One Step Forward, Two Steps Back [Open/PM]

[Kiri]

It has been a year since Kiri had left Kumogakure’s gates. He was now, once a gain, home. But in the young shinobi’s mind, he wasn’t at all ready yet to return. In fact, he was filled with apprehension and perhaps, a bit of fear to come waltzing back in through the gates. Partly because he knew that the incident in Konoha would have been reported back to the Raikage by now, and the last thing he wanted was to make the Raikage feel disappointed at the chance he screwed up. And partly because he didn’t think he was ready to face his mentor, Osu, when he thinks he has yet to grow as a person. All in all, everything was really his fault so he took it upon himself to simply stay put in the outlands for now.

Sighing as he sat on one of the many fences of the small town in the outskirts of Lightning Country, Kiri looked out to the great expanse of hills, knowing that further to that direction would be the mountains, and further still would be Kumogakure. Dragon Tooth Pass would be where he would be granted his re-entry, that is if he was, at all, granted such a re-entry and not struck down because of the mess he had done. Sighing once more, he took out one of the herbal cigs that Junko had given him and started to light it, taking in a long breath, and feeling the calming essence along his chakra pulse. He had been training to control his beast, but sometimes, when his mind was less than its usual strong-willed-ness, he preferred the aid of the cig. Think of it as a catnip but for his demon, and while he didn’t want to be accustomed to it, let alone completely dependent on it, it was always a welcoming aid.

Looking down, he clasped his hands together as he falls into a deep thought. Never had he wasted time like this before.

WC: 333
[MFT]

 

[Yamanaka Utano]

A figure wrapped in odd looking clothing rounded the corner with a bag slung over his shoulder. He stopped for a moment and stared at the young man sitting on the fence glumly. The tall figure’s shoulders began to shake up and down with what appeared to be… Laughter?
After finishing chuckling, they approached Kiri and before he could protest slumped down on the fence next to him and removed his hood.
“Damn kid, what’d you do?” Haji said with a grin.

Haji looked older, or at the very least weathered. A few grey hairs had begun to sprout in his beard and hair, odd for a man in his late twenties, but not for one that had gone through ordeals like Haji. The missing tooth made his smile seem ridiculous and childish, but his eyes were tired and aged. There was something else off about his eyes too; They held an odd glow to them when looked at in the right light, but it wasn’t noticeable in the daytime unless someone was really looking hard. He pulled off his gloves to reveal his hands to be even more worn and leathery than before. His bottom right hand had lost another finger leaving only the index and thumb left.

“It’s been… Three years since I…” Haji trailed off. “Well it’s a long story, so let’s start with yours huh? What have you been up to? The fuck you doin’ all the way out here?” He said with a raised eye brow.
He set his ruck sack down on the ground in front of him and rested a set of hands on his knees to help him balance and picked his feet up to rest them on the bottom rungs of the fence.

“Didn’t kill anyone yet, didja?” He half joked.

 

[Kiri]

He gave another long sigh as if his entire body was just ready to melt into the fence and become one with the wood. Just then, he noticed the appearance of a stranger, so he lifted his head to glance and became flushed red in embarrassment as he realised who it was. Of all the people to spot him in his return, it happened to be the man who single-handedly kicked his butt back then– Haji.

“Nothing,” said Kiri defiantly, a little pout forming on his face before he glanced at the man once again, the latter sitting right next to him on the fence. The man had changed since they last met. In fact, if not for his sensing skill, he would not have recognised the chakra signature and recognised him as who he was. Then Kiri was a bit surprised at the missing finger when Haji took out his gloves and counted the years they’ve last seen each other. He wondered if Haji went through an unknown adventure that caused for his drastic changes. Still, he found it funny when the other had to balance himself using his other hands.

Then, he paused for a bit as he thought back at the entire events in Leaf Country. “Well… uh… almost?” he started first, trying to assess the other’s reaction, “But it’s okay, now. I just need to lookout better and make sure I don’t bring shame to my Raikage.” He paused again before sighing. “You remember Hoshi? Fate has done it’s weird ways and we’re now brothers. Junks-Sensei sorta… adopted us. But before all that… I almost killed him.”

The last thought left a bad taste in his mouth but he didn’t want to deny it. “Oh, but I guess the most recent trouble was in Leaf. I sort of… ended up… having to fight the ANBU captain at the gates. It was a very… uh… strange affair, and I can’t say it was all easy. Hell, it hurt so bad… and that’s pretty much why I’m here and not there.” He made a nudge towards the distance where Kumogakure was hidden among the clouds and mountains. “I don’t want him to be disappointed with me… but I can’t deny what has happened either. So I guess, I’ll just wait until my hearts settled and ready to return.”

 

[Yamanaka Utano]

Haji raised an eyebrow at the young nin he had once fought, it seemed that he had grown, but still had his pride attached as he pouted on the fence. But the young man gave in after a moment of sitting there in contemplation. A gentle smile crossed Haji’s face as he listened to Kiri’s problems, it was good to see someone familiar after all this time, it was almost as if he had never left the village. Then Kiri mentioned Hoshi and Haji’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Hoshi? Like, little twerp, always full of himself, getting’ into trouble Hoshi?” Haji laughed boomingly throwing his head back. “I’m surprised that you didn’t kill that kid. Hell, I’m surprised nobody has killed him yet!” Haji joked. “How did he survive fighting you and your other brother anyway?” Haji’s face was smooth and emotionless now, all business. He knew how serious the demon inside Kiri was. He sensed it when he first spotted him in the forest. Haji remembered Hoshi from that time too. It felt like it happened an eternity ago.

Kiri mentioned Leaf and Haji’s eyes narrowed on the young nin. “That’s… pretty serious…” Haji said evenly as he turned his gaze over the small village instead. Haji chuckled. “Don’t suppose you wanna just knock off and go live out in the wilderness with me instead huh?” he rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh. “Don’t feel too bad kid, shinobi have been getting in fights forever, it ain’t gonna start a war or nothin’. Sure, the Raikage might get on your case, but he just want’s what is best for all his people” He pat Kiri on the back roughly with one of his hands.

