Self Exploration - Academy Arc 1 (Open)

[Arashi Hisame]

Soft steps barely audible over the sound of the breeze dancing through the bright green leaves. The strongest of them stayed and fought against the tremendous force as the weaker stems snapped and forced the leaves to twirl through the wind as they fell to their demise. This could be viewed as a metaphor for the very Academy that Hisame would be joining. If he was strong he would survive, but if not he would wilt in the wind. This was something he knew to be true but still he wanted to take on the path of the Shinobi.

The dew on the grass simmered as the air had yet to be to hot to retain most of the moisture of the morning sun. His cold skin welcomed the cooler light of the morning sun. It's harshness would not harm but simply kiss the skin if anyone out and about at this hour. The sun was just now peaking up over the horizon, but this was the preferred time for the boy to train. Soft chirps of distant birds and the buzzing nearby insects added to the beautiful morning.

Slim delicate fingers would pull the long warm brown hair up into a knot before a slim senbon was slid through to hold it in place. The soft effeminate gram of the boys appeared to match that if a young girls and his apparel also hinted at that fact. A soft blue tunic with golden tan trimming hung loosely on his body while a pair of deeper blue pants covered most if his legs. The clothing was rather asymmetric as the sleeved were different lengths and as were the pant legs. This was something the boy favoured, as symmetry would only emphasis his natural grace.

Letting out a sigh he slung a large scroll which was hanging around his should up to his hands. Gently sitting down the boy would open his scroll and begin to read. This was a common sight. A boy and his studies.

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

Takeshi looked down, he smirked slightly still remembering the days when he had been training. He had been one around the training grounds practicing. Those days had since left him and he knew that part of him yearned for them back, instead he was a guider of the students. Years of teaching and training had given him the patience of a saint. Without speaking he walked up behind the boy, the sun casting his shadow away with ease and the grace of his movement from years of training inside the Anbu Branch. He was silent in the sun as his eyes glanced around. Seemed the kid was new or a loner he would have to find out which one it was.

“Interesting read you have got there, though can’t blame you I remember when I used to read here back in the old days”

His voice cutting through the silence as he looked at the scroll. When the boy turned around he would see Takeshi stood there, in normal battle gear as he always wore. His headband firmly wrapped around the top of his head keeping his hair in bright green spikes flowing freely. The amount of time and gel that it took to get his look was almost scary. His green eyes looking at the scroll and a warm welcoming smile on his face. His body posture open and welcoming as he wasn’t here looking or any trouble.

“Mind if I join you, I can leave if you like?”

[Topic Entered]

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Early in the morning Shouyu was wandering around Konoha. In the brisk morning air that breezed by his skin and tickled with the wisp of a familiar icy wind. Kumo. Home. At this hour, just before the brilliant star breaks the horizon and brings light to the night's shadow, the weather made him feel at home. Although, Konoha proved to be a more, natural habitat for shinobi. Building to building he ran by on the balls of his feet, hands back and arms straight, he was moving swiftly catching every sight, via the Byakugan doujutsu.

Hoshi would scale large walls and leap over obstacles when necessary so not to hinder his current speed. His vision extending to about a thousand meters allowed him to see many things without being too close to it. A three hundred and sixty degree view made it possible for him to focus on one direction and still capture the sights of what is around him. Hoshi slid to a stop in the same second blinking, the bulging veins fueling chakra into his eyes would cease and reduce swelling until his eyes looked normal once again. He was standing before an entrance, to Konoha's academy.

He walked in casually, and slow, observing the building and the everything it would contain. His thoughts raced back to his academy days, the joy he felt, the anxiety and pressure. It has been years since, and his life as shinobi proved to be a difficult yet, unique experience. His heart and mind was still young and at times, these academies still felt like home. He walked through seeing the class rooms, text books, all the way into the yard, the training grounds.

He walked out into the glint of the morning sun, warming his light skin at its touch giving him the chills from a sudden change in body temperature. This was a natural reaction, he would get the same goosebumps just before battle. He grinned at the familiar feeling. Hoshi was wearing a black kimono top, dusty grey loose fitting pants, both tied at the waste but a faded black apron. The back of his apron at he sash would also entangle two belt pouches to remain stiff at his hip. A ninjato short sword, lay vertical upon his back, a pair of black combat gloves wrapped up by bandages with some feet of it hanging from his forearm. One of those arms reached up to his forehead to block the light of the sun from his eyes...

He yawned... Right after he quickly weaved a few hand seals, in a flume of three clouds were similar clone like versions of Hoshi, infused with the lightning element. Upon arrival the clones first looked at each other and then to the real Hoshi was stood adjacent from the three. He instructed them to attack him at full force. And so his own personal training began to commence, practicing and sharpening his gentle fist taijutsu.

