Necessary Encounter [Ryuichi/Maru]

[Kiri]

Uri was wearing a red jacket that day when he decided to explore outside the village with his student, Ryuichi. He figured a weekly routine to get out from the bustling and almost authoritative enclosure of the village was necessary to hone one’s strength in the comfort of nature. Comfort? Or was it in the awareness of nature and the potential risks involved? Either way, if he was going to make an ANBU out of Ryuichi, he knew he’d have to let the boy explore new terrains and acquire the skills to survive. That was the simple adventure for today.

However, as much as he would like this to be a formal ANBU training, he didn’t feel the need for it. The boy was not even a genin yet. In any case, today he was simply a normal jounin named Aoi and he saw no need to hide behind a mask. Besides, he liked his red jacket as it was comfy and kept him warm in the cold weather of Lightning Country.

He pauses as they reach the end of the mountains and would now be near the lowlands. This particular place was just around the foot of the mountains so the elevation was still high to some degree, hence some hilly slopes in the distance. But there were already signs of patches of trees to one side and the plains farther into the horizon. For now, Uri would make them stay there by the mountain pass as he sits on a large rock overlooking a drop into a ravine below. “Right. I’ll be here. So you better try your luck if you can catch anything in the lowlands for lunch,” he said as he looks at his wristwatch. A good five hours before lunch. A set deadline meant the boy would would have to act fast and keep the time in check.

[Topic Started]
[Requesting Ryuichi and Maru, in that order]

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

Ryuichi had woken up at dawn that morning, and found himself reading a book on chakra control while enjoying a morning tea before Uri decided to take him along on a walk. Of course, Ryuichi didn't have any reason not to, and a day without training could give him a good break. With a little bit of yen at the tea shop's counter he left with Uri out towards the edge of kumo.

When they arrived at the lowlands, Ryuichi had been able to notice some things that he hadn't before. Like noticing a single bug on a blade of grass from a reasonable distance, or see birds up in trees where they would normally blend right in. Had he even improved to a point where this was easy, or was it a placebo effect? The white haired boy didn't think much of it past that, and just enjoyed the decently long walk he was taking.

Uri sitting down in front of the large ravine had Ryuichi standing beside him to look it over, and thought abour what Uri said. He soon realized what he meant, and his eyes went a little wide as he said "Ah! Wait, you want me to get lunch? Without you?" He asked, rubbing the side of his head. He wasn't sure if he could make it to Raiden's eye, or Port Cirrus and back in time so he had to figure out what else to do. Looking down the ravine once more, he notices a stream coming through.

He nodded, and waved to Uri, walking to a nearby tree. "I'm on it. Hope you like fish." He said, ripping off a nearby tree branch that he would use later, and had it tied to his back using his trusty black cloth. He looked down the ravine once more, and realized something. There was no pathway leading down. He sat down, and looked everything over for a while, trying to find a good place to climb down. He found one spot going down the ravine which seemed to have more defined, jutting rocks to use as stepping stones. He walked over the area he planned on climbing down, and took a long and deep breath. He was having second thoughts on trying to go to the river. "You sure you want me to get this stuff?" He shouts to Uri, looking over the ravine, and crystal clean water running at the bottom.

[topic joined.]

 

[Midori Futotta]

It hadn't been long since he entered the country and he finding his way to the lowlands after he accidentally caused an avalanche because he he decided to complain as loud as he could just to hear his echo travel. It was a good thing that thing like having a broken neck or missing limbs don't affect him that much, after all his bones and organs were all composed of dark squirming tentrails so it was hard to cripple or even sever his limbs. Unlike most places he's seen around in lighting country that was mostly composed of mountains and snow, the lowlands were pretty green. He could even see some fresh water rivers as he wondered onwards to do a little sightseeing, walking along along the side of the river seeing if he could see any of the locals around.

Of course, if someone were to see him he would clearly be pointed out as a person who isn't a resident of cloud. Maru didn't wear the typical shinobi gear neither. Wearing all black outfit along with his black trench coat, his gloves on his hands were a chilling blood red, and on his face he had on a eye mask similar to what you see in an English Ballroom. Since his exile he had been working around as a mercenary/hired thief, a rebel shinobi who was demoted back to academy student and never even bothered to finish the ninja academy because he was thrown out before he even got the rank of Genin. Mostly because he was a problem student, he couldn't work together with others, starting fights, helping other students get away with pranks, a bad boy pretty much. There had also been rumor that a group of academy students have been causing trouble around in konoha since they idolized the Academy Student who broken every rule and gotten exiled. Now to kill his boredom he was going around trying to get rich off the lives of others while taking from the people who hire him. A win-win on his part!

Maru squinted his eyes, seeing someone who was pretty close to the river while another was sitting along the ravine. The young mercenary smirked. “Well looks like I get to say hi to the locals.” Maru said, taking his time in approaching them. Not bothering to keep himself hidden or anything of the sort.

[Maru Has Entered!]

 

[Kiri]

Uri smirked as he watch the boy realize his task. It was amusing, almost parentally amusing as he watched Ryuichi carefully go down to the river to try a hand in fishing. And when the boy looked back at him to ask if the catch was okay, Uri simply sat back and waved. “It's your food. I brought my own, silly.” He called back.

It was just at that moment when he felt a strange presence in the air. He remained perched as he looked on, eyes already tracking at the approaching presence along the river area. Should needed be, he would have to drop down and take charge. But at the moment, he didn’t want to jump the gun, and as such, he was keeping his own chakra pulse in check as not to spark anything unwanted.

