More Sand… [Force enter]

[Kiko]

The world returned to normal light for the old traveller as the his feet finally felt the solid steps of the grand Toraono Dojo after what had seemed like endless dunes of cursed sand. Turning slowly and taking a seat cross-legged on the steps of the colossal building, he placed his broom almost ceremoniously on the step in front of him. Pulling a dog-ended cigarette from behind his ear the old man lit a match on the stone beside him and subsequently applied the flame to the tip of aforementioned cigarette.

Once the craved nicotine reached his lungs and subsequently his eagerly awaiting bloodstream his eyes looked to where he had struck the match. A small trail through the sand blown steps, like a miniature meteor impact, brought to his attention just how much sand must be blown onto these steps each day… and how they were quite urgently in need of a good sweep, the ‘Once he was done his cigarette’ kind of urgent.

When he could stand it no more (aka he had finished his smoke), the robed man stood, lifting the broom over his shoulder and hoisting up his monks ‘skirt’ in preparation for the work about to commence. Yong surveyed the area, quickly calculating the required work. Welp… shouldn’t take more than a solid half hour to knock this mess into shape. Once I’m done I will just head on in.<i></i>

Squinting his eyes slightly as he spoke to the great sandy steps directly, ”Is it not written ‘Hard work never did anybody any harm’”.<i></i>

Once the steps were clean he would head on in, not many people would stop the walk of a weird little old man in old monks cloths carrying a broom and was easily ignored by the more important, busy people of this little shinobi world.

Or perhaps they have heard of rule number one?

[OOC: Run time: 30 min (Half Time Card)]

 

[Raizo]

[Catch]

It wasn't every day that a small, old man would enter the village by literally cleaning up after himself. It was honestly, the notion of cleaning up the entryway, that had never really crossed his mind before. Maybe it was fact that sand was already everywhere, its persistence well documented, or maybe it was simply that he never really held the reverence for the declining bloodline of the Toraono and their museum of vanity that happened to serve as their gateway into the village. It might have also been a mixture of his own laziness, unsure of when he would have last touched a broom. Either way, it was an interesting sight indeed, and while he did not want to hassle the old man, the very fibers of his being would not allow him to just sit idly.

Geez... a while back it was the incredibly young kid trying to stumble his way in and now its the much older man trying to humble his way in... what a bizarre series of extremes I happen upon at this doorway.

"Oi, 'preciate the cleaning up after yourself, but it seems you accidentally forgot to hit the official checkpoint."

The full six foot, two-inch frame of Roku would appear before the older man. While lumbering over the man just due to their different physical makeups, the figure of the Sennin was not coming across as hostile or intimidating. He would not feel right to be viewed as the man that just stepped up on an elder and attempted to punk him down. What sort of shit bag would that make him? No, he would have his smile already plastered to his face as he would wave at the wrinkled figure.

"Let's get you over to..."

He would look back at the old man and then raise a brow a bit before glancing back towards the check-in point. The distance, in his mind, seemed to grow exponentially.

"Actually... let's take care of it right here. How can I help you today?"

 

[Kiko]

"Oi, 'preciate the cleaning up after yourself, but it seems you accidentally forgot to hit the official checkpoint." <i></i>
The small man wrinkled his face into something like a ‘warm smile’ in reciprocation to the giant of a man’s of smile.
"Let's get you over to..." <i></i>
The man looked around for a moment, logistic calculations obviously taking place before the giant reached his conclusion.
"Actually... let's take care of it right here. How can I help you today?"<i></i>

His wrinkled hands reached into one of his many robe pockets and removed tobacco as well as rolling papers, his broom leaning in the crook of his left arm as he brought his hands together. The old man began to respond as he added tobacco to the flimsy paper, tentatively sorting the dark brown shreds into a more ordered state.

“Truth be told it was no accident my giant friend…”<i></i> The words spoken nonchalantly whilst he brought the half rolled cigarette to his mouth, running his tongue across the paper in an obviously well practiced manoeuvre before completing the roll and placing the cigarette into the corner of his mouth.

”…just walking in usually works. I’m just a little harmless monk after all.”<i></i> He gave the giant a wonky, conspiratorial wink as he lit the cigarette with a match.

Puffing happy little clouds of smoke into existence the old man gifted the giant another warm smile, ”As for how you can help me today… you could elaborate as to how one would gain access to the underground portion of you super-secret Shinobi Village without having a silly passport? You could take me to your Kage or Sennin because I am a probably a very naughty boy? Or you could even, and this one’s a little out there, you could even grab a broom and give me a hand? ‘Super secret Shinboi Village with unswept steps’ is probably not the best first impression… unless that’s the look you were going for?”<i></i>

 

[Raizo]

“Super secret, huh?”

He let out a relenting sigh.

“One day, long ago, I would have agreed with you. Shinobi villages...secret? I feel like we are all mostly children’s forts with gatekeeper: you either get let in or you get sent away. The secrecy behind finding one of these villages is about as hard as finding your own right hand now a days.”

It was true, at least from his experience. The concept of the ninja village truly being hidden seemed like a relic of the past, maybe even further back in time than he realized. Now it felt like the villages, especially after interacting with his international counterparts at the World Tournament and the large scale exam hosted by the Daimyo, were just flashy tourist spots. Everyone knew they existed and there was only one true village, if it even existed, that seemed to hold the notion of being hidden; The Sound Village.