 

[Arashi Hisame]

The boy's crystal blue eyes skimmed through the first chapter of his Mother's scroll. He wanted to decipher it, but the message was unclear. He knew that this held secrets which could help him in his journeys but what they were he couldn't say. His feminine build seemed sediment as almost all of his attention was in the scroll. Well that was until the silence was broken...

“Interesting read you have got there, though can’t blame you I remember when I used to read here back in the old days”

...and the boy turned to see who had approached him. Looking over the man quickly Hisame could tell that not only was he a Shinobi for Konoha, but the confidence of the green-eyed man hinted at importance. Perhaps he wasn't just a Genin or a Chuunin, maybe he was one of the elite Jounin of the village. He seemed old enough to hold that kind of ranking.

“Mind if I join you, I can leave if you like?”

The boys eyes shifted back to the scroll slightly before deciding to respond to the man. Though the man seemed open and warm the boy's cold nature made it hard for him to openly socialize.

"Yes, you may if you would like..."

His concentration was once again on the scroll. He laid it down in front if him will once again trying to skim through the techniques and lore written haphazardly. The boy let out a sigh before addressing the man again.

"My mother gave me this scroll, which she received from her mother, but it's not making any sense."

He let out a sigh before beginning to once again roll and seal the scroll but before he could another stranger caught his attention. It appeared someone came out to the training grounds to do just that, train. He let out another heavy breath before wrapping up the scroll and slinging it back onto his back. If this newcomer was going to be practicing his Ninjutsu it's be best for this scroll to not be laying around.

Shifting his weight to stand up the boy shifted his body to face the Green-eyed man. Extending his right hand in an attempt formally greet the stranger the boy would briskly introduce himself.

"My name is Hisame, it's nice to make your acquaintance."

Something seemed off about the boy, but maybe it was just because of how naturally awkward he was. Regardless he tried to sound sincere as he was new to the Shinobi world and could use some alliances before starting off on missions once he graduates.

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

The Shrine Knights have been absolutely relentless in their pursuit of her. She didn't want to take part of this 'ritual' that they were bringing her in for. She had several ideas of what this 'ritual' would entail and none of those theories prove to be in her favor. Certainly, her seeking sanctuary away from them at the academy was a stupid place to be, it was the first place that she knew could be potentially safe from them. The Shrine Knights weren't stupid enough to cause a scene around children, other than herself, without bad publicity damning the Shrine to oblivion.

She was dirty, stunk due to several days of not having showered due to being on-the-run, and she was sleep deprived. She had no way of leaving the gates without being caught at the gates and brought back to the Shrine where her fate awaited. All she wanted was 8 hours of sleep, a bath, and clean clothes.
She didn't want to get anyone involved in this mess, especially Yume. She didn't want the negative attention towards her nor did she want to pull her into something that's Kaori's problem.

She made her way through the forest of the Academy Training Field and stopped just before exiting the tree-line and fell to the ground, falling on her stomach to make a low profile for herself. She noticed a new kid at the training ground. She sucked air through her teeth for a moment and moved her hand up to her head to make sure she still had the ribbons in her hair, mainly used to cover up the black horns she was sadly born with; a curse upon her that had brought her nothing but misery. She had to keep them covered for her own protection.

The ribbons were still in tact and thankfully long enough to cover the horns. She crept up a little bit to observe the young child only for a larger person to creep up behind the boy. She pressed herself tighter against the ground, trying to cover her self from being visibly seen. It was, as if, people were flocking towards the academy. Even one that didn't appear to belong to the village ended up splitting into different copies of themselves and started to throw fists and kicks at one another.

Good, these people seem a bit too pre-occupied to even notice her. If more attention was put onto them, the less attention it drew to her. And the less attention drawn to her would mean that the Shrine Knights would leave her alone. For now, she just starts to observe them. Her eyes, however, started to droop out of exhaustion with her head nodding up and down for a moment before resting her head in the grass and started to sleep. After a moment, she woke herself up and shook it off for a moment before she started to doze off once again. 'Stay awake, Kaori. If you go to sleep, you'll be vulnerable. If you are vulnerable, the Shrine Knights will find you. Stay awake. Stay awake.'

Then there was some movement. The person addressed themselves as Hisame. They had a rather cold demeanor making it a bit difficult to like this person; but it's possible that they were suffering some internalized nightmare similar to what Kaori felt like she's going through right now. The large scroll the child was holding could be a key to why he's acting so cold. Kaori, herself, was imprisoned within the Shrine's compound, making her a bit awkward around other people due to the lack of socialization. However, she made it a point to treat others nicely so she could get friends and break the mold that she was brought up in. It seems that people might handle things like that differently.

