thought back to shortly after he and Hakkai were released from the hospital from their fatal injuries, and running across Brash, who seemed to be wearing a cross while he was asleep on a tree. His eyes flew open, and he exclaimed.

"Brash, right? Well, we're on our way there now, so if you don't mind…”

Korin would feel a bit of movement within her torso, somewhat. The sound of a muffled chirp seemed to echo in her chest, before a tiny, inhuman head poked from out of her cleavage. It was colored like the sky, nearly transparent, as it happily chirped away at it's master. It was the guardian bird Raz had created for her earlier, and it had hidden itself within her jounin vest during the battle against the Raikage. The crow had caused it to pop up, and even Raz had forgotten it existed at this point.

457 Words

1600 Total

Rolled; 23

[cntrstrk14]

"Cho Hakkai? I've heard your name before, you were a member of VAK before the headquarter raid, weren't you? You probably haven't heard of me, but I was a secret operative under Brash's command during that time. It was such a tragedy, I warned Brash that putting so much freedom on those green genin was a mistake. I would never say it to him though, he's been taking it out on himself enough...", Raeyn would say quietly as he looked the man over a second time now that he had heard his name. There was an eerie silence in the village. Now that the fighting had come to a complete stop Hakkai would notice just how empty and quiet this version of Otogakure no Sato was as well. There seemed to be no life aside the jounin fighters in his immediate area.

-----

The crow, looking at Raz with his large black eyes would tilt his head back and forth as if inspecting the man. Hopping forward a few steps closer he would peck the ground twice, look back up and twitch sideways, looking at Korin now as the bird emerged from her vest. Another moment would pass as the bird stood motionless and then hopped two more spaces closer to them, it's eyes now focused on the bird, then the ground for a single brief peck, then the bird again. Finally it would lift up its beak and speak.

"Caw!"

[Khaos]

Nidori, while puzzled was trying to keep a clear head. He wasn't sure what to make of the situation; what if Hakkai had been picked off? They were no matter how it seemed like home, in unfamiliar territory. There was no doubt most would be on edge in the given situation and it was no different. It was especially visible on Rasen's face and body language. From when he stopped mid dash upon realising hakkai's disappearance to the way he called his name. From this, Nidori could somewhat tell the nature of their relationship.

Before he could think any further on the matter, an unfamiliar voice began to address the three. Instantly looking towards the source, Nidori was almost certain he was not the only one seeing a crow...speaking. There was no time to explore the likelihood of the experience being real or not; what the crow said was more intriguing.

Victim?! To what?

It spoke again, in what Nidori could only describe as riddles. He looked towards the other two, his eyes widening as he noticed Rasen had performed a wind ninjutsu, poised to strike. He's too jumpy; though right now, I understand why. While not as obvious as the other Oto nin, Nidori readied his own attack, allowing his chakra to flow through his melody arm in case he would need it without warning.

”Brash, right?...” he heard Rasen reply. It was quite clear that the bird would be of little use, it seemed to be there only as a messenger and so had already served its purpose. Nidori figured Rasen was probably right in his assumption that the crow was referring to Brash. If anyone was to have an idea of what was going on, they could only have hoped it'd be him. The only problem was how much he knew. The crow seemed to suggest that while Brash wasn't completely in the dark, there was a significant amount he was ignorant to. They would have to just continue their approach to the tower.

As Nidori was about to resume, he noticed; and was probably the last one to do so, another noise; coming from within the trio. He looked towards Korin as it originated from her. Raising an eyebrow, as he looked towards what appeared to be another bird poking out from her vest he was about to comment; No...just don't. He, in part, wondered whether he'd have a bird popping out of his hood soon enough. He subtly raised his hood over his head just in case...

~~~

Word Count: 511

Total Word Count: 1200

Team Total: 4400/4000

Health: 1000

Taijutsu Mod: 25

Evasion Mod: 250

Speed: 1250

Roll: 89

[Cloudnine]

Startled by Hakkai's disappearance, Korin probed the area for any signs of illusions. Of course, the fact that Hakkai was physically not there wasn't any Genjutsu, but there was a chance someone had put a Genjutsu on the remaining three to hide Hakkai from them. Korin had a jutsu similar to her theory but the chance she could get caught in an illusion like this was quite unlikely. She attempted a dispel off herself; nothing. Her eyes searched the scenery- illusions carried minor flaws, or lacked the far-off details genuine sight had. The hairs on her neck rose. It was bad enough she was on unfamiliar ground- it was the… first time she'd encountered this disadvantage in a while. The bleakness of Otogakure and the situation was getting to her. It was disquieting, eerie.

She was trying to keep her actions in check. It was just an unshakeable sense of dread, and disregarding Hakkai's disappearance, nothing had happened. Their paces ground to a halt. A voice abruptly crackled into the air from her feet, and the girl's unsettled eyes rapidly wrenched towards the black bird. Raz had taken precautionary measures, forging shuriken from wind. As the bird spoke, Korin followed Raz's actions and fished for a handful of needles from her vest pocket. Orbs of deep purple were on one end of all the needles. Korin cupped them gently, letting a forceful burst of chakra scatter them. There was a faint sound of raining metal as the needles quickly embedded themselves into… quite a large radius around the trio. At the cost of her awareness, she could keep watch over the place. Her vision was a kaleidoscope of all the little purple orbs- bug eyes. Unless an assailant was… invisible or something unthinkable, he had little chance of approaching them without being in plain sight.

She understood nothing of the crow's message. The girl eyed it warily. Was it a human disguised as a crow, or just a temporary puppet? As like before, a jutsu of a similar transformation- a henge beyond henge- was in her knowledge. Frustration crept in, as well as a… chirp. She watched, with an awkward look, as the sky-hued bird slowly wriggled its way from her vest. Did the absentmindedly stick the poor creature down there for fear of its safety? Keeping its feet pinched between her fingers, she shot a curious glance towards Raz. Didn't he say he the bird was his eyes?

Regardless, the mockingbird's appearance caught the crow's attention. Was it just a crow, temporarily controlled? Tell me. She stared into its beady eyes, probing its mind for thought, or remnants of possession. Her hands let go of the tiny bird and slowly made the first seal of crow transformation. There wasn't much of a reason as to why she did it- even as a crow, she couldn't understand crow.

479

Total: 1364

Team total: 4800/4000

Roll: 95

-

HP: 1000

Taijutsu mod: 20

Evasion mod: 410

Speed: 900

[cntrstrk14]

The crow would give a curious look towards the bird, seem to loose interest and then lock eyes with Korin. It's black beady eyes would sink into hers as she purged its mind. The faint sign of chakra could be felt upon the bird's back, as if it had been a connection point within the near past. The line was severed however and all that remained were small bits of residue lingering upon the creature. With a few more pecks at the ground the bird would hop away and with a flurry of wings take off into the sky, the large amount of movement the ground had seen yet in this village.