Team Kaosu's first mission: To the Rice!

Kaosu was glad to see all of his genin ready to go, even though he had mentioned killing a man. He doubted they would have the strength to kill a man, unless their or their teammates life were in danger. He knew that it was mostly likely up to him to kill the man, while the three would be busy with his followers. He knew that he could easily handle this mission by himself, but with the three it made it a lot harder. It was not that he minded them around, it was just he had to keep an eye on each of them, and he knew this could be a problem. He knew that they could handle themselves if it came down to it. He had very high hopes for each of them. He looked back to see each of them following him, when he had first jumped into the tree. They were all ready to get going and it seemed they wanted to get there as soon as they could. This made him crack a half smile, as it was good to see them so excited to go on a mission, most of them had doubts about. They were surely being shaped into true shinobi, and it had been happening very quickly. They would be the strongest in the village one day, and surpass everyone before them. He looked ahead and nodded to himself, it was time for them to get moving.

He motioned his head, for the genin to follow him. He had said a lot and he felt that talking would only halt their speed and make it harder for them to get to the rice country. He wanted to stop in the middle of the night, so they could get a little bit of rest before the next day ahead of them. He also noticed that Raizo had a sword with him, before they set off. He though it would be a good idea to stop a bit early than excepted, so he knew how Raizo fought, before they got into the heat of things. He had to make time for the sake of the team, and the mission. He had two tents and he then knew what the rooming was going to me. He wished the other two could be as rested as possible for the mission, so Raizo and him would share a tent, and stay out later training together. This way, everyone could end up wining. He nodded to himself once more and continued to jump from tree to tree.

At first he was not sure, letting Shihouin stay with Ayame, because he might cause problems, because he did not know how he would act while Kaosu was away. But he knew that Ayame could handle herself and he highly doubted Shihouin would cause problems, if any at all. He sighed in relief knowing that all of his Genin had been good at heart. He would not have to worry about them ever even thinking of harming their follow comrades. He turned around for a moment and looked at them all behind him. "Alright, you three, we are not heading straight towards the rice village. I feel it will be unsafe if we stop to rest and sleep. Which is why I brought these tents." He looked back ahead of him, hoping nothing was in his way. He sped up a little bit, hoping that his team would follow his lead. He was not wasting any sunlight at all. They sun was moving faster, as Kaosu moved towards it and it felt like he was getting nowhere running like this. He shook his head at the time he thought they were losing. "Come on you three, lets get moving!" He shouted out, still looking ahead of him. "You better be less tired than I am, I'm an old man now!" He soon laughed a little and sped up just slightly again.

The sun's light cast thin beams of rays through the thick canopy of the Fire Country forest. The evening was arriving, painting everything in its orange dull light. Shihouin kept up with the team, holding his steps with ease as he placed his foot on the thicker part of branches, jumping from limb to limb with lightness of movement. The wind brushed across his face as he propelled himself into the air, shaking the many long strands of hair behind him like a lion's mane. His eyes were somewhat closed, but open enough that he could react accordingly if need be. He let his arms dangle at an appropriate angle behind him, just in case he needed to grab a tool for combat.

Kaosu sense picked up the pace, but it wasn't much for Shihouin. With an extra flex of tightened muscles, he'd kept up with him with ease and simpleness, not saying a word as he did so. It shouldn't take long for them to reach the Rice Country, and if they traveled at this pace it shouldn't take more than a day or two. Shihouin kept his eyes forward, but this thoughts were elsewhere. To kill a man... Did that mean he had strength? Fighting to kill, ending someones life... Did he have the proper jurtisdiction to do that? Was there no faith or redemption for this person? Did they have a family? What if he had a son that would never see him again? Questions, questions, all philosophical ones that would require the mind of a wise man and the seat of 1000 years to explain properly. Shihouin's mind was more concerned on doing it though.

He had no problem running his ninjato through Hope's back. The feeling as it pushed through his skin, muscle, and lungs to the other side was soft and hard at the same time. It felt powerful, but yet held the certainty of doubt within it. Surely, had he moved the blade over about four inches, he could have penetrated his heart and killed him at a mere whim. He blinked hard as a ray of light caught him in the eye... He'd grown too relaxed and missed a step, sinking down a bit lower than normal. He'd missed the branch but before anyone could react, his hand clasped the side of it and he swung upwards, back flipping to an upright position. "Sorry... I got a little side tracked." Shihouin figured they'd think something wrong was with him but they'd probably ignore it. Maybe something was wrong with him.

The many sounds of nature surrounded the group on all sides. Birds could be heard chirping, squirrels could be watching them as they jumped from branch to branch and every now and then there could be seen a snake or two. Raizo enjoyed being outside the village again. It made him feel free of all restrictions that the village had set in place for its residents. Seven years had passed since the first day he walked down the dirt road that spanned out not far from them. The first time he ever walked down that road into the village had been a curious one. No one had been able to explain who his parents were or how he had managed to end up in the woods. It was still a mystery to even him. His past was hazy and the only things in his life that he remembered was the village. It was everything to him.

Averting his eyes from the rays of sun that were filtering through the leaves, Raizo looked down though the branches until he caught sight of Ozunu. The tiger was keeping good pace and staying right up there with the group. Raizo was actually kind of proud that the animal was managing to keep up. He hadn’t been trained like most other animals in the village. This was the reason Raizo needed to train him, so that Ozunu could help him out in battle with actual tactics instead of just blinding clawing and biting. As soon as they got back Raizo decided that he would teach Ozunu everything about being a ninja’s companion.

Taking steady bounds, Raizo kept up easily with the rest of his team. Even when Kaosu decided to speed up some he kept right beside Shihouin. Slowly the Genin’s thought started to wonder towards the prospect of killing. It wasn’t something he was necessarily looking forward to but he knew it had to be done. He was a Shinobi of Konoha and that meant he had to put aside his personal feelings and do what was needed. Even if what was needed was killing another man. A determined look spread across the boy’s face as he jumped from branch to branch. He couldn’t allow himself to hesitate on this mission or it could mean his life.

Speeding up until he was right beside Kaosu, Raizo turned his head and looked at the man. His sensei reminded him somewhat of the man from the ramen shop. Raizo couldn’t explain why but he did. Shaking off his thoughts, the boy kept looking at his sensei while he began to speak. ”When we stop for the night, I know a good place where we could camp. I’ve been there before and although it’s has been seven years I still remember its exact location. I’ll happily guide us there when you are ready to stop for the night.” Focusing back ahead, the boy kept going at a steady pace, keeping even with his sensei.

The team’s shadows were moving at a good amount of speed as their bodies followed. The one in the lead was Kaosu, followed by Shihouin, then Raizo, and finally Ayame as they kept their minds on their one destination in the Rice Country in hopes of getting this done quick and easy. The usually floating leaves’ dances in the air were momentarily interrupted as each of the members of this team passed by them with a sudden rush of speed, some of them even getting turn as they made contact with the shinobi, but it didn’t seem like any of the four even noticed this.

The tree branch would always make this slight bend that was slightly high in terms of angle compared to her teammates and especially their leader due to the difference in weight, causing much less of a recoil as she would immediately hop off. This was the regular routine for them as none of them seemed to be making conversation or eye contact with each other for the same reasons, to get to the Rice Country as quick as possible with no distractions getting in the way of this. This didn’t bother the usually social girl because she had that very same goal in mind as well.

