*Hokage's Office*

He shrugged nonchalantly "Yeah, sure, why not? Lessee... which one did I store that on?" He shuffled through some papers, then nodded and pulled out a single paper with a seal on it. He performed an unknown jutsu and the papers multiplied until they became a folder. He handed that to Rai "There you go, that should be the information for the last few missions. By the way, Rai, if you wouldn't mind..." He looked out the window "Could you patrol the area outside of the village using your abilities? I've got a bad feeling that something is about to happen." He cracked his neck and looked at the rest of the paperwork. "Guess I better store all of this."

He pulled out an ink pen and scribbled seals onto blank papers. He would place the paper on top of a stack and perform a jutsu. The stack would be sucked into the paper, which he then labeled. Within minutes, all that was left was a moderate amount of paperwork and the emergency bin.

_________________
Final Fantasy IX was the best Final Fantasy game ever and if you think otherwise you are WRONG!

My fanfiction account. Comments and criticisms are very welcome.

-Rai-
=Hokage's Office=

Rai swallowed hard when the Hokage agreed to give them the files, it was then that it finally hit him that Akemi would be able to look into every last detail on their final mission. He glanced towards his teacher for a brief moment, he wished that he had the courage to go through with explaining it all himself, but it was just too soon for him. In his mind it was more disgraceful that he couldn't directly face up to his faults, though he knew eventually he would have to tell her everything in his own words. The young man looked down at the files as the hokage used his jutsu, his eye raising slightly from the request that soon followed.

"Yes, of course Hokage-sama." he said with a slight bow as he reached forwards and grabbed the files from the other man's hands. Rai stared at the files that he held for a few moments, gently sliding his fingertips down the side of the papers as he seemed to drift off into space. His eyes looked towards his teacher with a soft expression on his face.
"This is everything... well... not everything... I'll tell you the rest later." Rai said in a neutral tone, handing the files over to the woman. With that the young man didn't say another word until he reached the doorway, lifting up his hand in a half hearted wave as he walked out.
"I'll be back when I'm finished." was all he said and then left to go scout the perimeter of the village.

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-/ Yu-Yu : Dream Sequence \-

Yukenra slept peacefully for the most part, kicking a few times as rambling nonsense on occasion. He dreamt that he was a ninja-pirate captain adrift at sea during a terrible storm. The waves that came crashing over the side of the ship rocked it unmercifully, yet he held firm. The crew was a group of pirate wenches and seadogs cast from people he knew from the village and his home island. The ship was a grand vessel that shined with a black luster in the moonlight. Amidst the storm's fury, a group of large tentacles enveloped the ship with a simultaneous impact on the hull. The force of the impact knocked most of the crew to the floor, and stopped his ship in its tracks. It was any seaman's worst nightmare, the legendary Kraken was upon them.

The crew burst into action with a barrage of cannon fire and various jutsu. Yukenra chose to take the fight directly to the beast. He cut his hand and leapt from the ship's bow, narrowly escaping a falling tentacle. He preformed the signs during the fall, summoning a giant crab as he hit the water. Yukenra then targeted the tentacles as the crab did battle with the Kraken to free his ship. The crew had managed to seal off the decks of the ship that were damage by the enormous beak that tore into the ship on impact. Meanwhile, Yukenra made quick work of the remaining tentacles binding the boat. Once he re-boarded, he steered them clear of the battle of sea monsters and made a break for a nearby island, but they were not so lucky. A giant tentacle came crashing down onto the ship, sinking it. Under the ocean and descending deeper and deeper, all he could see was the murky depths and the faint glow of the white orb reflecting on to the surface of the water

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My Poetry and More!

-Hokage's Office-

"Now that's a technique I wish I had, I'd could carry so many more magazines that way." Age commented at the Hokage's flurry of paper sorting and 'filing'. He stood in the doorway of the office by this time, moving to the side a bit so that Rai could exit before he stepped farther in. He made a brief glance around the room, at the motley assortment of people who'd gathered there. "It seems this isn't the best of timing but I am one of the messenger's from Steel." Extracting the message from a pocket in his jacket, he placed it unto the edge of the Hokage's desk, letting the man decide what he'd do with it, before taking a step back. "It is only my opinion but given how uneventful my own journey here was I fear your intuition is correct. Given the circumstances I must request that you give your permission for my comrades and I to take up arms to bolster your defenses."