“Ain’t like you disappeared from the village for three years without tellin’ anybody… Even if it was an accident… an unbelievable one at that” he muttered. Haji paused and took in a deep breath closing his eyes as a breeze rolled through the quiet town. It was peaceful, almost like a calm before the shit storm he was most probably walking back into.

“I was climbin’ this mountain see.” He swallowed. “I used up all my chakra and showed and awful lot of contempt for nature and its power. I had just unlocked the gates and I wanted to test them on something worthy of ‘em” He clenched his nearly fingerless hand over his knee. “Well, I got knocked off that mountain and got buried under a heapin’ load of snow. I was trapped, out of chakra, and freezin’. Basically, I was fucked” He scoffed bitterly. “But I woke up in this dark place, it was warm, and there was chakra in the walls. It was the most peculiar feeling, like… like the air was saturated with chakra and every breath I took filled me with this warm tinglin’ feeling” Haji wore a sad smile. “Well, turns out I got swallowed by a big ol’ flyin’ whale” he put his hands up “I know, it sounds nuts, but there are more impossible things in this world than that. I’m getting’ to one of ‘em”
“So I was deep in this whale, she knew I was there too, sweetest thing you ever met. She felt so darn bad about eatin’ me on accident. She had just stopped by the mountain to get a drink and swallowed me up with all the snow” Haji chuckled a little. “It wasn’t like she could tell me how to get out or nothin’ do you know how your own insides are mapped? So I wandered inside of her for almost a year. Her chakra kept me sustained, hence the weird feeling to my chakra, after being inside and absorbing her chakra for so long it had an odd effect on me.” His eyes seemed to glow as he mentioned it.

“Anyway, she mentions one day that she had been havin’ this weird itch in her chest whenever she would take a breath, it wasn’t painful or nothin’, just a weird feel, like when your throat has a little scratch. So I tell her I’ll try and find my way around there abouts to see if I can’t find what the issue was”

"I spend a month trying to find where her lungs are, and when I finally find ‘em, I turns out that there were… other’s she had swallowed. There was this huge monastery built right under one of her lungs, it looked odd cuz’ they had to use any material she happened to swallow by accident. It was beautiful and hideous at the same time, but it was also massive. So I get in there and… there’s all these old men in there. Some from the hidden villages, some from places I had never even heard of. But none of that mattered to them anymore. They had become this weird fanatic cult that worshipped the whales” Haji paused for a moment collecting his thoughts.

“So it turned out that there were actually different sects of these monasteries, like, IN other sky whales. They communicated through this weird technique whenever the whales would migrate in a large pod. I only ever saw it done once, and it was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.” He went quiet, turning his head away from Kiri for a moment.

“Anyway” he moved on “I spent a couple years with them, they showed me techniques I’d never dreamed of, they have this weird fighting style that resembles the undulation of a flying whale” Haji laughed “It looks so fuckin’ stupid, but god damn if it don’t hurt like a bitch to get hit by” he rolled the shoulder of his odd clothing down to reveal an enormous fleshy scar that went through clear out the back. “I got this when I didn’t take it seriously. These guys ain’t nothin to fuck with. Pretty sure they could take over a village all on their own with this shit.” Haji shivered. “But these guys were dedicated to their study, and to the preservation of the whales. Turns out that they keep the whales healthy, like if they eat something that is threatening or they get sick, these guys would go and heal them. Their medical jutsu was next level. I swear these guys are from another world. The only time they ever leave is to collect one recruit every ten years.”

“I wasn’t technically one of their order, I hadn’t been selected, so I couldn’t stay with them for longer than I did. Eventually they showed me the way out. We waited until the great whale flew in to the same mountain for a drink of water and I dropped out through a gland behind one of her fins” Haji grinned.

“That shit was scary. But, I made my way down the mountain and now I’m here with you… God damn kid, sorry if I bored the pants off of ya, I kinda rambled on didn’t I?” Haji rubbed his hands on his pants.

“Village probably thinks I went all missin’ nin on ‘em, so this might get ugly when I get to the gates. You might not wanna be there when I do. Still ain’t convinced I’m gonna go…” Haji looked in the other direction away from the village. “Nah” He smiled sadly “Gotta face it sometime, if I run now, then I really will have gone missin’…” he trailed off.

[MFT]
[WC 1242]

 

[Kiri]

Kiri flinched at the admonition. He knew that he would be getting those the moment he returns home. Especially from those close to him or those who had experienced his ways. If anything, he may be needing to explain further into the incident. And just as Haji was going over the incident with Hoshi, Kiri defeated sigh and gave in. “Well, I would have killed him… if not for Junko’s interference. He came right on time. And I’m thankful that he did. I don’t know what would have happened if he didn’t. And as for the Leaf Incident….well, it was a bit scary when the Leafies were baring down consequences on my throat. Not to mention I didn’t know there was an alliance happening and the thought that my actions would have easily crushed the said alliance…”

He shivered as he thought about it, more due to the fact that his mentors would probably have gutted him for it, and perhaps a large Osu-chop on his head, and maybe thrown into prison for all eternity. No, he was never afraid of anything, and that often led him to bigger problems, but the thought of letting down his Raikage was just another thing.

Next thing he knew, both of them fell silent, seemingly admiring the passing breeze. It was strange how he could open up to the man. He wasn’t like this before. Perhaps his travel had indeed change him, even if it was short. With his time in Leaf, he learned to work with a team, to look out for each other, to open up a bit, and to simply let go and not be a stick in the mud or a stuck-up brat. He learned that he didn’t have to be so cold or silent, or always contemplating about the next hunt. He smiled at the thought as he scratched the back of his head.

With Haji telling his side of the story, Kiri was in disbelief. He was paying attention to every detail and surely the man’s appearance was proof of it… but then. “EH?! A WHALE?” he blurted out with a tilted head as he looked Haji up and down with a suspicious gaze. “Well, you do smell like tuna… Even my brother wanted to eat you up last time… I mean, never mind.” He let the other continue his tale and the more Kiri listened, the more it became harder to believe but who was he to argue?