The various branches, leaves and trees were making themselves the main focus of Ayame’s gaze as her mind started to wander over to different things, like getting the killer instincts to actually assassinate someone. In all honesty, Ayame had never killed someone before. She even doubted that she has even ever tried to kill someone on contact with that in mind. This could be a serious down factor in completing the mission because if she just happened to chicken out, that would compromise the mission and it would be completely her fault, she needed to give herself a heart of steel.

As the pace quickened, Ayame’s body reacted to it without her mind’s presence as she followed right behind her team. Her eyes were very much grey at the moment to reflect her immense confusion on what she was going to do when the moment strikes. She then blinked for the first time since her mind wandered and at the last second, noticed a branch coming right for her face. Ayame quickly put some extra power in her last step so that she would hop over the branch, placing her left hand on it for extra leverage. She also noticed that Shihouin got a little bit spaced out as well, exactly what was going through her team’s mind at the moment? Ayame yawned a bit as Kaosu told them they’d need to rest a bit. Maybe it’d be good for everybody to get their thoughts cleared out a bit more and for hers to get a bit less cloudy.

It had been getting late and Kaosu was also getting a slight bit tired of all this running. He had come back from a previous mission not too long ago, and thought it would be a good time to get some rest. He had two tents, and each would fit two people a piece. He had to arrange who was going to sleep with who. This was a tough choice, but it all came down to the fact that he had never trained Raizo, or really even talked to him. So, while Ayame and Shihouin slept, he would train Raizo. He would let the sun go done before they stopped at all. Afterwards he would allow Raizo to lead the way, once the sun went down and it was finally night. Kaosu had slowed down a little bit, so he knew that he would not get to far ahead of himself. He stopped and looked back to Raizo and jumped towards him. He held up his hand, telling the other two to stop moving. "Raizo, this place you were speaking of, its time you take us there." He finally said after a few moments of waiting. He let Raizo lead the way know, because he was the only one who knew it. They soon landed on solid ground, and this made Kaosu happy that he did not have to be running around. He soon took out a cane, to help him walk.

He had gotten this cane a while ago, and has been using it for quite some time. The day he got made him thing for quite some time. He did not wish to get something that he knew he would not use. He did not know really, what he wanted but he knew that he needed something strong, but light weight so he did not notice it while he carried it around. He had a lot of trouble looking for the right one, because he had never used a cane, and he if could not use it well as a weapon, he had no idea what he was going to do with it. He did not wish to waste money on something he did not use. In fact he felt the only reason he wanted it was to help stop his bones from getting older. The cane would help out the stress levels in him. It wasn't like he really needed it, it was just to help him out on longer traveling missions. After almost a day of searching, Kaosu finally came on upon a cane that had a sword inside of it. This would be perfect for him because he was already skilled in the art of kenjutsu. Soon after buying it, he put his nano bugs over it and had it sealed with the same seal that his first sword had. He looked at Raizo and nodded his head. "Lead the way."

Kaosu enjoyed taking is easy for a while, walking behind Raizo, breaking in his new cane. He got a chance to just relax while walking and take a moment to take in things that he did not see often. The moon was very bright where they had been, it was a good thing, because it was a lot easier for them to see. He could hear things running around in the forest as the walked. Soon, the team had arrived at the spot where Raizo had been leading them. Kaosu soon set up the two tents and began to build a fire. "This seems like a nice spot Raizo, thank you for showing me this." He had the whole camp site set up, besides two things. The fire was not started nor did anyone know where they were sleeping. "Shihouin, I need you to do me a favor and start the fire for me." He pulled out things to cook, for all of them. After the fire was ready to go, he begun to cook. "Alright, you three. Each tent fits two people, and I've already came up who is sleeping with you. This is final and there are no changes." He paused to check the food he was cooking. It was cooking fast, and Kaosu was glad to get in a light snack before everyone head off to bed.

Kaosu soon pointed to the tent on the right. "That tent, I will be sleeping in and Raizo you will be sharing with me." He pointed to the one next to it. "Shihouin and Ayame that is yours. We must get to rest soon, because we have a big day ahead of us." It was early in the night, it had not even reach midnight and Kaosu wanted them in bed, as soon as he could get them. He needed to, so he and Raizo were not staying up late, while they trained. He wanted them all to get sleep, but getting to know Raizo was at the top of the list, next getting the mission done. He yawned after eating only a little of what he had cooked, leaving the rest of the food for the genin. "I am off to bed. You three better not stay up too late, I wish you would go to bed, as soon as you are done eating." He yawned once again and put his cane away. He sat his sword and cane next to him to sleep. Otherwise, he did not take anything off, including his sunglasses. Kaosu was weird about them, but he always wore them. He really hoped they would go to sleep soon, because he knew, even he could not stay up for more than passed two hours our so. Kaosu also hoped that he would not end up having one of the others in his tent, or the mission could turn out bad, not knowing how Raizo would react in any kind of fight. He should have not went to bed before them.

Raizo took the lead as the team followed his path to a camp ground which Raizo had previous knowledge of. Shihouin was slightly tired even though he didnt wan't to admit it, but was still physically fine for the most part. Luckily for them, an ambush was the least of their worries since they were still in the Fire Country and would easily pass into the Sound Country without crossing into no man's land. Shihouin was worried about possible attackers for some reason, but he would have to trust that Raizo's camp ground was safe.

The moment they got to the camp ground, Shihouin's mind and eyes began to activate. He looked at the advantage and disadvantages they had, the worn path of dirt on the camp ground itself and also possibly any locations in which there was an obvious path for the camp ground. It seemed that it hadn't been visited very often and this was obvious due to the branches and grass. The brances were thickly interwoven with each other at least five meters out from the camp grounds and the grass was slightly growing under their feet. There was still a dirt patch, an obvious place were fires had been burned as well. The small clearing in this area wasn't too noticeable and on their way they'd passed a few of them just like it.

Still Shihouin had safey on his concern. If they were get attacked they'd die, so he would make a trip alarm without the team knowing just in case. As he went out for the wood for the fire, Shihouin traveled about five meters out into the forest where the team couldn't really see him. With a couple of shurikens and wires tied down to obvious gaps in the forest density, he set the wires and tied them up against a small trap. Basically, if the wires were tripped they would drop a smoke bomb and fling a kunai towards the fire of the camp site. Smoke would prevent an ambush and the noise from the kunai would give the team enough time to react and get out of a killzone. Paranoid, yes, but Shihouin figured this would be one of the many things he would do if he were in ANBU.

Keeping his mouth closed through dinner, he didn't say much and just did whatever Kaosu told him. Once their tents were up, Shihouin took to his which he'd be sharing with Ayame's. Exactly right after he'd eaten -just like Kaosu asked- he went into the tent and set his backpack, ninjato, and one nin pocket to the side. He withdrew a kunai from his hand while Ayame wasn't watching and kept it there as he slept on one of his nin-pouches as a pillow. He crushed a soilder pil down into a tiny size, just enough minerals to make a makeshift vitamin.

Shihouin didn't say anything to Ayame and would drift off to sleep soon. He wasn't a light sleeper, but nor was he a heavy one. If anything happened while they were asleep they'd be alerted and with his tools prepared he could have open room to attack. Shihouin's goal was to be in ANBU, and if he wanted to be in it he would have to at least start acting as if he were apart of it. With a final yawn and stretch, he slept with his eyes towards the opening of the tent, with them faced outside. There was no need to change, he didn't have a change of clothes. They'd pass a large river anyways and there he'd probably get a bath and clean up.