Something that bothered her was the fact that the boy didn't recognize the clones fighting one another. Kaori blinked heavily and looked back at the group fighting each other. Was she hallucinating this due to sleep deprivation? Were those actual people fighting on the training grounds? She moved her hands up to her face and rubbed the inner corner of her eyes, getting the dried up crud out of there before looking back towards the fighting clones for a moment and then back towards the duo talking about the scroll.​

[Topic Entered]

 

[Kato Hana]

Walking through the academy, Manzo looked around admiring what he always thought was the heart of the village. Other places might seem to be more important but this was were the next generation came from. Without this there wouldn’t be a village. To much of his time had been spent as a loner something that he was hoping to work on.

There is always something you can work on to improve

He walked around seeing if there was anyone he might be able to help. He may not be an instructor or a tutor but a few quick pointers never hurt him.

As he looked around he spotted two. One was younger than him and the green haired one was older. There was something familiar about him though Manzo couldn’t place it. He must have seen that green hair some place in passing. Something like that would stand out.

While he doubted the boy needed help it was a good opportunity to meet the next generation and perhaps the older generation.

“Good afternoon” he said to the pair. While he doubted he looked young enough to be in the academy, standing at just 5 feet tall he was around the same height as many of them.

[topic entered]

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

Takeshi looked around as he noticed the members that had joined them on this lovely day. It had been a beautiful day and it seemed with that it had brought people out to wander around. Smiling back to the young boy that had addressed him he as he allowed his own hand to meet with the boys shaking it back. As the two shook hands he heard a familiar voice and glanced over to the side, his eyes instantly traced onto one of the newer Anbu in Training.

Manzo…...interesting place to find you. Let’s see if you recognize me from the meeting.

Noting it down he instantly turned back to the boy that he had first addressed. Cocking his head slightly to the side and keeping the silly grin on his face. It was rare to see Takeshi like this, but those rare moments happened just like any other.

“The name is Uchiha Takeshi, I am currently serving as a ANBU Captain inside leaf. Pleasure to meet your young man, now would you like me to have a look at that scroll for you?”

Takeshi allowed himself to keep the smile going, his eyes taking a very quick glance around as he noted who was here now. Seeing faces he had come to know, and those of newer people it was interesting to see the diversity a training ground could offer up. As he looked over his eyes narrowed as he noticed the man from the hospital room.

Cloud Shinobi doing some sparing it would seem, hopefully he isn’t as stupid as his fellow comrade and can behave himself.

The thought was slightly more sinister than Takeshi would have expected, he blinked slightly in surprise. Releasing the boys hand, he stood there and smiled waiting for a response to his questions. Enjoying the moment of the birds cheeping away in the sky.

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Kick, punch, duck, roundhouse, side stepped, jab, parry. The clones and the real Hoshi continued to spar until a veil of sweat moistened his forehead and began to drop down the sides of his face. Just then his clones attacked all at once, Hoshi's eyes grew wide in response and he planted his feet, shoulder width apart. No one would be able to see but, pores in his skin would open and allow his chakra pool to seep trough his skin in a visible light blue aura. His clones knew the deal, this was the beginning of the Hyuuga Kaiten, Eight trigrams, rotation. Hoshi twisted in one foot and began to rotate, the high speed spin formed his loose chakra into a torrenting dome. The clones crashed into and suffered a serious burn from being twisted and mangled by his Kaiden before proofing. Hoshi came to a slow stop. The leaves and grass around him would have been cut, leaving a barren land of dirt in his radius.

"Hmpf."

He slid into stance once more, Hoshi would spin and send five lightning fast jabs, with palms striking the air normally aimed at a target's tenketsu system. The Jyuuketsu combo was something he needed further training in mastering. Hoshi spun again and repeated the assault, a whistling sound from his clothes cutting the air. Hoshi took every step seriously with a determined look on his swearing face. He was staring off into he distance after his final motion.

"It will take more than strength to make me Raikage... What does... one have to do?"

Hoshi slid out of Jyuuken stance and looked around. In the distance there were three people seemingly having a normal conversation. None of them looked familiar, he shrugged, he should've known, being the outsider here, he didn't really know anybody. He thought of speaking with them, his eyes soft as he gazed upon them from a distance. Hoshi took a step forward and looked in the direction of Kaori hiding beneath the bushes. He heard a sound, he watched the area for any more movement or sounds. The step he initially took, came back and his eyes searched the area. He couldn't find anything.

He was going to shake it off but... The veins around his eyes began to bulge with pulsating chakra, activating the famed Byakugan. Sure enough, within the trees was a chakra signature. Hoshi could make out a small figure. His head tilted before he stepped back, a few hand seals would activate his active camo. A veil of forest green slowly overcame his figure. For those not watching him at the time would lose sight of him after looking once more. Hoshi never moved, he was just now blending in with the environment like a chameleon. With his camo active, Hoshi moved with haste to the position of the hiding person.