Wait, a whale swallowing him up and now a monastery?! “Stop. Stop, stop, stop.” Kiri waved his hand as he looked utterly perplexed, shaking his head and taking in deep breaths before he faced Haji once more and allowed the man to continue. “Sorry, please go on.”

Upon hearing to the last bit of the tale, Kiri felt suddenly exhausted. It was definitely a strange adventure, something he wouldn’t want, but the other man seemed rather fond and happy about it, even if it left him scars to remember it by. He waved his hand and shook his hand in response, “No, it’s alright. I think it’s… fascinating to a certain bit. Just that it’s hard to really take in every detail of it. Not that I’m doubting you, I just… oh well. Never mind.”

Then the two were silent once more. Kiri looked at Haji and said, “Well, you can probably stay here for a few days. Think it over and then go. I mean, that’s pretty much what I’m doing as well. Ahahaha.”

He let his laughter die out with a sigh before looking out to the distance once more. Sooner or later, they would both have to face their truths. For now, they could be left on their own to figure things out. “Say, want to spar?” asked Kiri out of the blue and with a tone that made it sound oh so normal. “I mean, been so long we need to get to know each other again, right? And maybe we can blow off some steam and figure out how to go about our problems of re-entering while at it. I did get a lot stronger too, so you might be interested.”

 

[Osuteno]

"Hmmmmm? So this is where my troublesome student runs off to? And for what possible reason might you have problems with re-entering Kiri-San." From behind Kiri a hand gripped the top of his head and twisted it to where Kiri would be forced to look and a rare sight for Kiri would be behind him... A very cross Osu. After his ever so precious fishing vacation turned out to be a bust all the pent up stress and daily irritants were for the first time surfacing in Osu's eyes. It wasn't specifically aimed at Kiri or anyone but... well now was a bad time. Had Kiri ever seen Osu in so sour a mood?

It was quite a frightening thing to be honest, Osu being like this. It was just despite more than a year of managing the hospital side of the branch, from the employees, that issue where some of the medical stocks were in trouble, those couple days he wasn't feeling well and came back to find the nursing staff was wearing less than usual in particular that banana hammock guy who had pushed half of them to... that... the janitorial staff refused to touch the on call room until Osu promised them bonuses and a few vacation days... And then there was the fact he was always coming home late because of making sure the hospital stayed in one piece when he left. And Chiai, his wife would come smelling him to check for the scent of another woman and ask the twins if "daddy met a lot of pretty ladies at work" which being sweet little toddlers they would tell her yes they met lots and lots because Osu had to leave them with the nursing staff and the occasional MiT because for some reason half the babysitters in the village will hang up as soon as they him him say the twin's names or where they live. This stemmed from their relationship becoming a little strained because Osu and Chiai were only seeing each other for a few minutes before Chiai went to sleep in the mornings and at night right before she went to work because that was how their schedules lined up. Then Osu would lay the twins down, make a clone to watch them and then run off to do Sentou Henkan work in part because their little family definitely needed the danger pay... And then maybe he might get three, maybe four hours a sleep through the day through naps. It had been this way for a year now. A year now, and now his fishing trip that was supposed to help him relax was ruined and made him more tensed up. Many of the blood vessels in his body were literally knotted up from stress.

And now his student here... his student here was planning on just hanging around outside the village for a few days because he felt like it? "Kiri-San I don't think you quite realize how short on hands I am in the hospital lately. If you have time to be hanging out here sparring around for a few days I might just make sure those hands aren't idle for a moment for the next month or two, after all I am living proof it is possible for a person to be on call for 72 hours a couple times in one month because I found there was a scheduling issue after several of our nurses came down with the same illnesses at once after... things happened... and still handle an acute subdural hematoma right before my shift was almost up. I have only had two heart attacks in the last three months so I am sure someone as easygoing and energetic as you Kiri-San can do it... Unless,,," Goodness he was tarting to sound like his sister... Just try and calm down and smile and ease the tone of your voice.

The most strained smile appeared on Osu's face and his eyes looked less furious and more strained. Rather right now both were so strained cracks were appearing in his normally flawless skin around the corners of his mouth and eyes as the blood vessels were having trouble keeping his skin together. "I will admit I am not feeling... patient at the moment Kiri-San," Another thing Kiri might be noticing was Osu was using honorifics, "so if right now you indeed feel guilty over something or have an explanation, just know I am here and I am listening." Ahhhh... was he about to have another heart attack? No just calm down there is another person here.

The obviously strained pleasantness on Osu's face suddenly was aimed at the other figure, "How rude of me, I almost forgot. I should introduce myself, I am Chigokai Osuteno of the Medical Branch. I thank you for taking care of my student Kiri."

 

[Yamanaka Utano]

Kiri explained what had happened with Hoshi, and how a nin named Junko had intervened. Haji knew that name from a while back, but he couldn’t exactly place a face to it. He shrugged it off and made a note in the back of his mind to keep an eye out for him; it was good to know who was reliable amongst the other nin of Kumo. He knew that wasn’t always the case.

All throughout his story Kiri seemed to become more and more baffled. “It is rather unbelievable isn’t it…” he rubbed his chin contemplatively. “Hopefully the higher ups are more keen to believe a fairy tale like mine” he grinned wolfishly. “Y’know, you gotta get a better sense of when to get into fights with people” He teased “Fuckin’ up an alliance with them leafies wouldn’t exactly look good on the ol’ resume kid” he stretched and rolled his scarred shoulder, his arm still hanging outside of his foreign looking apparel.