The sun started to set slowly off in the distance. Raizo enjoyed the way it turned the blue sky to an orange hue. All around them the day time creatures started to settle down for the night while the nocturnal animals came out to hunt. As dusk rolled in bats started to appear in the sky near them and go off in search of food. Raizo's eyes followed the animals as they moved about their business. Looking up in time to see Kaosu coming back towards, Raizo quickly stopped and crouch down on the branch. No matter how much he hated to admit it, he was tired. It had been awhile since he had travelled this far of a distance in one go. He wasn't out of shape but he did need to start running more. Just keeping up with his sensei had been relatively easy and while his mind had wandered he hadn't realized how tired he was. Now that they had stopped the tiredness had caught up with him. Panting slightly, the boy looked up at his sensei and nodded when the man told him to lead the way. Turning from the direction they were going, he headed towards the north-west.

A few hundred feet from where they started the woods let out onto a trail and the group dropped down to solid ground. Raizo smiled as his eyes travelled over the quickly darkening forest. The fresh air here allowed him to clear his head and relax. It was different than being in the village. No loud noises, no lights, nothing that had a place with people needed to prosper. The only light here was the light that was spilling off the rising moon. Raizo stared up into the bright orb as he walked and wondered what it would be like to set foot there. No person he knew had ever been there and he had never heard of anyone in history going there either. It was just that there was really no possible way to get there. Rubbing his thumb across his scar, he averted his gaze back down to earth and followed the winding path towards the clearing he had told them about.

Raizo reached into one of the pouches on his vest and pulled the kunai out. Sliding his finger into the hole at the end, the boy proceeded to spin it around while he whistled quietly to himself. The sound of running water met his ears after about five minutes and he stopped his whistling to replace it with a small grin. They had reached the place he had been aiming for. Walking into the clearing, Raizo spun around, breathing in deeply. This was the place his life had started. It was fitting that they would sleep here for the night on his very first mission. The place hadn't changed much except for that there were now dark spots in certain spots where it people had made fires over the years. It looked like no one had visited it for awhile and the grass was getting high in some areas. Fully caught up in memories of the day he woke up here, he just nodded dumbly in the direction of Kaosu when the man thanked him for showing them the spot. Shihouin wandered off to get the firewood while Kaosu set up the tents. Raizo walked over to the center of the camp and sat down, staring at the dark spot that blotted the ground. He would rather they just go without a fire but they needed to eat something so he didn't say anything.

As soon as Shihouin returned, Kaosu started the fire and started cooking. After a bit of cooking, the man told them about sleeping arrangements. Raizo was to bunk with his sensei while Shihouin slept in the tent with Ayame. The boy didn't mind the set up, he needed to get to know his sensei better anyways. Raizo just nodded his head with Kaosu told them that tomorrow was a big day and they needed to get their rest. Grabbing some food after the man finished, Raizo began to eat quickly while leaning back and staring up at the stars. It was a peaceful night and there wasn't anything that he would have changed. Slowly munching on the meal, he heard Kaosu tell them not to stay up too late and then headed off to bed. Not long after this Shihouin went to bed himself. Raizo leaned up on one elbow and looked at Ayame. This was the first chance he had to talk to her since that day at her house and he didn't want to pass it up. The only thing that held him back was the fact that he was slightly tired. Finishing quickly, he stood up and waved his hand. "See you in the morning. Try to get some sleep." Smiling at her, he turned and walked to his tent, pulling the flap aside and stepped in.

Not paying much attention to anything, Raizo stripped his vest off and revealed the tank top he always wore underneath. Pulling off his belt which had his headband stiched to it, he lay it down beside his pillow and sat down on the sleeping bad that had been laid out for him. As he started to pull the covers up he noticed that his sensei was still awake. Sitting up and looking over at the man, he gave him a questioning look. "Kaosu-sensei, why are you still awake? You should really get some rest." Wondering what his sensei would say, he decided to stay awake until the man said something back.

Ayame’s mind was still on her previous thoughts for a few hours, despite the detours her mind had been taking. Ayame was the kind of girl that could use her imagination all day and practically forget completely about the reality that she lived in. She was also the lind of girl that wouldn’t tire out easily and had a lot of stamina, some family members claiming that she had quite a large chakra supply for a girl her age, even though she barely knew any jutsu that would help her out in that factor anyways. For now, she had set her goals to learn some more jutsu that could help her in the long run ever since her first meeting day with her team.

She didn’t even know that it was getting dark until that glazy grey look in her eyes started to grow a bit green again as her mind was focusing and what she was seeing once more. ‘Man, have we really been traveling for that long?’ Ayame wasn’t used to traveling much so she didn’t fatigue very often outside of training, which made her wonder if it was just ordinary that she didn’t feel any of that fatigue or exhaustion as of yet.

Once it seemed to be stopping time, Ayame allowed her body to stop moving, a process that took a few seconds due to the fact that she was so used to moving already. Once her muscles started reconstructing themselves, Ayame finally started feeling that fatigued she was wondering about. Though she wasn’t really exhausted, it was just her muscles that weren’t used to the extensive moving as opposed to her lungs, it was a complicated process to grasp so Ayame just let that one go right over her head as she followed the team to a place where Raizo was directing them.

Once they had gotten over to the camping grounds, Ayame immediately noticed Shihouin tense up as he looked all around the camping grounds for whatever he could find. ‘Someone’s taking academy procedures a bit too seriously.’ She thought to herself as she shrugged and started to go through her bag for everything that she needed as well as a few things that she didn’t quite need but took anyways for the occasion, like a brush, mirror, all that stuff. She wondered if that made her too girly for carrying that stuff. She was known as a tomboy to most people that knew her but she still had that side of her that was feminine so she’d bring the little things, least she didn’t bring make-up, something she hated wearing.

Ayame took out the brush and pulled off the rubber band that was keeping her hiar into a ponytail, giving a few keep strokes before putting it away and helping out with the setting of camp, she also offered to provide the food, which mostly consisted of ramen and rice balls in her corner. Once it was dinner time, the team went around the fire as Kaosu gave his instructions, other than that, it was a completely quiet dinner, something Ayame actually was used to thanks to eating with her grandfather most of the time.

Once that was all over with, Ayame and Shihouin went to their tents, again, a quiet way for them to sleep but that’s how you sleep in the first place, right? He just remained quiet and got ready as Ayame tried to figure out what to do. She didn’t really bring a change of clothes with her to go to bed with, which she has done before when going to others’ houses, but she’d usually end up sleeping without a shirt, which would be a bit awkward here so she just tried going to sleep with it on, least she was wearing pants as opposed to a skirt this time.

Unfortunately, an hour later, Ayame was still wide awake as she moved around, trying to find a better way to sleep. This wasn’t working too well so she decided to play it a bit risky. Looking over to see if Shihouin was asleep, Ayame leaned up as she unbuttoned her skirt and took it off, leaving only her bra as she laid back down, falling asleep soon after.

Kaosu was happy that all three of them were listening to them, right away. This would give him much more time with Raizo. He sighed and closed his eyes waiting for them to fall asleep. Soon, Raizo walked in and noticed that Kaosu was still wide awake. Kaosu stood up and looked at Raizo. He put his hand over his mouth, telling him to be quiet. He picked up his sword and cane and walked to the door. He could not hear Shihouin or Ayame, so he knew that they were most likely already sleeping. He looked back at Raizo and walked out of the tent. He used his hand to to tell Raizo to follow him. He wanted to be quiet as much as possible as he could. He walked out and noticed that a small cub was waiting outside. He sighed and felt kind of bad that he had been left outside. He picked up the cub and looked for Raizo to follow him. He wanted to get away from the tents and make sure no one heard them. It was a good thing he had his insects going around, so he knew the perfect place and that Shihouin had been setting traps. Kaosu knew that this place was probably safe and if not Kaosu could take anything that came this way.