{Outside Hokage's Residence}

Rikudou looked up as he stopped walking, watching a flock of birds passing by overhead. He smiled and lifted up his submarine sandwich to take another bite. He looked back down and across the way, glancing upon the large structure that was the Hokage's Residence. Wouldn't want to be there today... Doesn't take a byakugan to see how busy they'll get with all the new arrivals. He then pushed his glasses up and smirked at himself with a snicker. Ohhh, I should remember that line... Was rather amusing, if I do say so, myself~

"Hohohohoheehee," the young Hyuuga chuckled aloud just before seeing Rai walk out of the large structure. "Oh, Rai-sama!" He tilted his head with a deep hint of curiosity in his pale eyes, glasses shaking a bit from the motion. "I don't suppose you were in there looking for work, hmmmm?" It wasn't hard to notice a certain feline quality to his smile and tone. Quite curious, indeed...

_________________

Jin - Hokage's office

It was getting awfully crowded in here, though the new guy was rather cute. He even took a small moment to check her out, which Jin repaid with a coy smile his way. She memorized his face, just in case she needed some fun later on.

She waited to see what the newcomers had to say, they didn't seem to mind talking about it with foreigners around, so maybe it wasn't of importance. Then again, the whole situation did seem a bit weird, the guy who had been eyeing her seemed nervous about something. Sadly it all made no sense to her, so when the man left she figured it was time for them to leave as well.

Grabbing Malkizid by the collar of his cloths and dragging him out of the office, Jin cheerfully spoke "Don't think I've forgotten about you." Their mission, if you could even call it that, was done and they were free to do whatever they wanted. And Jin knew precisely what she wanted. She dragged the kid through the hallways of the building, out into the street and finally into a narrower, less crowded side passage she had noticed earlier. She was so preoccupied with the ideas she had about what to do with Malkizid, that she hadn't even noticed Rai or Rikudou.

She forcefully pinned Malkizid against the wall, placing both of her hands on the wall besides his head. He wasn't going anywhere. "Mal, Mal, Mal... Whatever should I do with you?" She spoke with a coy voice "I do believe I should punish you, don't you think? I mean, peeping on a woman, that's not very nice." She moved closer, pressing her sizable chest against his "Tell me, how do you think I should punish you?" The most devious smile Malkizid had probably ever seen, was now only a few inches away from him. Jin wondered if he would get the invitation, it would be rather silly if she had to put it even more blatantly.

_________________

Akemi Saotome: Hokage's Office

Akemi took the file and gave Rai a nod as he left to scout. She didn't look at the file until Rai had left, and even after he was gone, she was tentative about opening it. Moving out of the way of the rest of the people in the office, she took a seat on the side and skimmed the missions. Towards the end of them, she frowned and her chest felt tight. She concentrated on taking in deep breaths. No wonder Rai was reluctant to tell her what happened. She understood the feeling of being responsible for others' lives, but she didn't think that things were completely his fault. When he came back, she wouldn't say anything about it, but let him know that he did well in her absence. She would, of course, be making a visit to their comatose teammate and check on her status...but in the meanwhile, she would make it clear to Rai that the best thing to do would be to not mope around like a husk of a human, but to improve upon yourself and get to the level where he could actually do something about their other teammate's disappearance. Maybe she wasn't so lost afterall...

"Hmm..I'll see what can be done." She said to herself softly as she got back into line to talk to the Hokage. Once it was her turn to talk to the Hokage again, she had a quick question to ask. "I have a favor to ask. I still view Rai as a student of mine, and I'd like to help train him further. I don't know what kind of training he's been doing while I've been gone, but I feel that he's been lacking in certain areas." She knew that she was being ridiculously vague, but there were too many people around for her to really speak her mind. That, and she wasn't particularly close to the Hokage enough to divulge her innermost gut feelings.

_________________
Doctress Who-CURSE YOU AKAINE AND FENIX. *Shakes fist*
Musicmac-INNUENDO... STRIKE!
Innuendo Squad Leader
Dare to join?