Then Kiri asked him to spar and Haji nearly fell off the fence laughing. “I betcha did get a lot stronger, you and that brother of yours have got a hunger for battle” Haji poked Kiri in the chest with a hand. “Alright, let’s get it goin then, I’ve been itchin to fight anyone that isn’t one of those freaky strong monks. Over there looks goo-“ Just as Haji was pointing out an open field he felt a chill go down his spine.
A delicate beauty had snuck up behind the two of them, Haji had been so absorbed in catching up with Kiri that he hadn’t noticed until she was already upon them. The crimson eyes that fell upon Kiri looked dangerous and Haji would have considered her a threat if it hadn’t been for the familiar nature that she showed toward the kid. But as soon as she spoke the chill returned, because despite her pleasant expression, Haji could feel a menacing dread emanating from her.

Damn, she’s scary Haji thought trying to stay as quiet as possible while Kiri got scolded. Just as Haji was sure the woman was going to rip Kiri a new one she paused and turned toward him, and the look on her face was both inviting and terrifying to the six armed man.

“Uh… It was nothin’ ma’am” Haji managed. “Nice t’meet you too, the name's Haji” he was suddenly very aware of his exposed arm and chest, he quickly slipped his arm back into his strange looking tunic and covered his scarred shoulder. “Med-nin huh? Used to have a best friend who was a medic, he was kinda scary like you too, kinda why I liked him” Haji chuckled before realizing what he said and biting his tongue.

“Makes ya feel familiar, not a feelin’ I’ve felt in a long while” he quickly followed with sincerely.

 

[Kiri]

Kiri was very much eager to finally let loose. Partly because it would be a good way to think things through, and partly because it might just knock some senses into him. He really needed someone to give him a good beating, or maybe just to guide him.

But all that plan would change when a hand would suddenly find itself on top of his head. If Kiri never feared anything before, at that very moment, at the sound of the voice, at the touch of his head, he felt a chill rise from behind him. He could almost feel his face paling from the recognisable chakra behind and the force that was applied to make him turn and face the source only made him hold his breath.

To be honest, a mixture of feelings ran throughout him as he watched Osu and listened to every word from the other’s impromptu lecture. At some point, he opened his mouth to speak but didn’t. He waited until the very end. Indeed, he had never seen Osu as stressed and seemingly on the verge of killing him like this, not to mention that the latter’s hand was still in place on his head. Well except for that time in prison, this almost resembled it, but still, never had he experienced an Osu like this. After all, Osu was more of the silent type when he was truly angry. Right now, it was the admonishing Osu and he couldn’t blame the latter as it seemed fitting and just.

And when, the latter seemed to have calmed down for a bit, voice a little better though sounding still strained, and his eyes are intense as before, Kiri knew that this was as close as he could get to the normal Osu for now. But what was a “real Osu”? Was it the Osu that took care of him before? Was it the Osu in the prison? Was it the Osu at the gates?

Just thinking about it, Kiri lowered his eyes in shame, the joyful smile turning into a fine line, his own heart beat seemingly calming down from a sudden excited phase, and his strength to resist subsiding. But it was only for a brief moment and he raised his head, eyes forward to Osu, and he smiled. He reached out a hand to grab at Osu’s that was atop his head, but there was no effort to pull it away or tighten. Just simply holding it.

“Something,” was his only response before glanced sideways to look at Haji. He knew he couldn’t tell Haji’s side of the story as to why he was there and taking his sweet time before going back to the village, but he wasn’t exactly too keen on letting on what he had done. Eyes back to Osu, he continued, “I don’t think… I’m cut out for mednin.”

He let it sink to the other, but as he waited, his expression would change from calm to worried, to troubled, to determined, and to defeated. “Is part of it… but I don’t want to give up. But I may have.. donesomethingtoembarrasstheRaikage AND!” He suddenly spoke that last bit quite fast with a sudden halt before taking a moment to breath again before continuing with pain visible in his eyes, almost as if he was really having an internal dilemma, “I didn’t care what they’d do. I’m not afraid. I just didn’t want to be someone who would go back on his word and I promised not to fail again… but you… you made me promise to live and I couldn’t break that promise either and… I know that no matter what, failure is never an option. It is winning or death. And I knew I couldn’t walk away like a coward… because I’m not a coward. And what would they think of you, of the Raikage, if I simply walk away?”

Sometimes, no… often than not, when Kiri would be overwhelmed, he would just blurt out what was in his mind. And that was it. Once, Osu had reprimanded him of that bluntness of his. Of course it would lead him to trouble, but most of the time, it was the reason why he could never tell a lie, or deceive another. And sometimes, it was all he got to make sure he would never betray himself.

“Sorry. I really did try, but I don’t know how I can apologise to the Raikage like this. That’s why… I don’t think I should go back yet. Not until I can figure out what to say.”

[WC: 765]
[MFT]

 

[Osuteno]

Osu almost said something to correct Haji about the ma'am thing... But his precious student was being an idiot again despite how smart he could be.

Osu started getting concerned when he initially saw Kiri's expression... but then... "Embarrass the Raikage. You are worried you have done something that would embarrass the Raikage. Ayumu the Raikage. Ayumu the man who had to be taken into the hospital for treatment after having a garbage fight in an alley with Saeko. You are worried that you have done something to embarrass Ayumu..." Osu grinned despite himself (though the irritation was still strong in his eyes) and gave Kiri a proper Osu-Chop.

"What nonsense is coming out of your mouth? I have conducted thousands of autopsies over the years and not a single one had embarrasment listed for the cause of death. And what is this failure is not an option, only winning or death stupidity?" Osu gave Kiri a fiercer Osu-Chop. The ground gave way a bit due to the impact.

"As a medical shinobi you should know death is failure. There is no shame in calling the retreat when you can preserve lives by doing so. The only time you have permission to die is if your death with save more lives than any other options. Finally..."

Osu's fist swung upwards lifting Kiri off the ground momentarily and held him up for a bit just resting Kiri's stomach on his upraised fist looking straight into his eyes. "You being a stupid and reckless student obviously need to know your place better and need more guidance. I am the only one who can make a measurement of your capabilities as a Mednin. Also your mistakes are signs of my failures in teaching you. You are not allowed to delay any further and we will apologize together." A few people in the world might have called this last bit an almost touching moment.

