They Say Change is Good [Requesting Entry]

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

Mountain soil crunched underfoot as Shashu stepped through Kanka's portal, letting it close behind her with one last look at the queen of spiders before turning her eyes to the gates looming ahead.

It's been a while, hasn't it? She thought to herself with a mental chuckle. She turned her nose to the wind as it came out over the city, bringing along the scent of her favourite meatbun place just beyond the gate. Her eyes threatened to tear up with the nostalgia, glad that she could expect that at least to stay the same. Two years... before this, the longest she had been away was that fateful trip to Mist. A sudden itch prompted her to run a finger over the curse mark at the back of her neck. Then, as now, she had come back to the place she called home a changed woman. Would Kumo have changed as much in her absence as it had back then? And would it be as welcome?

Only one way to find out.

Having steeled herself, she slipped through the shadows and up to the gates themselves, thankful to the night for driving away any others seeking to enter the village. Not that she intended to sneak in, but she couldn't resist giving the guards a spook. And besides, it was her homecoming after two years missing in the field. She wanted it private.

Now...to see how long it takes them to notice a masked woman suddenly showing up right in front of them. I give it ten before I drag them out myself. She thought, stepping into the light of the guardhouse.

[MFT]

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

By the light of the gate, a gruff, older Jounin and younger Chuunin huddled in the protection an alcove to hide from the winter wind. The temperature had dropped sharply since the beginning of their guard shift, and what had begun as a clear night was turning into the beginnings of a storm that was rumoured to be the year's worst. Standard guard uniform was usually warm enough for the worst of Kumogakure's weather, but the breeze cut through their layers like an icy katana and made both miserable.

"Hey, Genjiro? Do you think they will close the gates off so we can go home?" asked the younger man while brushing off the frost from his blond hair for the tenth time that evening. He hadn't even meant to be on shift, but one the night crew had gotten sick an hour before the changeover. He suspected now that he had been duped because of the weather.

The elder man shrugged, pulled a canister from his pocket and took a quick swig. Alcohol was forbidden on duty, but who was going to come out in this cold to check? "Doubt it, Kinji. Higher ups don't like the idea of returning shinobi being trapped in the storm. You're stuck here for the night."

"They could let themselves in," Kenji grumbled, tucking his hands under his arms. If he had to stay outside like this all night, he was certain to lose a finger. Why hadn't the commander assigned someone with an affinity to the cold to be out here? And besides that, if the cold didn't get him there was always..."But, I heard that things travel in storms." his eyes grew wide as he remembered the stories that had been passed around on shift change. Be careful they said, there were monsters in the storm. Dire bears, Yeti, frost trolls and Yuki Ona that preyed on the unwary traveller. They weren't travellers but surely out here they were an easy snack.

"Things?" Genjiro lowered his bottle and shook his head at his companion. The gruff man looked out onto the snowy mountain side and squinted. There was nothing, there would probably be nothing until morning. He'd been working the gates for awhile now and there had never been a credible sighting of the 'things' Kinji alluded to. The stories were just cooked up to scare the rookies like him. "You've been listening to the others, haven't you? There is nothing out there so stop worrying and concentrate on keeping warm and keeping watch. Kagetsu-sama will kick your ass if you pass out on duty." The sennin had taken on direct command for the night with the weather growing worse, and wasn't in a good mood for it. She got to stay in the small heated barracks, however, so he wasn't sure what she had to be mad about.

Kenji hung his head and nodded. Genjiro was right, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something out in the cold."Y-yeah," he muttered in agreement, glancing back at the gates. He really didn't want to get in trouble, almost more than he wanted to avoid a Yeti. The wind picked up and he turned back to the white landscape. In that instance, Shashu appeared. "I guess that y y y- y- y- y- y YUKI ONA!!!" Kenji gave off a girlish, high-pitched shriek as his snow gear became soaked with liquid fear. Had he been an untrained man, he might have fainted, but the main branch shinobi and gate guard managed to get a single kunai armed and ready before his knees gave out to fear. "Holy shit! Don't eat me!" Beside him, Genjiro was equally frozen with shock.

"That's not a ghost, you nitwits. Seriously, you're embarrassing my branch!" Yuii stepped from the guardhouse, drawn by the screaming. Lights, previously left off to improve night vision flared to life, illuminating the petite blue haired woman dressed in thick winter gear in an aura of light. Behind her, the large form of a tiger circled. She did not look pleased to be out in the cold. "Tattoo and alias, Anbu-san."

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

Aaaaand they saw me, almost immediately. A-plus good job. Though they could do with less screaming and... she sniffed the air, nose wrinkling under her mask. Is that piss? Wow, go me. It's been a while since I got someone that bad. Shashu sprouted a grin under the mask and briefly contemplated dialing up the spook factor to see if she could get the other one too, but decided against it. She'd only just gotten back after all, best to take things slow. Though she did make a mental note that a certain guard had especially weak bladder control under pressure. For reasons.

Thankfully the barracks door opened up, bringing both light and much needed common sense at the hands of a short woman wrapped in many, many layers of clothing. And attitude, Shashu noted as the woman scolded the guards for both their lack of brains and embarrassing her branch. The huge cat behind her caught the ANBU's eye as well, her senses tingling with the familiar presence of a contract beast from the feline family. All signs pointed to the woman being someone actually important, which bode well.

