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[Moyamaru]

She sat among a grouping of downed trees, parts of their trunk falling victim to rotting while others started being reclaimed by the surrounding forests. Vines and grasses started to cover the still remaining trunks of the decimated trees, their destruction caused by an engagement that many wouldn't have known about. However among Anbu, word had spread quickly regarding the events of that day and so this place had become something of a place for reflection for some. In her case, she despised what it stood for and only came here on occasion to keep the knowledge of Anbu's failure seared along the surface of her mind. Extending her palms slightly, her fingertips would quietly and with practiced precision interlock in a flowing pattern of handseals. What would start as a light amount of rolling mist would easily become an encompassing ground fog. Visibility was no more than a few feet from her eyes and yet she was completely comfortable within it's embrace, hidden from the world and with only her thoughts to occupy her time.

Though even with how tempting it would have been to be alone here, this was not why she came or chose such a secluded place. She had given notice for the man to show up here, a message left within his office in the HQ. There were things to discuss and understandings to be met if her faith and trust was going to be solidified in both him and their village's decisions. Shifting her weight, she'd sit upon a downed tree with her eyes peering into the mist. A glowing blue sharingan active beneath the anbu mask on her face.

 

[Kouin]

It had been some time since someone specifically requested a meeting with him, but it was to be expected; the corps was beginning to thin out, and only the true and faithful were staying. Everything about the meeting seemed normal, but the location intrigued him. Why this place of all possible places... He could already tell that this Mirage was an interesting person. It was almost unsettling; they seemed to know more about him than he did about them, but that only showed a testament to how well Anbu can hide under the radar. This should be interesting..

After a short walk through the village he came to the fateful entrance. To most it would appear unordinary, maybe an intense training took place, or a heated spar, but to the members of the corps they knew the truth of what transpired here. The memories were mixed for him. This area showed a testament to his fighting prowess and how much of a threat he could be if left unchecked, but it also showed that even the mighty could succumb to heated beliefs. He'd been fixated on the memory that he didn't quite notice the fog roll through, and a pair of glowing blue eyes. I hope its a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.... His eyes fell shut for a moments as he focused his chakra to his eyes; when he opened them his normal emerald eyes were adorned with ripples echoing out from his pupil.

He looked through the mist only to see that it was infused with chakra, Hidden Mist Jutsu, classical choice for a tracker Mirage. He would call out in modest voice, loud enough for anyone trying to listen for him to hear, but the lack of vision was boring, a meeting must be done face to face. Kouin would walk forward a few paces and place his hand on the hilt of blade. He began focusing his spiritual chakra into the sheathed blade slowly building up pressure from within. With a quick and seamless motion he popped the blade from the sheath only an inch releasing a massive surge of wind, Fuuton: Geirufōsu Sudden shift in biometric pressure caused a vacuum like effect around him, causing the fog to swirl around him counter-clockwise and dissipate into the atmosphere.

As the mist cleared he stood face to face with the one known as 'Mirage'. He studied the anbu in front of him for a moment and adjusted his glasses; Well Mirage, you already know who I am, but you can refer to me as Echo if you so wish. Their was no reason to hide his callsign, or his identity for that matter, he was hidden in plain sight at all times; anyone that mattered already knew his story and record, which would be why his leadership hasn't been quite put into question... Except when he went on that extended vacation. So, what brings us to this neck of the woods?

 

[Moyamaru]

The mist parted, encircling outwards in a large sphere as the man approached, only to slowly drift back into place though though forming first along the ground. As the mist worked it's way back to fully enveloping the two their eyes would meet and not break from one another, her sharingan locked in gaze with the ripples of the rinnegan. Their eyes had history long before either had been born to inherit or awaken them a history both marred in violence and blessed in benevolence. She had no doubt which apple he had fallen from in terms of the nature behind those eyes but wondered if he still walked such a road. Leaning forwards slightly, her elbows would rest just above her knees while her voice spoke out.

"A classical choice which there is no use attempting to disperse, in this ancient forest prying eyes tend to linger around many corners and in many forms. I am sure those eyes of yours can manage being enveloped in this mist. Besides anything which passes within I am aware of it..."