Osu slowly lowered his fist to put Kiri's feet back on the ground... before gripping Kiri's cheeks and chin in a vice grip and lifting him off the ground again. "And of all the habits in the world why did you pick up smoking from Junko? I see someone needs to write a 60 page research paper on the effects smoking has on the lungs and other key organs and have it on my desk by this time next week." While Osu's eyes still had a lot of stress in them his smile at least had a lot of its original gentleness in it... for now at least.

 

[Yamanaka Utano]

While Kiri was getting lectured by Osu, and consequently beat on, a small package fell from Kiri’s person which Haji quickly picked up. They turned out to be Kiri’s cigarettes. Haji gave a little smile to himself and lit one, taking in a deep breath. Then Osu mentioned writing a paper to his student on how bad they were for you and Haji nearly spit the cig a half mile and when he was sure the two of them weren’t looking hucked the package into a nearby trash can and sat back down on the fence with nonchalance.

Raiden help that poor kid<i></i> Haji chuckled a bead of sweat dripping down his head, one of his hands waving a little to clear the air of the lingering cigarette smoke.
“You really are a lot like him” Haji murmered when he looked back at the woman in the yukata. HE scratched his beard absent mindedly. But from what he could tell, the lady did care an awful lot about Kiri, it was almost motherly the way that she lectured him, apart from the ass kicking. Haji would have intervened if that hadn’t been the way he had been taught as well.

“Sometimes you gotta get your ass kicked” he shrugged. Haji was curious however of the strength of a seemingly ninety-pound lady in a yukata who was literally punching a confirmed jinchu off his own feet. As discreetly as he could, Haji activated his Gate of View, his Chakra filling and breaking through an inner gate like a dam. His eyes focused on the woman and he noticed something peculiar, her chakra was flaring up vastly all over her body, her network was vastly different than it would be for any other person.

Haji let the gate rebuild itself as his chakra drained and the overlapping view of chakra disappeared from his sight. It was peculiar, but not something he would broach with the woman he had only just met. It wasn’t like that was the weirdest thing he had seen lately.

He scratched at his beard and looked up into the sky as he realized that scanning someones chakra network without permission wasn’t exactly polite. He hoped that the scary lady hadn’t noticed.
“I hate to interrupt, but if the kid is gonna go face down the village, I guess I might as well myself. Mind if I tag along?” Haji smiled kindly at the two of them, one lifted off the ground by his cheeks by the other. “I mean, unless Kiri would rather bunk off into the wilds with me that is” Haji joked and laughed boisterously.

 

[Kiri]

Despite the emotions boiling inside him, Kiri managed to still himself as he felt a reaction from Osu. Little did he know that what was to come was an unprecedented, historical, and albeit memory-engraving experience. A plethora of words came from the mouth of his mentor and without pause, there was an unexpected pain on the top of his head. Kiri let out a surprised yelp as he quickly found himself facing the ground from the unknown strike and a hand would try to reach over to rub his head.

But no, Osu would continue. A seemingly deeper analysis of his argument and then came another swing, like a heavenly judgment, a hammering thunder, a downward strike with the force of a thousand suns– Kiri only managed to brace himself before the impact and he did feel the ground quiver in response, his body wanting to give and just collapse on the ground, but surprisingly he managed to stay standing, though he wouldn’t be surprised to know he has a few bumps on his head. And as if he was expecting for more, he closed his eyes shut.

However, when nothing came, he opened an eye and listened to Osu’s momentarily gentle words before he found himself raised from the ground. And soon enough he was looking straight at Osu’s eyes, though this new position sort of reminded him of a being a baby and carried up high by an adult, perhaps in persecution? He gulped as he hung helplessly in a great balance while listening to Osu’s words, and to be honest, he wanted to tear up because he felt like he was really being guided at this moment. But he wouldn’t because he should be an adult and adults don’t cry – is his strange argument, at the very least.

Put down back to the ground, Kiri thought it was over and he would be allowed to speak, but the latter’s hands were quick to grab his cheek and chin and it felt like his face was being ripped apart by a very nagging mother as he was now being scolded about picking up his adopted father’s hobbies. A small tear was about to fall along his cheeks when he noticed that the said package of cigarettes fell. He kept mum about it as eyes momentarily glanced back and further between it and Osu, but soon found it that the package disappeared so suddenly from the ground.

Perhaps it was best not to mention to Osu that he almost had a second round of fighting and possibly defying a death sentence on him in Leaf when he decided to ask for the said cigarettes to be given to him from confiscation as opposed to answering their interrogation like a cooperative target. Yeah, that would mean completely getting his face ripped apart so no thank you.

And almost as if he had forgotten, he quickly glanced back to Haji when the other made his presence known again and reminded them that the latter would be willing to come and join in their trip back to the village. Again, the feeling of uncertainty settled in Kiri’s gut and he couldn’t help but move closer, inching his way, until he could hug Osu as tightly as he could. He was… taller than before after all, and if he only concentrated and calmed himself, he’ll realise that he wasn’t as helpless as a baby. Still, he did somehow looked like one who was about to cry as he hugged the smaller teacher of his.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think I could come back.” Then he paused and then looked back at Haji, “Ah, but can Haji come too? He might get lonely on his own. And despite what he’s teasing, I don’t have plans to go missing, okay?”

 

[Osuteno]

Osu sighed as he pat the head of his troublesome student who was hugging him, Kiri had always been taller than him but when had he grown so much? Osu also couldn't figure out why he was going to violence so more quickly lately and why he was getting through to people so well when he did. Even to himself it came off rather abusive. Still, hopefully this would really stick with Kiri... at least hopefully it would stick more than that awful odor on his breath. Smoking! Of all the things in the world.

A bit embarrassed Osu returned his attention to the other person standing with them. Osu let Kiri free and turned to face Haji and gave a cough. "Of course I won't mind going together, we have the same destination after all. And I don't worry about you going missing Kiri, I know that you know I would be the first to come and find you, and that I WOULD find you." Osu said tapping the center of Kiri's forehead for emphasis. It wasn't really a threat but a statement of facts like the sky appears blue due to Rayleigh scattering.