Hoshi was before them now, silencing his breath by holding it in, and muting his steps through chakra to make every step light as falling leaf. Crouched down, Hoshi would reveal himself and remove the cloaked camo. He looked at the two he had seen before and watched them from a distance too.

"Are you hiding from them? Or spying on me?"

 

[Kato Hana]

Manzo knew that he recognized the hair before. Upon hearing the introduction, he now knew where it was from. Even in a meeting as large as that one that green hair had stood out. He had never had a chance to meet Uchiha Takeshi before, so this was an interesting place for a first introduction.

“it is a pleasure to meet you officially meet you Takeshi-sama” using the honorific was a bit formal and not one he used for everyone but Takeshi might one day be his boss within ANBU. He did not want to suck up but one did not rise to that rank by selling cookies door to door. The rank of Captain contained certain qualifications on one’s skills. It stood only to reason that Takeshi earned the honorific. A first impression only happens once.

As Takeshi looked over the students scroll movement caught his eye in the tree line. The amount of movement seemed to be increasing as if there was more than a single person. He was sure it was just a student being a student but of all the places to be overly cautious, the place where the next generation was being trained could only be it. To many students would jump at a chance for danger just to show off the new jutsu they had learned, only to find they had bitten off more than they could chew.

With a smile on his face as if he didn’t have a care in the world, after all he didn’t know if whatever what over there could hear him, he addressed the pair. “I am sorry if this is rude, me just walking up then having to dash but there is something that has peaked my curiosity, and the academy is one of the places I believe it is better to be safe than sorry.” He nodded to both, then… stood there.



He found himself squatting next to a girl, though with all the dirt and the stench it was a little hard to tell. On the other side of her was the Cloud-nin that had been training on the field. She was staring very intently out at the field. “So what are we looking for?” he asked them with a friendly voice. It never hurt to be polite.


It was only then that his image standing infront of the Takeshi and the student would fade away.


[OOC: Used Synchronized Multipresence and Quicksilver Step]

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Kaori started to phase in and out of consciousness while in the cool cover of the trees while also remaining quite concealed. She felt safer at the academy than she did anywhere else at the moment. There were some places that even the Shrine Knights wouldn't dare to approach without reason; the academy being one of those places. She understood the routines and rules of the Shrine Knights, having had to understand their laws due to being the Head Shrine Maiden for a time--that was until she was the target of their pursuit. Her mother, being the wicked woman hungry for power that she was, had told the Shrine Knights to find her and bring her in. The ritual, that damned ritual, would ultimately give her more and more power. That is something that Kaori didn't want.

She continued to watch the interaction between the Green Haired shinobi and the young child and the Hyuuga using moves she recognized, using those kind of moves as well, and started to slowly lose consciousness. Her eyes closed and her head laid flat upon the grass, allowing herself to drift off to sleep. If she would be caught by the Shrine Knight, hopefully these people would find the decency in their hearts to protect her from them. It wasn't until words were spoken directly at her did Kaori jump a little at the sound of the voice, but she also covered her mouth, holding in a yelp. She jumped out of the bushes and landed on her rear and shook her head. "I'm not hiding from or spying on either of you," she said. It wasn't a lie but she was hiding from SOMETHING. She kept her voice low so that the other's wouldn't be alerted to her presence; if that was even possible due to Hoshi's rather disruptive way of flushing her out.

The look of dark bags around Kaori's eyes, her dirtied flesh and clothes, and the ripe smell of needing to shower was evident in observation by Hoshi. There was nearly nothing flattering with Kaori's personal appearance at the moment, hinting to Hoshi that she'd been doing this for a few days now.

Another person appeared near them. Kaori's breathing started to quicken before grabbing a hand full of earth in her left hand. Why did so many people gather around her right now? Now wasn't the best time to be near her as the more people that came near her the more people would attract the Shrine Knights to finding her; thus meaning the end of her life. She looked between the Hyuuga and the one zipping across space-time for a moment and she threw the dirt that was in her hands towards the eyes of Manzo before she stood up and attempted to run away.

She needed to find a new place to hide from the Shrine for now. This place seemed too busy and too damn curious for her to remain safe.​

 

[Arashi Hisame]

((OoC: okay y'all Imma little rusty but let's see if I can get this multiple stories in one thread down lol))

The boy from the corner of his eye watched as another man approached him and the green-eyed man. This was the only newcomer he was aware of as the young girl was hiding well beyond Hisame's perceptive skills. Turning his attention back towards the man the young boy would lowered his hand back down to her side where he touched the scroll ever so nervously before answering the question.

"You can try to.."