So he would remain quiet for the time being, wondering how Ryuichi would react to this situation.

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

"right. This is for me..." Ryuichi confirmed, looking down the ravine. He took one more deep breath, and turned around getting on his knees at the edge of the massive crack of earth. "I'm going down now, Sensei. I got this." He confirmed, taking his first step down on a small jut of rock in the ravine wall. The moment he did, he realized how this entire thing would be more of a challenge than planned. Because all of the surface area of the stepping stones held nothing but his toes, all of his weight had to be held with very little room for error. This wasn't like the jutting rock formation a few days prior, which was way more rugged and easier to climb.

Ryuichi, of course knew that just waiting would tire him out more as he began to scale down the wall. His toes barely being able to support his weight as his other limbs found lower places to settle. This would then repeat as he slowly went down the ravine, and he started to noticeably sweat.

Then, one off step made his left foot slip, and his heart skipped several beats as his grip in his hands tightened, and his other foot slipped as well, and his lower body dangled freely for a few seconds before he tried to put them back up on more jutting stone. When he found one he quickly put his right foot on it, as it quickly crumbled away. This made him start to breath irregularly before continuing to find footing. He eventually found himself standing on one single rock with both feet and it barely held him. He had to find somewhere to get a better footing, and his hopes for a place were answered when he saw a large ledge about 5 yards to his left. Big enough for him to sit.

He soon found himself moving sideways slowly, until he was only a yard away from the ledge. He began to swing his body back and forth to gain momentum. "One.....two.....HYA!" He said, jumping the several feet to land on the solid ledge. He cheered, and caught his breath, before holding a thumbs up towards the top of the ledge, where he thought Uri would be. Of course at this point he couldn't see him at this angle, but it was the gesture that counted. He then decided to sit for a minute, looking down to see he was about a third of the way down already. "Piece of cake..." he assured himself, rubbing his arm.

 

[Midori Futotta]

Well it seemed someone noticed him, the man who looked to be the teacher was seemingly unnerved when seeing Maru. Most people had a strong sense when it came to identifying any would be troublemakers around and he was known for sending bad vibes, but he wasn't too worried about his safety. He was after all, immortal.. After he came close enough for him to be heard, Maru decided to make himself known. “Yo! Can you tell me where the village gates is?! I'm not from around here!” It was obvious that he wasn't a local, a loudmouthed guy dressed in mostly black was not someone you would normally forget. As he approach, Maru stayed a couple meters away to keep some distance between him and Uri. He rubbed his chin, wondering if this man had a bounty on his head that he could cash in on. He didn't exactly look like the teacher type.

“Howdy” Maru said. “I’ve just came from Wind country from working around there as a mercenary, decided to head up here to see if there is anyone around here I can cash in on. Rumor around here was a missing nin got into the gates when the ANBU had been slacking.” He said, going into his coat pocket looking for the photo of the man someone gave him along the way before handing pulling the photo out. “Somebody said that they've seen this guy sneak into the village, you've seen any rogues around besides me? Know how much Kumo would pay for him? " If the man would look at the photo he would see the image of the culprit. Of course you couldn't see many features because it looked pretty snowy but one thing you could see that he wore a beige colored traditional Japanese hat, and a black cloak. His face wasn't shown...

Unlike the people of this village, Maru wasn't hunting down rogues to protect people nor was he doing what he does out of the kindness of his hearts. He was only in it for the money, that and because they are easy to rob without consequences. Since the man looked like a resident he could probably tell him more about this rogue who's running around and see if he is worth the risk in capturing.

 

[Kiri]

Uri stood up and faced the unknown man without hesitation. He had to make sure that his student was safe. Now that this man presented himself as s bounty hunter, a rather rare introduction, there was no way to be certain of the man's actions. In fact, it could all be a lie.

"If you need any information, I suggest you go to the gates. It's rude to ask intricate details from passers by." said Uri as he took to stand in between Maru and edge of the ravine where Ryuichi was. "For starters, there have been news of a disturbance lately. A certain masked individual. Are you perhaps.... Referring to that?"

He was wary but he was also prepared to act.

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

Ryuichi quickly froze while resting on the stone ledge, feeling a sudden surge of tension. He looked back up towards the cliff. 'What is this feeling...?' he thought, thinking that something went wrong.

In an instant Ryuichi had to try something that he had seen several times. 'I gotta do this quick. Chakra into the soles of the feet, and focus.' he thought as the bottom of his feet began to glow with a bright white intensity. He placed his foot on the wall in front on him, and watched as it stuck in place for a moment...before sinking into the rock, sending splinters of stone flying outward.

'Shit! I gotta make this fast.' he cursed himself, putting his other foot on the wall which had the same effect as the last, breaking the rock underneath his feet due to using too much chakra. This, however was nothing but a minor setback in the white haired boy's eyes he began sprinting up the wall leaving behind imprinted footprints in his path.

Ignoring the rock splinters that were flying up, and cutting his legs, Ryuichi found himself back at the top, seeing a new figure. Guessing it was too late to stay hidden he lifted himself back up, and eyed the new arrival.

With a few heavy breaths he glanced at Uri, then back at the masked figure. "Hey U-...Aoi-Sensei. There's no fish in the river." He lied, hoping Uri would notice that. "And uhm...who's this...?"