"I have to say though I am curious about this Mednin you know Haji-San... And why you smell of the inside of a whale... Reminds me quite a bit of a Sperm Whale I know off the northwest coast." Osu looked back towards Kiri, "An ex of Dayuu's, her brother scared him off fast though like all of them. Ryuichiro-San is just far too overprotective, but you know how kind and prone Dayuu is of trusting people she should hesitate to. Really, I don't see how those two are siblings sometimes... Aside from the whole half-orca, half-merperson thing." Osu failed to realize he was droning on again. He often started saying any and everything thing that came to his mind when he was somewhat... actually it wasn't even a matter of comfort, he simply talked too much. Still for anyone who listened carefully to Osu's ramblings they would very likely find they learn a lot, it was how Kiri received a good amount of his lessons after all... Or not when he was simply rambling on about the relationship troubles of marine mammals. Maybe the other two would eventually help Osu realize he was rambling on as he started walking towards the village, before he got lost in the topic of accidentally making an aphrodisiac when researching a quick acting pill for heart palpitations.

[TLUS] Heading to the village gates if we do leave, feel free to hold me back though if you want though lel.

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Hoshi had completed some much needed training outside of the village. He was traveling at a high speed jog on a dirt road. There would have been a small dust cloud following behind him quickly dissipating in thin air. He was look easy stoic, Byakugan already active. Even though he was in his own homelands, he could never be too safe.

Within range of about a thousand meters of the three Hoshi slid to a stop. He would have seen them before they saw him. There was a familiar chakra signature combined with a dormant, stronger chakra. This resembled his foster brother Kiri, and another chakra signature that was inclusively different than others. If Hoshi's intuition was correct, Kiri was with other people in the near distance. Hoshi took off running until they were closer.

He gritted his teeth, he was having mixed emotions about seeing Kiri. There was still questions he needed answers to, and questions he needed to ask. Hoshi would close the distance shortly within the span of ten minutes leaping and landing softly behind Haji. Hoshi rose to a stand, turning around to find Haji, Osuteno, and Kiri. His eyes widened, the veins retreating back into his face. Now there was definitely mixed emotions, Hoshi fell to both of his knees, bowing with his forehead.

"Osu sensei! Haji! Kiri..."

Hoshi rose to his feet, the newly promoted anbu smirked lightly at everyone. This seemed to be like some destined reunion between med nin and anbu. His smirk grew even wider at the thought, Haji hadn't been around in so long. Hoshi needed a mentor and would be sure to take this chance to be mentored by Haji.

 

[Yamanaka Utano]

Haji was about to protest to being considered lonely, but just ended up smiling softly at the thought. Kiri might be right, Haji had never truly been alone whilst within the sky whale, he always had someone to chat with even though she had swallowed him whole, he couldn’t bring himself to dislike the kind-hearted whale. “Fair enough kid, I wouldn’t turn down the offer” He gave him gentle pat on his back.

Then Osu brought up the med-nin he knew… and the fact that he smelled like a whale. “You have a keen nose little lady, you sure you ain't got a little Inuzuka in ya?” He gave Osu a surprised look and was a bit overwhelmed by the barrage of questions. “All in due time, and I doubt you knew him… he was a Chigokai, his name was Bugendai Ketsueki and… Well he ain’t around anymore” He spoke the last part softly, more to himself than the others. “Now the whale thing I can explain-“Haji started, but before he got into his lengthy tale once more the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he sensed a familiar chakra land directly behind him.

“Y’know normally when folks come up behind me they end up with a few less- Hoshi!” He yelled as he finally recognized the kid. “Well I’ll be damned, I had a feelin somethin’ dumb was headed this way” He roared, bear hugging the young nin with all six arms. He surprised himself with how happy he was to see the kid. “Hell, you grew up kid!” He placed a hand on Hoshi’s head “What are they feedin’ you man?”

“Last time I saw this little fruit was when he nearly got his ass handed to him by this one” he pointed a finger at Kiri. “What a small fuckin’ world we live in, what’re you doin’ all the way out here anyway kid?”

 

[Kiri]

Noticing the change in demeanor, Kiri eased up on hugging Osu. He didn't think he was the clingy type so it was much of a surprise to a him as it would have been to the latter. Still, receiving that earful of scolding about potentially leaving the village without notice and threatened to be hunted down (of which the latter could pull off easily) somehow brought back the nostalgic feelings. Guess he was just prone to getting people all worked up about him.

Just as he was about to address Haji about this particular Mednin that seemed to be known to both Haji and Osu, a presence made itself known. Blinking a few times, Kiri would tilt his head to get a better view of Hoshi as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Now, the first thing that came to mind was that Yuuto was probably around as well as the latter was Hoshi's teacher (and because he wasn't aware of any incident from Leaf). The second matter was about the long gaze of Hoshi and if this was Kiri from the past, he could result say that Hoshi was looking for a fight.

But before any of them could even continue in their unexpected encounter, there was a sudden tremor that moved across the land. At first, it was merely a trembling, shaking of the ground, until there was a loud sound of cracking in the air. Shrieks from the nearby cattles in the small town's farm would be heard. Birds were seen flying from the forest afar.

And as the ground continued to shake, all too fast, there was a feeling of emptiness. A hollowness. A listless, uncontrollable and uncertainty, just as the ground below them caved-in. Thus, dropping the lot (and around 300meters of land around them) into a sink hole and underground area. And when the shaking stopped and the dusts settled, the opening would have closed-in as debris stacked. And inside, only the lucky ones would survive scathed free.

Kiri coughed as he lied on the ground, a bit sore and lazy while head throbbed. He was still processing what had just happened. After all, it didn't seem like a normal phenomenon- not when at the moment the shaking strengthened, would they have felt an absorption of their chakra, thus weighting down their bodies and lagging their movements.