There would be a pause before she gathered herself, standing upon the downed tree which had yet to be taken over by mother nature, a palm resting along her hip as she looked away from Echo towards a nearby scar along the ground. This area had been quite the battlefield and yet only one of them here had been one to experience what had made it so. Only one of them here had caused this place to become a ground where death escaped a fitting target and where Anbu's failure had given him time to be pardoned for his crimes. She could not begin to understand why Saito had done such and while it had left an uneasy feeling in her stomach the loyalty she held to both village and kage had restrained her tongue for these passing years. This was not subject to change as even under Ayumu she would continue to do what the village wishes to be done however with continued dilution of what she considered to be a home worth dying for, the last she would allow is a criminal relapse.

"As far as I am concerned you are many things, Echo. A criminal, a murderer, a traitor to your clan's heritage and history with the village, a blight to Anbu...and yet the village and it's leadership forces me to also view you as a comrade. This is a world bathed in deceit and self gratification where pawns are used and disposed and only a few manage to work their way to a position of influence, a shinobi world. Many forget what we are at our core and many easily begin to trust those who shouldn't ever be trusted be they foreign shinobi who are considered allies or pardoned criminals turned a new leaf."

There was an audible grit of her teeth before her neck turned and her gaze fell on Echo once more, a single question posed to him with a serious tone of voice.

"What is your truth Echo, why are you deserving of trust and camaraderie? Or should I put it like this, why do you deserve faith in your trustworthiness as a shinobi of kumogakure?"

 

[Kouin]

Had he been any other person he might've been surprised by the feminine voice of the anbu, but time has made him callous to such simplicities. Just one look and Kouin could tell that she was a person of loyalty to the village and the creed that any respecting anbu followed, and for that he already respected her more than he did others in the village. Though he was intrigued in her blue sharingan, the doujutsu was commonly red, just as his was commonly a light shade of purple; it would seem they bother shared some anomaly one way or another, but Kouin doubted he was called here to discuss the color of their eyes.

"Chakra signatures are a bit different then speaking face to face. I rather know who the person that called me to the forest looked like rather than just gazing into an azure sharingan, but you are correct that this mist mattered to me not."

Kouin would lean himself up against a near by severed tree trunk and removed his glasses from his face. The sight of the field would probably rattle the nerves of some of his subordinates and maybe the other villages. This area had been hidden in plain sight by the former raikage and anbu corp, the true details of the areas occurrence was never officially disclosed, it would've most likely caused a riot against the kage, and that was the last thing anyone wants; even himself, regardless of the disdain he felt. Between the two of them, Kouin was the only one to experience the events that transpired, but every anbu knew in full detail as if they were there.

They knew how he single-handedly thrashed the Sennin into the ground putting him into the ICU, and violently assassinating his two guards. How he evaded capture from the young Hosuto and seasoned Hyazo. Even if he was shortly found by Hyazo in this very clearing where their battle occurred. It was here that he proved no matter how many people they sent his way, no matter how hard they tried, if he tried harder he would just disappear without a trace, a ghost amidst the combat.

Mirage was right on most counts, he was indeed a criminal and a murderer, but in the world they live in those lines tend to be blurred depending on which side of the fence you happen to land behind, but he listened carefully to what she was saying; it was clear that no judgement was being delivered his way, only sheer facts, it was the same way with all the other anbu. He could hear the grit of her teeth as he slowly pushed himself off the tree and donned his glasses once more. What is your truth... a very good question....

He took a deep breath and two long strides towards Mirage. "I am a criminal and a blight, yes those are simple facts that are transparent as the sun is in the sky. But anyone that has taken another's life too would be called a murderer, the sting is only prevalent depending on what side you are on. So yes, I'm a murderer, but so would our dear Raikage as well." He pulled out a microfiber cloth and cleaned the lens of his glasses nonchalantly before readjusting them to his face.

"And my father had already condemned me to disgrace when he went missing over thirty years ago under the guise of a routine scouting mission, I'm sure you've looked into the report once or twice, quite a simple trick for an experienced man such as himself. Though I'm not prone to naivety like my father was, he was always a kid at heart sadly." He was taking his time to address her actual question, the crux of the issue, but inside he already knew.

Kouin took the last few strides that it would take to be face to face with Mirage, his emerald rinnegan meeting her sapphire sharingan. "Honestly. You shouldn't." It was blunt and straight forward. The silence would give birth to booming thunders in the sky above. But I also held steady command of a branch that loathed my very existence for the last five years. After Saito retired I had the prime opportunity to just up and leave, yet here I stay, contributing what I can. He would remove the glasses from his face, and shake the hair from out of his face, "Trust in the fact that I only squash those that get in my way or cause me trouble. No more, no less."