Kaosu looked behind him as he held Raizo's pet, looking for Raizo. He had waited for him to come to his side, and gave him the tiger. He walked a little further, out of the view of the tents. He put his hand on Raizo and got down to his level. They were face to face and Kaosu looked around him. "I hope you brought everything for this training. The reason I paired you with myself, is so that we can train together and so I know how you fight." He whispered so that the others did not hear him, but spoke loud enough so he could be a distance away from Raizo. Kaosu got back to his level and turned back around, away from the tents. He walked even further, looking back every so often to make sure Raizo was following behind. He hoped that he could get to place where they could have quite and would have nothing to worry about. He found a nice open spot and sat down.

He closed his eyes and sighed. He pulled out sword, and looked at Raizo. He stood up and held out his sword and nodded. "I need to know how you fight, so we can get this most out of the mission and lose the least." He put his sword over his face and smiled. He looked at Raizo and hope that he was ready. "Raizo, get ready and come at me when you are ready." He hoped that Raizo could show him something that he had never seen before and at the same time, he hoped that Kaosu could teach him a thing or two.

ooc: Sorry for Shortness.

Crickets chirped all around the camp site, like a natural symphony in the forest. No other noise could be heard. Raizo lay in his tent, leaning up on one arm and looking over at Kaosu. The man didn't reply to what he said but only motioned for the boy to follow him out of the tent. Without another word the man left Raizo alone in the tent with his own thoughts. It would probably be the best idea to do as the man had said and follow him out but Raizo felt the need to prepare himself before going. Reaching over beside his sleeping bag, the boy grabbed his katana and strapped it to his back. His fingers ran over the black hilt of the blade and felt the corse ridges in it. It was a good sword, one he had picked out himself just for the purpose of learning Kenjutsu. The blade was well balanced, able to be utuilized to its full potential. Grabbing a pouch from the ground also he strapped it to his leg. It was filled with some shuriken and a few kunai. His favorite kunai, the ones he always carried with him, were still in their holsters on his over coat, which he didn't feel the need to put on. Double checking to make sure he hadn't missed anything, Raizo stood from his position and sauntered out of the tent.

Flickering light met the Genin as he stepped out of the tent into the cool night air. The remnants of the fire were still burning, if only just the embers. It cast an eerie light over the whole site, causing shadows to dance over everything. Raizo walked towards Kaosu with the confidence of one going to meet with an old friend. The boy cocked an eyebrow when he saw his sensei holding Ozunu but shrugged it off and took the tiger in his arms. Ozunu purred and nuzzled into Raizo's chest, finding the warmest part of the black tank top the boy had on and staying there. Grinning crookedly, the boy lifted the little cub up and set him down on his head. Ozunu, taking a liking to this position immediatley, rested his head against his paws and watched Kaosu with big, blue eyes. The tall man turned and walked a little ways into the forest, just out of view of the tents. Raizo followed him closely, keeping five feet away so as not to run into the mans feet. Darkness enshrouded them as they moved out of the cover of the fire. Not even the light of the moon could reach them where they stood. The dense trees stood on every side, cancelling out almost all light except for a few slivers. Raizo stopped in front of his sensei and looked up at him as the man bent down and patted his head, explaining about why they were coming out here. A faint grin spread across the boys face at the prospect of training. Nodding quickly, the boy followed behind Kaosu once again as the man moved off into the forest.

Muffled footsteps announced their presence to the rest of the forest. A lone fox moved close to the two of them, watching as they moved through the trees. If the animal could think, it would be grumbling about how loud humans were and how they woke everything in the forest up. Raizo didn't notice any animals except for a snake that slithered through the leaves under his feet. The boy almost stepped on it but before he did he stopped his foot and let it go unharmed. Shrugging off the close encounter, the boy continued on his way. Kaosu was a few paces ahead of him, due tot he older man's longer legs. Keeping up as good as he could, Raizo let his mind wander while walking. The boy wondered what type of training they would be doing when they reached this spot. It was a bit late at night but Raizo hadn't yet became tired. Insomina was something that he had been living with his whole life and he had went entire weeks without sleeping. A few hours of training before bed wouldn't hurt. The idea of training while to the other two slept made him slightly excited. Maybe Kaosu was going to teach him something the other two didn't know. So many possibilities and yet Raizo couldn't keep from thinking up more. The faint sound of small snores is what brung him back from his thoughts. Ozunu hadn't fallen asleep on his head. Lauging silently, Raizo decided to put the little guy down once they reached the spot and let him rest.

Up ahead of the two could be seen moonlight shining down into a clearing. Raizo smiled as he walked into the clearing right behind Kaosu. The older man took a seat in the center while Raizo busied himself with setting Ozunu down near the edge of the clearing. The cub opened one bleary eye at him before going back to sleep. Raizo turned back to Kaosu smiling, happy that the cub was getting some well deserved rest. Walking slowly to the center of the clearing, Raizo nodded his head once at what Kaosu said. The man drew his sword and put it in front of his face before telling Raizo to attack when ready. Grinning slightly, the Genin drew the katana at his waist and slid into a sloppy stance. He was new to the art of Kenjutsu so he didn't have very good form. That was why he needed to train with the man standing in front of him. So that one day he could surpass even him in the art and maybe even become a blade master. Looking around, Raizo scoped out the area, looking for anything that he could use to his advatange. There were a few logs lying around the area. He didn't see how they could help him out much at the moment but guessed they could be used for something eventually.

Using what knowledge he had learned from watching other swordsman, the boy moved quickly towards his sensei and swung down quickly with a horizontal slash. It was one of the best things Raizo could manage for now but he knew that he would get better. Hopefully if they trained everyday he would be an average swordsman by the time they got back from their mission. It was the one of the boys dreams to become an ANBU of the village and go on top secret missions. From what he knew of ANBU they always carried a katana or other type of weapon with them. This was one of the reasons he wanted to become accomplished with the blade. The other reason was that he believed that he could protect his comrades more effectively with a sword rather than his own hands and feet. If he became skilled enough with the katana it would be like an extension of his arm, being used as a part of his body. Face contorted with concentrationg, the blade came down fast towards Kaosu.

Kaosu was not sure what Raizo was going to do first, but soon Raizo drew his sword. Kaosu cracked a smile, because the stance was rather rough looking. He was glad to see that the boy was trying, but Kaosu had hoped that this was not his best skill. If it had been, then this mission would be rather rough, for the three Genin. He did not know anything about the clan he was in and hoped that it had some power behind it. The boy had seemed to be just learning and for anyone to become Genin, Kaosu knew they had to know more than just one way of fighting. He smiled at the boy as he came towards him. It seemed he wanted to learn the style of Kenjutsu, and Kaosu would gladly teach him that, but right now was not the time. It was not long before Raizo wanted to try and strike at Kaosu. It was obvious what he was going to try, so Kaosu quickly blocked the attack with his sword, and pushed the boy with his sword and jumped back. Soon, Kaosu put his sword away and laughed for only a moment. He did want to teach him how to use Kenjutsu, but once again, he knew this was not the time. This was more of a spar for each of them to get to know each other, and not a training season, no matter how much Kaosu wanted it to be. He put his hand up, to tell Raizo to stop what he was doing. As soon as Kaosu saw that the boy had stopped he let his guard down, and walked over to Raizo.