As he spoke he reached for the scroll and slid it off of his back and pulled it around to present it to the man. The scroll was a few feet long and probably hundreds of feet of parchment. Unbeknownst to the boy there were many different layers of seals that would obly be unlocked if the holder met two requirements. Have the chakra level required to break that section' s seal and have the chakra found only in the Haku Kekkei Genkai. If Takeshi had any knowledge in sealing Jutsu he would most likely see right through this seal, and if he knew the chakra signature of a Haku he would see that it was delicately intertwined into it. Both of these perceptive skills were still out of Hisame's range but perhaps one day he would understand it.

The sound of combat dissipated, the man training with his clones seemed to have disappeared, perhaps be was onto his next step of his daily routine, wasn't really important as he didn't know this stranger.

"-sama?"

The boy looked over the man before him. Perhaps being a Captain in the ANBU Core was harder to obtain than he initially thought. Duely noted. Then the new comer said he had to leave but didn't move. He just stood there, the boy was slightly confused until he vanished.

"Impressive..."

The boy looked back at the man before him, perhaps he had noticed something about the scroll that Hisame had yet to see. He took a step back before letting out a sigh. This scroll was confusing him, but he had to learn it's secrets.

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Hoshi was crouched, his nose twitched at the girl's smell. He thought some rude things to himself but bit his tongue. Looking at the trio through the bushes they appeared to be unaware of the two. Hoshi then looked back at her who exclaimed she wasn't spying on anybody. She seemed as if she was holding something back, speaking lowly as if to keep herself hidden. He couldn't understand why she wanted to hide if she wasn't spying on anyone. His brows furrowed together as he surveyed her once more. Tattered clothing, deep creases around her eyes, man this girl looked beat.

"Are you not from this village? Doesn't make much sense to me to hide from your fellow Shinobi."

Slowly his head turned to the trio once more. His eyes focused in, lips pressed together as he watched one flicker. His eye brow rose because he could've swore he saw the man move, but yet he was still standing. Just then, Hoshi would feel his presence near by and look toward that direction. Sure enough, the man he was once looking at was here before them. Hoshi jumped to a standing position and looked back at his fading after image.

He asked a question and answered with a handful of dirt. Hoshi took a step back as the girl dashed away. Hoshi never interacted too much with girls, they always seemed weird to him, exactly like this current situation. The time distorting Shinobi became a clear interest to him as he sized him up. He then looked back at escaping girl and he watched. If she was so a leaf Shinobi, the inner affairs of the village wouldn't become a priority to him, since he was just a foreigner. He figured they'd probably want him to stay out of their village concerns. He was burdened with though of reaction, but he held back and took note of where the girl went, his mind taking a mental picture of the scene and her facial features, her appearance would be etched into his memory. He then turned to the time bending Shinobi.

" There is only one kind of Shinobi who can do what you did... You must be from the Seikon family bloodline... Am I correct?"

The pale eyes of the Hyuuga would search him to and fro, there was something oddly familiar about the Shinobi, or maybe he felt he had had seen him before, or maybe foreseen another meeting with this Shinobi in the near future. Hoshi would smirk and give a thumbs up at the ninja.

"Hoshi, Shouyu. Kumogakure's child prodigy!"

He always found it polite to introduce himself. His facial expression would shift to a concerned one with raised brows pulling together as his head turned in the direction of the fleeing kunoichi. He scrunched his mouth to the right, closed his eyes and shrugged.

"I was only trying to help... I guess I should stay in my place huh..."

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

Takeshi glanced over to the man who had addressed him, though if he would look Takeshi gave him a small nod out of respect more than anything else. He did wonder what had brought the man here but he wasn’t that fussed about hammering the answers out of him. Preferring this very laid back attitude that was taking over everyone. A happy smile came to his lips in that split second as he tried to remember the last time he had this much fun.

“If you want the scroll unlocked I can do that……”

He wouldn’t tell the boy about how he knew to do such things, that was something very few were privileged to know. Of course, it would make sense given his unique talents that he was able to unlock these secrets. Looking around at the others as he glanced back to the boy coming close so it was a simple whisper between the two of them.

“What is the secrets this contains?”

His voice cold, from last time he had seen a scroll like this thing had ended badly for those that were trying to get to the hidden knowledge. As he looked at it he began to work at deciphering some of the cryptic message that had been hidden in the scroll.

It was almost as if a second person came alive in Takeshi he let a small smile creep across his face as he licked his lips at the thought of possessing something that held secrets. Though he would help the owner of the scroll, in doing so he would unlocked the secrets.

As time ticked by him waited patiently for the boy to respond, his eyes darting around all the figures that happened to be in the training grounds, keeping a constant watch on their actions and motions that they made. He was doing it from habit more than the fact that he didn’t trust any of the people around him.