 

[Osuteno]

Just as he was about to start leading the way back Osu turned around to see the approach of an all too energetic child, the jumping was a bit more noticeable than normal running, but thankfully it seemed he got rid of that habit of flaring up his chakra unnecessarily though he still needed to improve his chakra control. Still he was an entertaining kid... Though the seiza and bow was a bit much to be on the receiving end of. And why was he the only one with an honorific... Well... He may have come off a bit strict in lessons. Still he couldn't help but note the awkwardness between Kiri and Hoshi... That Haji apparently was present for the cause of... What a small world this was. Osu couldn't help it when a short laugh escaped him when Haji mentioned feeling something dumb coming towards them.

"Now now Haji, there is no need to call Hoshi-Kun dumb. He is just a little impatience, inexperienced, too direct, a bit sloppy, a poor listener, undisciplined and needs to work on thinking ahead a bit," Osu said sincerely not realizing this assessment may or may not sting a bit more than being called dumb. "But he is a very talented young man with good instincts. I am sure by now he has grown strong enough for me to need to handle him directly instead of having him face just the chibis, not that I have ever counted direct combat as a strong point mind y- Hmmm?"

Something felt off. And a couple moments after that feeling appeared the earth began shaking. Ah... an earthquake. While certainly not unusual in the mountainous lightning country it had been a while since he felt one so... hmm? Something felt more off now. Ah it seemed they were standing on top of a sinkhole perhaps... unfortunate. Osu wasn't really phased as they fell, a few wire thin tendrils shot out of his sleeve and grab on to the wall of the cavern and... huh?

Concern now made its way onto Osu's face. He was about to send out more tendrils to grab the others but... well he discovered something very unfortunate. The place on the wall where he grabbed... basically destroyed his tendrils... no destroyed wasn't the right word, it drained the chakra from the tendrils and made them useless and fall apart. He looked around at the other rocks that were falling with them and seemed to be scattered along the walls and the approaching ground. While he had only seen a more processed version of the stone in person before, he had read enough to know this was a very very bad situation for them, him in particular. "Dimeritium!" Osu half shouted, half cursed. "Chakra absorption stone!"

Osu personally would be the worst affected here considering his chakra control was the only thing keeping him standing... or even in a humanoid shape. He had to think... Maximizing his chakra production was priority one. AS they approached the ground with a higher concentration of the cursed rock, three chibi versions of him climbed out of his yukata and began meditating on his head and shoulders. This had a huge initial drain on him but he would produce a significant amount of chakra to combat the drain.

[spoilername="Osu Chibis"][col3]

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[/col3][/spoilername]​

Osu managed to land on his feet still... but he was quickly feeling a huge strain on his system despite the assistance of the chibis... he needed more... Osu pulled something a bit more out of his body. His slim back facing the others, he pulled the shoulders of his yukata down as a black, eerie, and vile liquid began pouring out his back and neck, covering his upper body before flowing down and overlapped his clothing to make it seem as if he were wearing some sort of cloaked and hooded robe. The black liquid was the blood directly from his central heart, an odd substance he was able to put a little vitality and chakra into and get considerably more back out. It likely had something to do with those little fragments of divinity from his father... But he couldn't let that make him hesitate to use it at the moment. At the very least, now he had, if rather small, a surplus in his chakra production. Sadly that didn't prevent his chakra control from being hindered, as demonstrated by his very slow and poor movements. It was taking a lot of his focus to maintain a non puddle on the ground shape. Walking and moving even more so. This was getting old very fast.

"I-ish-.... Is....every...one......alright?" Even speaking was a huge chore down for Osu, since to do so he had to control blood vessels to move his mouth, tongue, lungs, larynx, etc. It was familiar to the year he spent learning how to control his body that had no bones or skeletal muscles. He would rather not revisit that period of his life to be honest. It was quite painful and unpleasant in several other forms. But more important than that at this moment.

"Get.. up... Something..feels wrong... Intentional... Hungry."

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Haji bellowed out toward Hoshi who awkwardly laughed at his comment. He didn't know whether to take offense or just laugh it off, his eyes would wander. Almost immediately Osuteno followed and Hoshi looked at him. Osu's selective words caused the young boy to hang his head. There was still much to prove to his superiors and room for growth. The boy sighed. Before he had the opportunity to utter a response he felt a rumbling tremor beneath his feet.

The boy would look out into the distance and see the frantic birds flying away. He was still as a stalking predator, assessing the situation until the rumble began again. The ground beneath them collapsed, Hoshi immediately lost footing and looked down. He was sliding away to fall to a gruesome demise before he caught his footing. From debris to the next, Hoshi would maneuver his way down from rock to rock. Again, the boy lost his footing and finally realized once Osu mentioned it.

“Chakra… absorption stone?”

It was true, every step against stone or rock, it felt like his energy was being siphoned directly from the source. Hoshi felt like it wasn't time, he wanted to keep his secret a little longer, but now there was no time. He still had about 100 meters to descend and he needed to land softly in order to remain healthy without injury. Hoshi would focus a small amount of chakra into his feet, he was going to naturally land with his energy cushioning the fall as strengthening his limbs. Right before he was ready to land, fifty something meters to the ground Hoshi was clocked in the back of the head by debris which knocked him out. Luckily for the youth, that same debris would break his fall as he lay limp on a rock.

His chakra was easily drained as he was out for a minute or two. Hoshi blinked back to consciousness slowly. He looked around, finally jumping up. Every second he was being drained like straining water.

“What happened?”

Hoshi looked up, they were completely underground, the only escaped caved in by earth and whatever minerals where in the area. It was dark, and cold. No doubt, they'd have to barrel their way out from the top. He activated his doujutsu seeing chakra everywhere. He could see what chakra was being siphoned by everyone and where it was all leading too. He would attempt to follow the trail, all the while he would limit the use and flow of his chakra, in attempt to preserve what he had left. Hoshi clicked his teeth.

“Any ideas? I was going to say we make our opening ourselves, but if we burst through the top we could just as easily crush ourselves under the weight of the fallen debris. Tch. Some walk in the park.”