As soon as he approached the boy, he smiled and put his hand on Raizo's shoulder. "I'd like to say this is a training session and you are good at Kenjutsu, but I cannot say either. I can tell you just picked this style up, and need a lot of training. But like I said, this is not a normal training session. When I said training, I meant a training spar. I want to know things you are good at. I wish we had time, but I can't teach you things right now." He sighed and was a little disappointed in himself, but he knew that he had to get these three sleeping and packed up as fast as he could. The day would not wait for them. Kaosu soon jumped back to where he had been sitting when the two first arrived in the area. "I wasn't showing you my best either, I wanted to take it easy on you, but I guess monkey see monkey do." He said jokingly. Soon, his cloak began to rise up and thousands for insects came out from the cloak. They circled around him, as Kaosu gave Raizo a smirked. "This is my trump card." He said with a smile. Soon, he moved his hand outward in front of him, towards Raizo. He hoped that the boy knew that he was going to attack the boy and wanted him to do everything he could to dodge the insects from wrapping around him. "Raizo, what you need to do, is use everything to not get hit by these bugs. Once you do, I can tell you that it is all over for you."

Kaosu had left out one part to what he could do. He hoped that Raizo thought that Kaosu did not want him to kill his insects, which was not the case. Kaosu actually hoped that he was smart enough to get away without killing many of them, but also hoped that he would go all out with these insects, so that he knew how he fought. Either way, Kaosu would most likely be happy with the out come, unless the insects captured him within a matter of minutes. The insects soon circled around Raizo, moving in closer and closer with each passing second. Kaosu waited to see how Raizo would react.

ooc: sorry for shortness

Shi had dreams. Wonderful dreams of him not being genin, being within the ranks of ANBU and destroying people left and right. He imagined himself wearing the ANBU get-up holding a ninjato on his waist as he stabbed someone effortlessly, splitting their body in half like butter. His dreams went deeper than that, he’d become ANBU Captian and was the leader of the entire force. The Hokage, Sanzen, Nasa, his team, Kaosu had all become so proud of him. The village enemies were scared shitless in their pants and didn’t bother to come near Konoha for anything. His strength was unparalleled and even the strongest held fear to him. His Sharingan was complete mastered and his three tomoe never left his sight. He was the best. No one in the entire village could hold a candle to him.

He stood atop the Hokage’s head looking out over the village, feeling the warm sun on his head in the deep nights. He could feel the warmth all over his body and the creeping feeling of morning creeping up behind him as the night wind blew over his body. A dream. All that he had gained was now fading away, slipping off into some part of his subconscious mind, a place where he couldn’t access it. Reality trolled him now, waking up him from his dream world where anything was possible. Once the sun hit his face, he got up from his makeshift bed he looked outside to the camp fire. He could make out an image of someone already up, probably Kaosu-sensei. Shi yawned and stretched, waking himself up from his slumber.

Getting his stuff together was pretty easy. He’d been sleeping on his ninja pouch as a pillow, so attaching that to his hip only took a few seconds. He grabbed his backpack and squatted infront of it, securing anything that was loose, and also checking if anyone had messed with his stuff. Everything seemed to be fine. He reached in the side pocket of the backpack and pulled out two vitamins. Swallowing them with a large gulp, he grabbed one of the tissues out as well and wiped his face. Since there wasn’t enough time to bring the entire bathroom, he brought a replacement. It was a small rag which was highly absorbent. He’d doused it in some mouthwash before, so it had already been prepared. Taking just one of the rags, he washed the plaque off of his teeth and rubbed his tongue clean to freshen his mouth. Tossing that to the side, he placed his backpack securely on his back and walked out of the tent towards what looked like Kaosu-sensei. He didn’t do much but stand there and wait for his first command.

A sharp object came to fruition against Shiouin's back, softly pressing, but still firm and largely noticeable. Perhaps it would draw a little blood, but not much if anything. It was a tanto, a short sword, a widely accepted ANBU weapon. If Shiounin had any salt in him at all, if Kasou had properly taught this team at all up to this point, the boy would know the weapon just by the feel of it against his skin. Granted, not all could be so talented. But if an Uchiha could not, then he was shit, because they had natural gifts and had been favored by the gods. Towa had always held a certain distaste for them, which is why he was picking on the young one here now.

He reached his arm forward and over the top of the young ones head, he was easily a foot taller if not more then the boy. He let his grip slacken a little bit and allowed the wire to drop with kunai and the works at the end. It was the trap the boy had set, and was no dangling useless before his nose. Towa was a hunter himself, and so traps were a bit of a specialty to him, mostly in how to avoid them, he wasnt overly fond of using them all the time. This had been a simple trap, and being that he was highly aware of his surroundings, it had been easy for him to discover and eliminate with out having to set it off and alert anyone of his prescience. Granted, he could have altogether circumvented it. But that would not have provided him with a chance to taunt the young lad.

He still had his ANBU mask on, and was decked out in full ANBU uniform at the moment. He let go of the trap completely, and let it fall to the Uchiha's feet. He was sure the boy would have questions of a certain nature, and would be all to willing to answer them. He switched his footing and rounded the boy, standing before him now, with his mask still in tact. Calmly he reached up and lifted the maske up, exposing his face. Now they would know who he was, he was the student of Kasou's good friend Faust, who of course was now dead, but the only one who knew that at the moment was Towa himself. He gave the boy a slight smirk before moving to stand beside him, giving off a warm pressence for the moment. He had a message to deliver to Kasou to take back to Konoha. He posed no threat that they kenw of. To them he was merely a well seasoned warrior of Konoha.

He played the part well.

Nice trap, needs a bit of fine tuning and better concealment though. Anyone around my rank wouldnt be fooled by it, and not everyone is on our side Shiouin. Keep that in mind. You cant be as good as the enemy, it is essential to be better, other wise you leave it up to chance. in that case you lose control over the situation. Never allow that to happen.

For the last few days after his punishment, Shi had been indecisive about a lot of things. Things which kept egging his mind and his conscious tearing it down and bringing it back up again in a painful cycle. His thought process was broken to say the least and the embarrassment of the punishment hadn’t left his mind at any stretch. A horrible, disgusting feeling of lack of worth had been on him for a few days and Shi couldn’t stand it. He was supposed to be an Uchiha, proud of the strength his eyes held. Yet the thoughts in his mind were far from proud, or strong. They were of shame and weakness. Ever since then, looking at the village, looking at the Hokage faces wasn’t the same. Everyone looked at him differently and it was the look of the entire village -the look of disappointment and ridicule- which had forced him to decide whether or not to leave the village.

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, that rock being Konoha and the hard place being Kumo. That night when he had set the trap he’d sent a shadow clone back instead. Dealing with 50% of his chakra all night was killing him, but he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know whether his village could trust him again and he didn’t think he could get over that incident. He’d been acting differently around his team because of these mental issues. He wanted to get the message that he’d changed and was more respectable to his team so they would lower their guard. It all worked up until now, but something else was in the way.