“Hell, our village isn’t even underground. We are surface people, for the most part. Free to breath in this dry air and sand, free to welcome and entertain anyone who is willing to travel the desert expanse...”

He would tap his chin for a bit with the index finger on his metallic left arm.

“Hmmm...not much of a cleaner, more of a mess maker. How about this, you answer a couple of questions for me and I will take you to a village higher up. Sound good!”

If the old man would agree then he would transition to asking his questions.

“Number 1, and honesty is all I want, is your reason for being here fleeing from and/or due to criminal activity or a criminal past?”

It was worded in a way that would not make it impenetrable.

“Number 2, why are you wishing to enter this village and from where are you journeying from?”

This one also left a considerable amount of variability to it.

“Lastly......can I get you some water? It has to be absolute hell out there.”

 

[Kiko]

Yong nodded sagely as the younger man spoke of better days, when the shinobi villages were actually secreted away for security reasons. The general peace had allowed the villages to grow fat and proud which had in turn bred corruption and greed… both mortal sins in the old monk’s opinion.

He chuckled slightly as the giant made his pun on cleaning followed by a request to ask a few questions before proceeding. ”A mess maker you say? Everyone has their place in the world, I am truly glad you have found yours my giant friend. Ask your questions gatekeeper, I am not afraid.”<i></i>

As the man asked his questions Yong could feel their intent if not their direct enquiry, he would answer as best he could… given the circumstances.

”I flee from no one and nothing, and, to the best of my knowledge I have broken none of laws of this land… Yet.”<i></i> Giving the man another conspiratorial, face scrunching wink as he nudged the last word into his sentence.

”I travel from the country of Moon, far to the north east. In the Twin Mountains is a small village populated by exiles of Konohagakure, the Myakashi clan…
This is why I have come to your gates this day Shinobi of Suna… My name is Gashadokuro, emissary of the Myakashi Clan and sage of the Wilds.
I bring a message and an offer… for is it not written, ‘Big events always cast their shadows.’’<i></i> Yong gave the man his usual friendly smile, if the shinobi was capable of detecting such things he would sense no underlying threats or subterfuge present at all.

”Water would be lovely, thankyou.”<i></i>

 

[Raizo]

His brow would arch up as the wrinkles upon his forehead would begin to scrunch up. Some of the responses from the old man were clearly vague, which he had intentionally left rope for, but where he was having trouble truly deciphering was if the elder planned on causing trouble or not. Was that just a playful comment or was it more ominous? The little man was turning out to be a bit tougher to read than his last few visitors. The fact that he only seemed to interact with weirdos when he was at the gate was all the more reason he wished to avoid the area like the plague, yet his honor bound code would keep him from shying away from that.

"Message and an offer--so you are here on business. Well, I will page the Kazekage for you and take you to his building... though I'm not sure how busy that bastard is right now."

His still flesh and bone hand would rub his check as his mind started to wonder if the Kazekage was present or not. So much had been happening, it was hard to keep an eye on the elusive leader. Either way, he would place his finger upon his headset to open the line.

"This is Roku, there is a foreign emissary from a small village in Moon Country and he is needing to have a chat with the Kazekage. Could someone find Katsuo for me, tell him to meet me in the Tower?"

His attention would turn back to the old man as he would remove a flask from under his cloak. Before ultimately giving it over to the old man, a look of shock would shoot over his face as he would retract the flask before procuring a different flask from under his cloak and handing it to the man.

"Sorry about that... I keep one for business and one for pleasure."

Yep, he had almost handed over his alcohol flask, but instead of getting liquored up and further dehydrated, Gashadokuro would instead get what he was asking for; water. After giving the man a moment to take in the refreshing liquid he would motion for him to follow him.

"There's some colder stuff in the Kazekage Tower. I assume you'd rather head there first before sightseeing?"

He would begin to walk away from the village entry point, assuming the old man was going to follow him.

"Oh yea, welcome to the village. Don't cause any trouble."

And with that he would take off, with presumably the old man in tow, towards the Kazekage Tower.

OOC: Entry granted; taking to Kazekage Tower

 

[Kiko]

The old man chuckled slightly as the shinobi referred to the Kazakage as 'that bastard'. He was glad to see that, despite forty years having passed since he last set foot in Suna the 'spark' of the Sunan people lived on...

Again a small chuckle as the boy had offered him a flask of alcohol, ”No need for apologies Roku-san, perhaps later?”</B><i></i>

His wrinkled, leather like fingers reached for the offered water flask, drinking deeply from the clean though slightly warm water within.

When asked if he would like to proceed to the Kage’s tower Yong nodded in agreement. ”Don’t worry about me kid, ‘not-causing-trouble’ is probably my middle name…”<i></i> He said with only a hint of sarcasm, as he indicated to the shinobi to lead on.

The old monk mused to himself as he walked through the threshold of the Shinobi Village hidden in the sand.
<B>Another village entered without completion of any official paperwork nor a proper search and seizure… for is it not written, ‘Don’t put that in your mouth, you don’t know where it’s been’… not written indeed…

[OOC: Topic left with Roku]