[MFT – 327]

[OOC: After being told what it is about, Takeshi will begin to unlock the secrets of the scroll]

 

[Kato Hana]

As much as Manzo wanted to respond to Hoshi, it seemed he had other pressing matters to attend to first. Namely the scared rabbit that was, well rabbiting through the forest. He no longer thought this was something nefarious, or at least the possibility of that had dropped considerably, which meant that his tactics in dealing with the scared rabbit needed to be handled differently than he would normally treat this kind of situation.

Giving the self-proclaimed child prodigy a look that seemed to say, he agreed that this was something should be handled within the village. ”I will be right back” and with that he started to run after the rabbit.

There were many things he could do to catch up but suddenly appearing in front of here might scare her even more, binds were overkill but even just chasing after her was mostly likely going to trigger some prey response. If she was going to be a shinobi like he suspected she wanted to be she was going to have to get over this.

It would not take long to catch up to her. He was almost a foot taller and that meant a much longer running stride, unless she was going to do something drastic and completely unpredictable.

Reaching to grab her shoulder he spun her around so she faced him. He lowered himself a bit so they were eye to eye, in fact she was a bit taller than him. As much as he wanted to help get rid of her prey drive this was not the moment to work on that. ”STOP” he said in a firm voice, it was obviously the voice of a command he expected to be followed. He was not out of breath from chasing her. To many years as a shinobi had made a simple run like this far to common place to be out of breath.

In a much softer tone he asked her ”Talk to me, why are you running? This is a safe place one of the safest places in the village. Nothing will happen to you here.” woe to those that would attack the academy he could only imagine the wrath that would fall upon them and Manzo would leading the charge. As he said these things he couldn’t help but notice how dirty she was. He doubted that was just lying on the ground to watch them just now. This was dirt that had been caked on with time. This girl had been running for a while. She needed a place she could feel safe for a while before having to deal with her problems again. Maybe next time she dealt with them she would have help.

[MFT: 452]

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Kaori rushed through the thick and lush forest near the academy and hid behind a tree, putting it between herself and where the academy was. She pressed herself tightly against the large wooden mass and tried to catch her breath. Her breath was shallow and rapid, taking a moment to moisten her throat while constantly drying it with her quickened breath. "Are all shinobi... this paranoid?" she asked herself before she continued forward only to feel a hand upon her shoulder, spinning her around mid-stride, causing her to fall on her back. She looked up at the man for a moment and stopped, as if on his command, and tried to catch her breath.

"That's why I was hiding there!" she said in an angered tone. She turned her head to look behind her, her body still bouncing up and down from the heavy breathing. There wasn't anything of note behind her. It really wasn't any of this man's business why she was running; it was her problem and her problem alone. Nobody should interfere in the Shrine's business, especially not when she is trying to defy her fate. Her destiny was written the moment she was born; born with the black horns attached to her head (thankfully covered by her ribbons) and grew up with the white eyes (a passive trait in her clan). There was nothing this man could do to save her from her problems with the Shrine and she didn't want to get anyone in this village involved.

"You and that other guy gave away my position," she said before turning around to look, hearing a rustling in the trees behind her. Out of panic, she found one of the big trees and hid behind it, this time putting the tree between herself and what could've been behind her. She closed her eyes and looked upwards, repeating the words "Don't send Paladins, don't send Paladins," softly to herself before turning to look towards Manzo for a moment. She was still catching her breath. The sound of dogs barking could be heard in the distance as well as a few people whistling.

She had to go somewhere, she couldn't stay here. Why was this Manzo person so damn annoying? She turned to look towards Manzo and shoo'd him away. All she wanted was a little bit of sleep and this is what happens. She was running out of options on where she could stay. The Shrine WILL eventually get her if she stayed inside of the village. She took a deep breath in and started to think.​

 

[Arashi Hisame]

((OoC: for plot progression I'm having the scroll slowly reveal techniques for the boy to learn that are connected to the Haku Bloodline Jutsu, as well as other techniques such as summoning or notable non-Haku jutsu/information. So as of this post/training Hisame will gain access to Crystal Ice (Rank One), Flash Freeze (Rank One). So you can decipher more than that if you'd like but it is obviously structured to slowly advance the skills of the boy and I'd greatly appreciate if the goal of the scroll isn't told to the him ^^))

Completely unaware of the circumstances that was happening not to far from here the boys only focus was on the man trying to decipher the scroll. As the man used his skills to pry into the scroll he would be able to read only the first few passages at first. It seemed that the moving characters on the parchment had a different pattern per section, but the first was rather simple. It was just a generic history of the Haku Bloodline that anyone would be able to find in local libraries, this passage did however explain that though other Shinobi could produce ice styles Justus none were as strong as those of the Haku.
[spoilername="Scroll Passage 1"]A clan originating from the village hidden in the Mist, the Haku are an effeminate and graceful clan possessing a powerful affinity to Ice, a trait which leaves even their skin chilly to touch. Those of this Bloodline are majestic and beautiful at birth, and even the men of this ability can rival pretty women in looks. However, mistaking a Haku to be delicate can prove a very dangerous mistake, for their skill and control with ice can easily freeze those who invoke their wrath at a moments notice, their skills the pinnacle of Icy jutsu.