As much as he was deciding on whether to leave or not he began to think about the future of his life. To do something as petty as leaving because of embarrassment, that wouldn’t be a decision worthy of any ninja. Cowardice and shame were fickle emotions which passed over time. Falling into those emotions would only end up causing Nasa, Raizo, Ayame, Kaosu, Sanzen, Togyou, The Hokage, the village and now Towa to distrust him more. Chickening out of his decision that night had been the best decision of his entire life. Surely if he’d left the village alone, he would have marched directly into his death or Towa for short.

So when the blade had touched Shi’s body the bunshin held for a small moment, until Towa’s next attack and then dispersed about the moment Towa would touch his head. Finally receiving that chakra back, he could stand up from his position hidden high in the canopy of the trees above them. Even thought the clone had popped and his trap had been seen through by Towa, he still felt as if his words were directly aimed at his position. Honestly it was a scary feeling, likeTowa was still talking directly to him, not at all surprised by the clone like the rest of the team would have been. Shi jumped down from his position with his supplies ready and a kunai drawn in his hand. He landed a bit rough due to chakra exhaustion but still landed softly as any C Rank genin could. He spoke directly towards Towa, with a few words. “I’m jealous of you.” To have read through his trap to that extent, dismantled it and hung it to dry over his face… The ANBU he wanted to be in was now looking just that more attractive.

ooc: a very slight god-mod, but it shouldnt cause any trouble. And I know it's kiyoshi's turn but I responded because of the post and the situation. Kiyoshi can post after since his character would still be sleeping to my knowledge.

During the entire night, Ayame had gotten little to no sleep at all. Every time her eyes would close and she would drift off, her nightmares would always start. On the outside, Ayame would continuously twist and turn, moving about with no sense of stopping due to her not being able to control it. Her breathing was pretty deep as if her lungs were slowly collapsing in her chest. Her body temperature was also growing rapidly as she was soon developing sweat on her body. It was clear evidence that she was either sick or having a nightmare, or perhaps both. Either way, there was no way that Ayame could be feeling comfortable at the moment.

In her dreams, Ayame was going through a rapid of things. Certain events were just racing through her mind so fast she could never properly make them out. Torrents of flames made itself apparent in her dreams as well as along with a pattern of lightning bolts and thunderclaps and then there would also be darkness too, lots and lots of darkness. Certain events natured after all three of these elements just kept going and going through her dreams that the elements were the only thing she could make out.

Then finally, it would just stop at darkness for a while. Ayame saw nothing for about a minute or two until finally, a figure made itself known to Ayame’s vision. She couldn’t make out why but the darkened figure’s shape seemed familiar like she’s seen it before. The shadowy figure seemed to be walking towards Ayame, but she wasn’t walking like a regular person. She had thing sort of walking style as if she was a model walking down the runway to show of a new line of clothing. The figure just kept walking closer and closer to Ayame until it was about 10 feet away from her, and then she just raised her hand and waved to her. “Hi, there.” It can’t be?

In the real world, Ayame would quickly lean up in a heap of her own sweat, taking constant deep yet quick breaths as if she had just nearly drowned or suffocated. She also held on to the left part of her chest to feel her heart rate. Yep, it had certainly gone up quite a doozy. Ayame just sat there for a second, wondering what just happened, her memory of her dreams were now nearly gone, all she had remembered were the flames, lightning/thunder, and the darkness, but nothing else.

The young girl would soon look for her shirt somewhere around her and pick it up, throwing it over her shoulder and not even bothering to button up as she leaned out of her sleeping mat and placed her shoes on before walking out of the tent. The sun still wasn’t up Ayame assumed everyone else was sleeping. Ayame didn’t really know what to do at the moment because she was hoping that it was morning already and that they could head out but that seemed to not be the case so she just took it upon herself to find something to do so she could take her mind off of things.

Wanting to freshen up first, Ayame went back to her bag to get a change of clothes, not paying too much attention to her tentmate, though she was wondering how he could sleep like that if she was making any noise at all. Knowing him, she’d figure a cricket would wake him up but her distracted mind didn’t pay it too much thought. She just got what she needed and headed down over to the lake she spotted earlier about a quarter of a mile southeast.

Once she had reached her destination, Ayame took a minute to marvel at the river, that had a waterfall cliff at the right side of it before taking off her clothes and taking a dive into it, the warm water making it feel like only a slightly cooler version of a hot spring, anything to take the edge off the back of her mind. Ayame’s thoughts drifted a few other things while she was in the river, things that calmed her down, like some training ideas and more ways to get stronger.

She was in there for about 20 minutes until she finished up and got dressed. Ayame thought about going back to camp but she didn’t know exactly what to do once she got there so she stood there in silence for a minute before taking a look at the waterfall clift, she had heard from her father a long time ago that it’d be the perfect place to training. So for the next few hours, Ayame had decided that she would do some training exercises around the lake to warm her up, using the pressure of the water to add on to the gain.

Once she was finished, the sun had already made its way up so Ayame decided to set out for camp, hoping her team had woken up already because she was pumped and ready to go. Just as Ayame's eyes were able to catch wind of the campsite, she suddenly had a bad feeling all over again and stopped before sidestepping to the right, behind a tree so she could get a look without being spotted. Since she was quite a distance away, it took a bit of squinting to get a clue at what was going on and even then, it was a little unclear. It seemed like she was looking at Shihouin, the dark hair and familier clothing made itself apparent and he was with somebody else but his hair was extremely bright colored, as opposed to Kaosu's and Raizo's brown hair. She could also tell that it was an ANBU from the outfit that he had on, but she didn't recall an ANBU with light hair, and she knew every ANBU on sight. So just who was this stranger?

Darkness enhrouded the land for miles around. The distant sound of roaring good be heard, the sound of a storm. Raizo stood looking up at the top of a great tree, it's branches spreading for hundreds of feet around him. Something wasn't right about the place but Raizo couldn't seem to put his finger on what it was. Sighing softly, he looked around. He knew that it was a dream, another one of his night terrors. They came so often that he could tell the difference between them and the real world. Ozunu wasn't with him, the tiger was never with him in his nightmares. It would have been an added comfort for the tiger to be there though. Just one person that could be there with him would help out a lot. He didn't like taking on the weight of the whole nightmare by himself, although it was selfish of him. It would make things much easier if someone could take the weight with him. Turning his head from side to side, he wondered what the rustling sounds were that were coming from his left and right.

Movement in the tree caught his attention. Looking up he saw a large serpent winding it's through the branches of the tree, hissing audibly. Raizo grimaced and tried not to focus on it too much. He knew that it would reach him soon, creatures in his nightmares always seemed to find their way to him eventually. Howling noises met him from the left and right, confirming that there was something coming at him from both sides. Cursing silently, he stared at the snake and swiveled his head from side to side, trying to see what was coming at him. It just wasn't enough that he had to deal with the snake, but he also had to deal with the unknown creature coming from his left and right. Shaking his head, he readied himself for the attack he knew was coming by reaching back for the sword that was on his back. His hand reached futiley for the weapon that just wasn't there. Stomping his foot, he glared around at the world, wondering why he had been put here with no way of defending himself.

Wolves appeared on his left and right. Six on each side, each moving towards with with what looked like hunger in his eyes. Raizo stepped back and gulped, wondering how he would get out of this. The snake was only a few feet from the ground now and he knew that he would needed to wake up soon. Closing his eyes and thinking hard, he commanded himself to awaken. Peering out of one eye, nothing had changed. The snake had reached the snake by this time and the wolves were still advancing. Raizo looked on in horror as the snake moved closer. He knew he would die. There was no way out of this situation. The snake was already and too close and the wolves were only ten feet from him. The boy kept moving backwards, trying to put as much distance between himself and the snake. It hissed at him, it's huge split tongue flickered in and out of its mouth. He closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the bite he knew would come within seconds.