Maybe this will go quickly after all...wait. Her branch? Her eyes flickered over the guards and the woman. Maybe it's just wording, but something tells me...did</COLOR><i></i> Sh-Ayumu step down? Or worse...Fayth curse it Kanka, couldn't you have at least kept me informed about my own villiage? Teeth clenched, she produced her ANBU passport from a seal inscribed on her bracer and presented it alongside her left forearm, a small plate sliding aside to reveal black symbols forming on her pale flesh. Suddenly she found herself just wishing this would be over with as soon as possible so she could find out exactly what all had changed while she had been off un-fucking herself.

<COLOR color="#800080">So much for homecomings.

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

The elder man hauled his companion to his feet and both managed a shaky salute. They scampered off, one back to his outlook and the other to find fresh pants. Yuii relaxed marginally once they were gone and chuckled at their expense. "Honestly, Yuki Onna?" she muttered under her breath while taking the Anbu's passport. She was stunned that shinobi could be such wimps.

"Thank-you. Let's see then..." she retrieved a book from inside her coat and opened it to reveal a myriad of Anbu tattoos and code names. Humming to herself flipped through it, and flipped through it and continued to flip until the pages turned from green to grey, yellow and then red. Which each passing second she grew more and more nervous until finally a match was found, just short of the black. The blue haired woman exhaled in relief and fell back to sit on the waiting back of her feline companion. She would take dealing with a MIA over a Missing-nin any day.

Oniyuri grumbled with annoyance beneath Yuii but was oddly quiet otherwise.

"Maybe ghost wasn't too far off the mark, Anbu-san. It seems you were presumed dead. You sure picked some auspicious weather to come back in." Normally this was when she called the Anbu Sennin to deal with his subordinate, but he wasn't banned from travel like she had been and was taking full advantage of it. He was probably off eating Kimchi in Bear country or drinking sake in Moon. What her fellow Sennin did with his free time was no bother to her, except when it left a gaping hole at the top of the command chain. She could order an ANBU to unmask, but short of being a massive and immediate danger to the village, she wouldn't be very popular with the other branch once the matter was cleared. That left going above the Anbu Sennin's head in terms of leadership as the only option.

Seriously, what a pain in the ass.

She snapped her book shut and shoved it back whence it came. Time for a walk! "Well, your Sennin is out for the moment so that means a trip to the Torre because I doubt his Kageship wants to make the trip here and I'd rather he didn't. I'm sure trudging to the tower in the cold and dark was high on your list of activities after resurrecting from the dead!" Anbu personnel were always super talkative too, and this one just didn't seem to want to shut up. It was going to be a fun trip over. Ayumu was going to owe her double pay after this at least!

The blue haired Sennin hopped back to her feet and gestured for the masked Yuki Onna to follow her into the village. As she began the slow trudge she pulled her headset out to warn the Torre of their coming. "Yuii here. We've intercepted a class A - MIA Anbu at the gates, Alias... oh I've forgotten. Whatever! I'm escorting her to the Torre so please roll our Raikage out of bed and into his office if you please. Oh, and make sure there are cake and cocoa with those little marshmallows; I'm famished."

[Entry allowed, I'll make a new topic in the Celeste~]

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

Shashu's eyes flickered briefly to look over the guards in their haste to get away from the scene. After things were sorted out it might be a good idea to host a course in how to resist shock tactics; while it was endlessly entertaining to screw with them, the guards should be more hardened if they were going to be Kumo's first line of defense. If nothing else, it was kind of embarrassing. Turning back to the woman as she skimmed over her passport, a grin cracked across her face despite herself as the boss lady grew increasingly tense with each page that went by in her ANBU codebook. Don't you worry, I'll be in there. Though, that's a thought. What did they mark me as? MIA? KIA? Missing, Yevon forbid? Doubtful...but it could be interesting untying that knot.

Eventually the question was answered by a sigh as the lady closed her book and flopped back on her big cat, informing her she was presumed dead. Unsurprising, considering that the last they would have heard of her was from Hyazo after they parted ways in Sand...Ugh. She was not looking forward to having to spill her guts about all of that to Kouin. That damn bastard was bound to mock her for letting that Sin-spawned mummy fucker get into her head.

"Well, your Sennin is out for the moment so that means a trip to the Torre because I doubt his Kageship wants to make the trip here and I'd rather he didn't. I'm sure trudging to the tower in the cold and dark was high on your list of activities after resurrecting from the dead!" Shashu blinked. Talk about good timing. If Kouin had up and left for some reason she could just go report straight to Saito himself, which made things much easier. With that off her mind, she let her attention focus on the present as her escort led the way into the village. Looking around, the village seemed much the same. It was getting on in the night and not many people were about with the weather as it was, but a few trickled here and there. Drunks who didn't know better, workers headed home from late shifts, and a few visiting shops and stalls before last call. Speaking of, her favourite meatbun stall was still open. No way was she passing that up right now.

Catching her name from a call, a quick tap on Yuii's shoulder got her attention and Shashu held up a finger to ask for a minute, then ducked behind a stall to pop a few handseals and emerge a second later with her suave traveling mercenary look, sans ANBU mask of course. Disguise in place, she walked right up and produced her coin with a flourish and a few compliments to the owner, walking away with three boxes of fresh buns. Tossing one to her escort, she cracked the other two open and carried them under her arm, sharing the fish flavoured ones with Yuii's cat as they made the trip to the Torre.

Now I'm home.

[MFT]
[Topic Left, Village Entered :3]