All Haku are instinctively born with a natural affinity to Ice, possessing the ability to manipulate it to their own desire. They possess the ability of Crystal Ice; ice which seems to prove harder than steel, and colder than the ice of other shinobi, even capable of withstanding intense flames without melting. Innately, all Ice techniques used by the Haku are made of this advanced ice, giving them a strength others don't have.[/spoilername]

The second passage was different, it showed a handseal that was out of the ordinary set of twelve. Appearing similar to the Tiger Seal but with the slight alteration of the first two fingers. There was also a small passage underneath it.
[spoilername="Scroll Passage 2"]A Haku's ability to manipulate ice and cold gives them an edge they cannot use without ice to manipulate. They naturally possess the ability to rapidly chill the air around them and targets, giving them the ability that allowing them to freeze water, and even the air itself, into Crystal Ice.[/spoilername]

"...So?"

The boy was slightly impatient as he had been ticking away at this for a while now and had nothing to show for it. Hopefully if the man could at least decipher a small portion of it he would share what it says. The anticipation was killing him. Another sigh escaped his lips.

"I'm wanting to know what my mother left for me... She said this was needed if I were to become one of the Clan... But I don't understand what she means."

He sat down letting out a deaper sigh, not of defeat but pure frustration. After seeing what this scroll could bring forth he wanted to know how and what that meant. He knew he would not be able to summon forth such a ferocious frozen beast like she did but there had to be something he could do.

[MFT:298]

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

Takeshi allowed himself to pick up a piece of paper and a pen, it didn’t take long before he was writing down the scroll, though it seemed the boy was trying to learn slowly and understand his power. It seemed the scroll was there to teach him about his bloodline, and the abilities that his family had passed down. It was quite a noble notion considering his current predicament of course. As he finished deciphering the scroll he allowed himself to finish the wording and handed what had now been made a small booklet towards the student.

“Here you go, one scroll now deciphered and ready for you to read”

It wasn’t hard for the Uchiha to discover the secrets, he had only given a small part to the boy though. Slow progress would be a good thing and not going to quickly of course. Smiling he learned the secrets completely and allowed them to be stored up in his mind. It was one of those moments that he got a glimpse into his others half’s way of seeing the world, it was rather indulging to be honest.

“Well this seems at least interesting, you should be able to learn a lot from this scroll which is good.”

Takeshi allowed himself to take a seat next to the boy, it would be down to him to talk of course the ANBU Captain would inform him on any questions he had. Takeshi had always been one to help Students and even now he would continue to do so. He allowed himself to smile at the man knowing full well that he was just starting out. It was those times that he knew he could have the best experience. This was something that he loved to see the smiles on the faces of Students.

[Given the scroll only in a small section for him to work on understanding]

 

[Kato Hana]

This girl was starting to get frustrating. Though he supposed everyone at that age seems to know everything better than anyone else. He supposed even he was like that when he was in the academy.

Hearing her whisper something about paladins he wondered what those were, he would have to look into that latter. This whole thing could still be the delusions of a little girl. Manzo doubted it since she was truly scared. The dogs in the background weren't helping. Manzo truly wondered if they were hunting dogs hunting her. If that was the case than the woods might be the worse place for her.

”It wasn’t that we gave away your position, just you needed some more practice on your stealth. Actually are you an academy student?” He waited for an answer, getting an affirmative, before proceeding.

”But that isn’t to say you don’t have the skills, but right now it is obvious you don’t have the mind set. It is obvious to anyone that you are exhausted and when you get that exhausted your brain doesn't allow you to make clear choices.

It was time to work on bringing her back to the academy where hopefully she could get some rest and start to think clearer, because trying to hide in the wood line from someone isn’t the best option.

”So my name is Manzo and here is where I get to be really annoying and make you make a choice. Option one, we go back to the academy. I introduce you to the ANBUCaptain that is there so you can see that you are safe. If need be I will be your guard for the night and the gods help these paladins if they think they will get you in the academy. You clean get cleaned up a bit, get some food in your belly then you crash out on one of the racks they have. After you are rested you might see other options you might have, you might see something better than trying to sleep on the ground at the edge of a clearing. Manzo thought that the fact that an ANBU Captain was currently at the academy might reassure her a bit more

Personally Manzo thought this sounded like a great idea but it wasn’t up to him

”Option two, we stand here until you fall over from exhaustion, which shouldn’t take more than five minutes by the looks of you, I bring you back to the academy and toss you in a rack so you can get some sleep, When you wake up you can worry about getting cleaned up and some food.”