Snarls and a great hissing filled his ears. Opeing both eyes to stare in amazement, Raizo watched as the wolves attacked the snake, not him. They attack with such teamwork that the snake stood no chance. Within seconds it lay dead on the ground, writhing as life left its body. Blood covered wolf snouts turned to him and Raizo gulped. Had they come to kill him? Don't be afraid, little one. We are here to protect you. Raizo stared in amazement at the lead wolf, who had sent the message to his brain. At least that's what he thought since the wolf was the only one who moved closer to him. It was a big, black wolf with white a white streak in its fur. Raizo just stared at it, speechless. The wolf cocked it's head at him. Wake now, little one. And remember the name Hopper...

Raizo jerked awake with a start, staring around his tent in bewilderment. It was light outside the tent and silence lay like a blanket over the camp site. Raizo wiped the sweat from his brow and stood up, sliding on his red vest and sliding the belt through the hoops before latching it securely. Stooping down and grabbing his backpack, he slid it on and stepped out of the tent. The sounds of the forest seemed more noticeable to him. He could more acutely hear the sounds of the birds, the scamperings of the squirrels and even the sound of a fox creeping towards its den. Walking around the camp fire once, he finally settled down and waited for the others to wake, staring at the ashes left over by the fire.

Sounds behind him brought his attention around and gaped in surprise at the site of an ANBU and Shihouin a little ways outside of the campsite. The ANBU had a tanto, a type of sword widely used by the ANBU. Raizo just watched the scene with confusion, wondering what was happening. There was no way for him to prove that Shihouin was in any danger but he was wary of the newcomer. It wouldn't be wise for him to drop his guard now. Thinking quickly, his mind fell on the name that had been mentioned in his dream. Hopper? Why should I remember that? Shaking it off, he stood quickly and moved to the edge of the camp, his hand resting on his sword. It wouldn't be good to allow Shihouin to be harmed by this man and even if the man was ANBU, he would fight him if it came to that.

The shadow clone burst and Raizo grinned. Shihouin was a skilled ninja, skilled enough to fool the ANBU, if the man had even been fooled at all. It could be that he had just played along with Shihouin's little trick. Either way, it was good thinking and might have saved Shihouin life. Not moving an inch, Raizo turned his head and looked behind him. Where was Kaosu? The man should have been here by now. Maybe this was just a test to see how his genin would react in a situation like this. Wondering if this was the case, Raizo knelt low to the ground so as not to be seen by the man and watched him through a bush. If it came down to a fight he would more than likely lose but he wouldn't allow his squad mate, his friend, to be harmed. Hopefully things went smoothly so he didn't have to fight the ANBU. The man had a certain aura of strength about him and it intimidated Raizo a bit. He wished to become like that man. If he had to take many lives, he would become like this ANBU, just his presence casting off an aura of power. That was his new dream.

Kaosu knew that he had to cut his session with Raizo short, because they did not get the needed time. He felt kind of bad for the boy, but had high hopes that he would come in great use, even if Kaosu did not know what Raizo was capable of doing. It had seemed both of them had lost track of time, and did not get any sleep at all. Soon, Shihouin had walked up to him and had been packed up and ready to go. Kaosu yawned because he was slightly tired, but he would be okay until the journey home. He looked at his things and he had not used it all night, besides laying down for a few minutes. He sighed and looked to Razio. "Raizo, pack up you things and lets go." Kaosu had already all of things out of the tent, before the night even started. His things were all packed inside of his cloak. He walked back the main part of the camp and sighed. It had seemed each of them wanted to get out of this place as soon as they could. Kaosu was also a little excited to see these three finally work as a team, and finish a high leveled mission for their ranking. Soon, Kaosu looked over and saw a man that he knew he had seen in the village before, but knew nothing about. The man was in the traditional ANBU attire. Kaosu would have thought nothing of the man, if he had just arrived to tell the team something, However, something was odd with this ninja.

It was unlike any ninja, and it seemed even odder that an ANBU ninja would hold a weapon to any allied ninja, unless threated. Shihouin seemed to not do anything to this man, so this made Kaosu worried. It had seemed something was mentally wrong with this man. Kaosu typically liked everyone ninja in his village, but if anyone even attempted to harm his genin, he would have a problem with them. Kaosu walked over to the man, glaring at him. Soon, it had seemed Shihouin was not near the man, but somewhere else. Shihouin had set out a clone, which was a smart move on his part. It was a good thing, seeing his genin growing up so fast. "Anbu, shadow clone or not, that is no way for a ninja of the same village to behave." Kaosu could not see his face, so he took in note the red tattoo on his left side. He would now know this man, if he was able to see the tattoo. "I do suggest you tell me what you need and leave, because things are not looking bright for you." Kaosu soon sent out a few insects, because his other genin were not around, and he had hoped that this Anbu had nothing to do with anyt of that.

Kaosu did not wish to fight this man, but he knew if he had to, he would fight full on. He knew that this ninja was part of his village, so it was unlikely that he would attack, but nowadays you could not really tell. He had hoped the man would leave soon, because this team had something very important to do, and that was to finish this mission and return home. Moments later, Kaosu had found each of his Genin, hiding like they were taught. This made Kaosu proud of them. "You three sat where you are, until I give the signal to come out." He still had his eyes on the ninja whom had tried to attack his own genin. Kaosu took hold of his sword, but did not take it out from his cloak. He noticed that Towa had his out, so Kaosu only did this to make sure he was ready. "We have a mission to do, so if you please can run along, we'd like to get moving." Kaosu finally said after minutes of looking over Towa and his surroundings.

Kaosu soon jumped back, so that he could be closer to all of his genin if needed. "Alright you three, we need to head out and make our way to the bandit. He's not inside the sound village, so we do not have to worry about any ninja there, but this is the rice country, so keep a sharp eye out." Kaosu said talking one last look at Towa.

Towa smirked at the Jounin who got almost litterally, right in his face. He had half a mind to end his life right here and now, with the hidden blades, it would be all to easy at this range, It was clear he had a hot head. Emotions clearly doing the judging for em, something that Towa would never agree with. It only made him want to strike the man down even more, but he could not do that. Of course, he did believe he could easily destroy this team. There were a few of his seals that would render everything they did to him useless in the most extreme use of the word. But that was not to be for now, no not yet. Perhaps one day this Jounin, who he knew to be Kasou, would feel the cold sting of his blade between his ribs, embedded in his flesh, but today was not that day.

His eyes never changed, aside from blinking now and again. He firmly believed that macho staring contests were for amateurs as it was completely unnecessary and in fact weakened the warrior by draining the eyes when it wasnt needed. Why on earth anyone would knowingly and purposefully inhibit one of their senses just to appear like the bigger hard ass was beyond him. It didnt matter who looked to be the bigger bad ass, but who proved it, and if someone tried that ploy with him, they made it all the more easier to take their life. He did not take part in such trivial trifles.

Finally the Jounin got out of his face, and Towa continued only to smile in an almost sarcastic way. If he had been paying attention, he would have seen that shiounin was in no danger what so ever. And to not pay attention when it was even slihgtly suspected that someone you cared about was in danger..... But who was he to judge, he didnt really have that kind of feeling for anyone at all, so he couldnt really gage it properly. He still would have thought Kasou would have been smart enough to realize the true nature of his calling.