Hoshi was in deep thought of their options. There were several ways one could die in this scenario from various courses of actions. He began to rub his bare chin, his eyes darting left to right searching for answers.

 

[Yamanaka Utano]

One moment Haji was laughing at the verbal beating Osu had unintentionally delivered to Hoshi, the next he was falling into a big ol hole of chakra eating rocks. Haji was feeling somewhat lazy, and rather than go through all the acrobatics he saw Hoshi attempting, leaping from rock to rock, Haji just curled into a ball and coated himself with some of his golden mucus.

Now a large ball of hardened gold, Haji crashed into the ground with a heavy thud, and then emerged from his shell like a cicada, a large dent left in the floor of the now sealed in cavern that the four had been devoured by. Haji got a look around inside the dark cave and then rubbed his eyes in surprise.

There were a bunch of tiny… Osu? “Man, just when I thought I’d seen everything” Haji rubbed the back of his head. He felt very sluggish and found it difficult to manifest his chakra, just as the others had observed.
Activating the gates will be a pain down here… Haji thought to himself. Trying to break down one of his own gates while his chakra was being drained would be like trying to fill a cup with water that someone was drinking out of with a straw, not quite impossible, but more annoying than anything.

The rumbling had not quite gone away, and Haji heard Osu mention something hungry. Hoshi woke up rubbing his head, and began assessing how to escape their little cave in, and Haji couldn’t help but feel like everything was in good hands.

“Just point me to wherever needs punching” Haji said with a yawn, losing chakra was making him sleepy. As Haji yawned, the rumbling beneath them grew stronger and stronger until finally directly beneath his feet Haji felt the rocks give away and a great gaping maw was all that remained in his sight.

“HOLY FU-“ was all Haji managed before he felt the jaws of this massive beast closing over him. Quickly Haji used all six of his arms to brace against the mouth of the beast, and even then he felt the jaws begin to crush him, he bent into an L shape as the beast strained to crush him.

“Guys… Help… Anytime now….” Haji grunted. The feeling of his chakra being drained away grew even stronger as he encountered the beast, and if he weren’t about to be swallowed whole, he might have made of a note of it, instead he summoned all the chakra he could and managed to bust open two of the inner eight gates of the Hachimon. The Gate of Opening for starters, and then straight to the Gate of pain which began to funnel chakra back into his body, stemming the loss by a margin.

“Fuck I hate that one” Haji winced as the gate of pain was named as such for a reason. Located in the center of the chest that Gate of Pain caused a searing ache to emanate from deep in his chest.
The beast was not pleased by the delay in its meal and began thrashing about, and as it was rather large for the cavern, it began to bring even more rocks down over the party.
“LET’S GO PEOPLE!” Haji roared as he redoubled his efforts to keep from being completely crushed and swallowed.

 

[Kiri]

He couldn't help but lie down for a little longer. He could somehow hear the voices of everyone in the cave, resounding off the acoustic and hollow cavern, echoing along the smaller tremors. But that wasn't the reason why he was being still. No, he could feel it. The hunger... The intention of killing and relishing in it. He could feel it vibrate with his own soul and for some reason, he was beginning to breath faster.

Looking to his side, he watched as Osu struggled, a worry prompted over him. He lazily got to a sit. Only then did he remember about chakra absorption stones from one of his past experiences with a little girl patient that he and Osu visited. Needless to say, the experience was something he'd rather forget, but the lesson learned there was invaluable.

At that point, a sudden thrumming on the ground alerted him and in no time at all, a large creature erupted from the ground. Haji was the one assaulted and from the looks of it, he would need assistance immediately. But that wasn't the only thing thing that bothered Kiri. The creature's presence seemingly strengthened the absorbing of their chakra, and to Kiri, it meant making his beast take charge for self-preservation.

No wonder he beginning to breath faster, his muscles seemingly restless, and his eyes felt like burning. But he would remain in control as he felt his brother's assurance- better to let loose than to suffer while repressing. So Kiri flashed Osu one last glance before his eyes trained towards Haji and the creature.

And then, it happened. Kiri released his chakra, his demon cloak activating- his hair paling in color and his eyes gold. The demonic eye opens as the vertical slit on his head reveals the coursing power within. But unlike in past releases, he was calm. Still, the stones along the walls would react with a faint glow, and if one were to look closely, a large amount of his chakra was moving freely around.

Without hesitation, Kiri sends a series of shadowy tendrils to strike the creature as he, himself, would rush towards Haji, diving at him, and with his speed, dislodging them both from peril as they would come crashing on the ground. But the creature would react fast not to let its prey escape.

 

[Osuteno]

Osu didn't move or flinch or really anything when the beast came through. He had felt it coming and as a creature with blood flowing in its veins he had an idea of what was coming right as it was about to reveal itself, but the main reason that he didn't react wasn't because he wasn't surprised, he was in fact, but he only had a few involuntary muscles left in his body and actually reacting in such a visible way required intentional manipulation.,, and he didn't have the chakra manipulation to waste on such things currently.

He wasn't planning on moving either, as he was standing in the place with the least possible amount of chakra drain that he could feel out. Instead, as the others began moving the chibi on top of his head, sometimes known as fisticuffs chibi, shot forward and intercepted the monster's charge with Fist of Virtue: Humility. If the situation were less perilous the sight of a 5 inch tall chibi stopping the charge of a giant monster might have been more comical. Still, the chibi itself, while delivering a small blow to the beast, poofed from the damage but was already beginning to reform itself with the two remaining chibis meditating on Osu's shoulders looking to be on guard. Osu himself stood rather impassively as he struggled to move his arms to perform a set of handseals over several long seconds.

A drop of his blood shot skywards at a remarkable speed. Osu felt a bit calmer as soon the Red Rain fell. First a few drops, then a downpour of his blood began covering everything, the blood rain constantly refreshing the chakra drained puddles that were forming, establishing his domain as sanguine shark bombs began assaulting the monster. The chibis grinned mischievously now, including the one that had just reformed. A prolonged battle with be disastrous in this situation so Osu needed to prepare to go all out.