Manzo really was evil sometimes

”I know I am mean, cruel, terrible and awful making you get some sleep but a shinobi that can’t think straight isn’t effective. Now which option will it be?

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

The Shinobi darted off to assist the kunoichi. Hoshi watched from afar, through the corner of his eye. He switched to the other corner where the green haired Shinobi and student read the contents of the scroll which Hoshi could not see. He stood in his position, not easily visible for he was behind a set of bushes and a tree. His eyes shifted back the other way and to the ground as he gripped his chin with his left hand, his right cradling his opposite elbow.

He was enjoying his time in Konoha, they too had their own fair share of rare and capable Shinobi from different backgrounds. He was now becoming to realize the similarities between the countries, yet each held unique qualities. This alliance had proved to be something useful and good, for both villages. He pondered all of this nodding to himself with a smirk.

Hoshi looked back at the individuals in separate directions, he then took a seat. The Shinobi and Kunioichi were having an extended conversation, and Hoshi continued to think. He wondered if his older foster brother Kiri had met anyone of these people, or anyone else he came across in fire country. He'd await the outcome of both situations until a bird from above flew in with a scroll for Hoshi. He looked at the bird concerned, the bjed responding with a tilted head. After he retrieved the letter the bird flew away.

"The snake has been captured. Meet at the rendezvous the third night."

It was a letter he was expecting, but not so soon. Maybe he would have some time to stick around, but this was of importance. Although he wanted to say bye to the two he met, he was pressed for every second now. Hoshi sighed and tucked the message away into the sash of his apron. He would rise to his feet, without a second look Hoshi began to walk off.

[topic left]

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Kaori couldn't understand why this Manzo guy, as he introduced himself, would be so thick. She was obviously distressed and talking down to her wasn't the proper solution. Certainly, she needed sleep but what she needed more was to remain in hiding and constantly evade capture. A few moments of shut-eye was all she really needed to keep her alert-enough to avoid getting caught by the Shrine and their brain-washed lapdogs called the Paladins. Kaori peeked around the tree that she was pressed against to see nothing in the distance, but the sound of whistles and dogs could be heard pretty clearly from this distance. Her heart started to race as she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

A question was asked of her about her rank. This caused Kaori to look at the man with disgust for a moment. Kaori is scared for her life without the ability to escape either of her captors and she was asked about her rank? The look of shock quickly dissipated and she entertained the obviously stronger ninja with an answer. "Yes. I'm a student. Started the academy a couple weeks ago," she said in a panicked rush. She looked over her shoulders again, still seeing nothing but their sounds were a lot louder for the two of them than it was before. This wasn't some imaginary sounds she was hearing, but it was quite audible to the two of them. The denseness of the forest made it difficult for the two to see the group, but the sounds of their voices and dogs reverberated, bouncing off of the trees pretty easily.

To be frank, she wasn't much of a stealth fighter. She would rather get up into someone's face and beat their faces in rather than hide and play games with her opponent. While stealth is the bread-and-butter for a shinobi, she'd rather not fight like that. It wasn't her style to fight like a coward while cowering in the shadows. Guerrilla tactics is meant for rebels and those without the ability to use ninjutsu or mold chakra. Stealth was kind of a stupid concept for those that could level an entire city with an explosion. She didn't need practice in stealth. Geez, this guy is thick.

It's not that she is in a position to really make good decisions when instinct is what is carrying her right now. Fight or flight had kicked in and Kaori, due to her meager power (but explosive potential) chose the flight response over rational thinking or fighting to maintain her ground. It was then, when someone said she wasn't in the right mind or capable of making rational decisions, gave Kaori a decision to make. She looked at the man with a disappointed, yet quizzical, expression. However, the proposition given to her was quite the no-brainer. She looked at the man with cold eyes before standing up, still pressing her back against the tree. She couldn't stay in the academy for the rest of her life nor could she advance as a shinobi if she's being held captive in the academy.

The Academy had someone on the inside that worked for the Shrine, so her presence there would be monitored and everything about her movement would be sent back to the Shrine immediately. Her imprisonment in the Academy could potentially be a worse situation than she is in right now, but anything is better than being caught and brought to carry out her fate as the Dragon Priestess of the Shrine. "Fine. Take me back to the Academy. But anything you do, you can't let them catch me," she said as a heavily armed men could be seen by Manzo quite clearly in the distance. The dogs that they had with them started to kick up into a craze as they finally picked up on Kaori's scent.

"You there!" shouted one of the armored men. "Have you seen a small girl with light purple hair? She wears white and red Shrine Maiden clothing. Has horns?" called out the man as he spoke out towards. Kaori took a deep breath in and turned to look towards Manzo and shook her head. They were so close! "Either take me to the Academy now or go away. But deny ever seeing me," she said in a whisper.