Meh, the boy was never in any real danger. I simply gave him the incentive to build better traps and become more beneficial to your team later on. It just so happens I do have a message for you. My master Faust called me out on his way back from Kumo, a new mission of urgency has arose that he must take care of. Its not an official mission, but he wont return until its complete. I am going with him. He sent me so he could get started and as his subordinate I could back him up after delivering this message. He wants you to tell the Hokage why he hasnt returned just yet and why I left in such a hurry. It is of the uptmost urgency but it can wait till after your mission is done of course.


Towa finished his well rehearsed gander. It was now laid out and his job here was done. Now he had to exit and keep the appeal of the ANBU alight as to not arise suspicion. He reached up and replaced his mask, positioning it over his face. He gave a slight tilt of his head in an inclined display of mock respect. Then using all of his speed, disappeared from their sight. As it just so happened, he was heading in the same direction, but he didnt want to risk causing problems with that Jounin. It wasnt worth it, not yet. He had other business to attend to, and he could not lead the team to his true comrades. And so he was off, making haste to the rice country, sure to arrive before they did. It was starting to unfold.

Shi didn’t really give a rat’s ass about anything that was going on. There were more important things than this, the mission being one of them. Now since this Jounin had showed up and slowed the entire process down, everything would be that much slower. Shit. He really wanted to get on with the mission. Just how long had they been gone and how much time had they actually wasted. Kaosu-sensei and the Jounin were at each other’s ends, about to fight over a small little joking surprise. Shi sighed mentally as he re-adjusted his backpack strap. Really? He knew Kaosu was trying to be a little protective over the genin, but if the Jounin ANBU really wanted to attack them he could have easily done it alone time ago.

Shi focused on other things than the quarrelling Jounin. Now that he didn’t need to hide his feelings from his team anymore, he didn’t feel like doing everything Kaosu told him to do. Maybe if he’d told him start on the mission he’d be a bit more enthusiastic about that, but for the moment he really didn’t want to listen to petty directions, like ‘sit here until you get a signal to come out’.

After waiting a few minutes, the ANBU finally left, leaving the team alone once again. It was time to get moving. Once it was time to move, Shi took off towards the mission with the rest of the team. They could worry about that message later. This mission was more important.
Ooc: short I know

At her distance away from all of the commotion, Ayame would not be able to hear anything that was going on between Shihouin and that mysterious stranger who had just appeared in the camp. If she could just get a bit closer, a few questions in her head just might be answered. Taking that to her head, Ayame decided to move from the safety spot of the tree and go down in some bushing, slowly but surely heading up the hill that would direct her to the camp grounds. Once she was just close enough to hear exactly what they were saying clearly, Ayame stopped where she was ducking in a heap of bushes.

She had gotten there a little while after Kaosu had taken the initiative to come out of his and Raizo’s tent as a means to protect him. This confused Ayame because she wasn’t sure if the man had come to fight. And if he did, it sure wasn’t Shihouin because knowing that battle ready Gennin, the popped Shadow clone would’ve been the opening bell to Shihouin’s attack so she didn’t really assume the worst. Still, she didn’t want to give away her position as of yet because no shinobi could ever be too safe.

Ayame stayed and watched as the tension between Kaosu and the stranger grew, trying to see if she could recall this person. Sure, the ANBU had quite a few members and there were a number of branches, plus they were quite a secretive group, but you would think that the Granddaughter of the ANBU Captain would know a thing or two about it’s members. Oh well, seemed like she’d never find out at this rate, all she could get out of him was that his particular uniformed marked him as a barrier squad member, which confused her even more because that wasn’t too secretive branch

Ayame’s thoughts were redirected at the moment though as the events turned towards the end of the mysterious stranger’s side chapter and back on track to what they wre there in the first place for, the assassination of a dangerous bandit. She yawned a bit, since she already had her bag, Ayame was pretty set to go so once her team was prepared, she’d set off to the direction of the Rice Country to get this mission over with.

The sight of Kaosu caused Raizo to relax abit. There wasn't any point in worrying if their sensei was there. Raizo didn't know much about the ANBU member but he did know that his sensei wasn't weak. The words spoken by Kaosu reached Raizo's ears in the place behind the bushes where he was crouched and a grimace spread across his face. From the way Kaosu put things, it almost sounded like he was threatening the man. There wasn't vaild proof that the ANBU meant any real harm and Raizo couldn't see the reason why his sensei had taken such an offensive manner of speaking. It revolved around the fact that the man had pressed his blade against the back of Shihouin's neck, clone or no clone. Raizo could see the reason why Kaosu was talking to the man the way he was, but knew that if it had been him, he would have approached the situation differently.

It didn't last much longer. The ANBU spoke a few choice words to Kaosu and then left quikcly. Raizo relaxed his grab on his sword and then stepped out from his hiding place, walking to stand beside his sensei. Shihouin and Ayame revealed theirselves not long afterwards and they set out into the forest, towards their destination. It wouldn't be long before they reached where they were going and that was when the true fighting would begin. This situation had only opened up their eyes to the dangers that were out in the world beyond the village and Raizo thanked the ANBU for that. It allowed him to ponder the situation they might fall into more and better prepare himself for whatever came his way.

The forest around them was alive for so early in the morning and Raizo lept from branch to branch with a smile on his face. He enjoyed the outdoors, enjoyed the fresh air and the freedom of it. Being outside the village allowed him to open his eyes to more experiences and things that he wouldn't have been able to face in the comfort and security of the village. Most normal citizens of the village rarely left. The merchants left regularly to sell their wares but that was as far as it went with outside contact. This was why Raizo was happy that he was a ninja. He was able to leave the village on missions that benefited the village in more ways than one, allowing them to make money being the most important. Focusing his eyes head, Raizo lept beside Kaosu and moved along at as steady pace, his eyes glinting with the prospect of completeing this mission.

OOC: Sorry for shortness.

Growing out from a tree about 20-40meters away from the group as silently as possible Soren watched the group and Towa, he left... he speculated that the man had something in mind when it came down to these people, they too seemed to be heading for the rice, i better keep an eye out for them Soren concluded for himself, it would be bad if they would interrupt with the mission that Riku had given a few other akatsuki member`s, off course there was nothing he would do to stop them, that and he was sure that his "friends" could handle them too, in the current strength level the genin where a mere burden to their sensei, who was the only real threath in the group at the moment...

He was a sensory type, so he was easily able to conceal himself not only in a sensing way but also to allow his apperence to melt into the surroundings, which made it impossible to detect him from that distance even for someone who could wield a sharigan or a byakugan if they did not to know where to look or that someone was looking at them, after all he gave out no chakra signature`s when he had merged with the solid material around him...

The importance of this fact that the group was heading towards rice could be a coincidence therefore Soren did not think of it to be such a big deal, but it was a bit suprising that Towa had decided to meet up with the group, he knew off course that Towa had been working under cover for quite a good while, but that did not buy his trust not that it mattered either way, these kids would hopefully just move along and not get caught into Riku`s game of chess,if not each and everyone them where that already... It really depended from what point of view you looked at it, if you decided to look from Towa`s point then he probably had them in his grasp already, but that was really hard to tell since the "sensei" did not seem to have been the least taken aback by Towa`s words...

His head and his extensions where the only things that shot out from the tree up to his neck he slowly started to withdraw himself back like he normally did...

OOC: im gonna have to cut this short, i really did not have much to add though but you guys should ignore this post i just don`t want to appear entireley dead here