*Hokage's Office*

The Hokage took a moment to think about Age's comment before shrugging. "I only know about your orders to bring the message here. If you want to stay longer, that is your choice, though you may want to send a message to your village. In addition, you will still need to be watched until such point as we can trust you. After all, we know nothing about you other than your mission and your village. Alliances are tricky things and are not to be relied upon. If you submit to a certain seal, you may go without the watchdog."

He turned to Akemi and nodded "Sure, why not? I don't see any large problems with your request. The most Rai can do is refuse, after all."

_________________
Final Fantasy IX was the best Final Fantasy game ever and if you think otherwise you are WRONG!

My fanfiction account. Comments and criticisms are very welcome.

-Rai-
=Heading towards outskirts of Konoha=

It had felt as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, the burden he had been carrying since the day his team fell apart felt slightly alleviated. He had worried about many things since his fight with Akemi, but now that he knew she would learn about the details of what happened he couldn't help but feel a little bit relieved. For a long time he had wished for someone to punish him for his mistakes, for someone acknowledge the fact that his team was now gone because of his actions. He hoped that his teacher wouldn't be so lenient with him as many others were. As Rai walked through the village his thoughts were on how his teacher would take the news of finding out what exactly happened.

Even though they had a bit of a falling out with each other before it still pained him to know that he let her down so severely. That is why he wished for her to not go easy on him. Rai hardly even noticed when Rikudou called out to him, simply blinking slightly and turning to face him with only a few select words reaching into his head. It took him a few moments to sort out his thoughts and process what exactly had been said to him.
"No, it wasn't that I was looking for work, but work found me." Rai said plainly, not exactly sure why Rikudou would be so curious about such a thing.
"Actually Rikudou-kun, the Hokage needs me to scout the perimeter of the village using my Byakugan... another set of eyes could prove useful if you wouldn't mind accompanying me."

_________________

*Hokage's Office*

Age was prepared for the type of answer the Hokage gave and truthfully he preferred to have this kind of outcome. As the Hokage had said alliances were tricky and the lack of trust was mutual, though there was no ill will intended by that. Age had only offered his services to probe the Hokage's reaction and to have offered assistance in the event that something should happen. It was better to have offered assistance to an ally and have them refuse it than to have never offered in the first place. He waited for the other conversation in the room to finish before he responded, naturally he was listening but all it meant to him was that maybe the woman and the hyuuga that was the before weren't lovely dovey like he'd initially thought.

"It is as you say, especially given the current situation. I am under no order to return immediately but I also don't have the authority to be marked by you. My companions and I will make preparations for our departure so as to not out stay our welcome." He said carefully before promptly retreating through the door.

*Hokage's Office*

"Not so fast..." Age felt a restraining hand on his shoulder "I never said that you were unwelcome, only that we'd have to handle this delicately." He used his other hand to perform a few hand signs and a piece of paper folded itself into a bird that took off "One of our inns, the Fallen Leaf, will have room open for you and your teammates for as long as needed." He gave a friendly, if tired, grin. "Now, it is still your choice. The room will only be open for one day, then it will be given to someone else to be used indefinitely. The Fallen Leaf has always been my first choice for things like that."

_________________
Final Fantasy IX was the best Final Fantasy game ever and if you think otherwise you are WRONG!

My fanfiction account. Comments and criticisms are very welcome.

*Hokage's Office*

Age stopped in his tracks upon feeling a hand grasp his shoulder, turning his head enough to see it was the Hokage holding on to him. Age took a long moment to consider what was being said before he gave a response. He much preferred reading about these kinds of conversations to being in one, there were simply so many ways any response could be interpreted and talking with the leader of a allied village could be disastrous if he implied the wrong thing. He realized finally that all this uncharacteristic overly cautious thinking had made him very tense something the Hokage would no doubt notice. Relaxing a little he determined it would be best to go along with this offer and returned a small smile of his own. "I understand. In that case we will stay so long as it is reasonable to do so or until we receive orders to return home. Hopefully I'm worrying over nothing."

{Streets}

Rikudou smiled, just as kind and warm as ever. He gently nodded before voicing his response. "Of course, Rai-sama. I always welcome the chance to aid others with any endeavors." He then looked around a moment, his mind curiously checking for anyone else coming around to add to the cause. "Well, being your mission and you're eldest, you should lead. I shall follow close behind." He stood back a moment and moved just behind Rai, getting into position immediately while finishing off his sandwich.

_________________

-/ Yu Yu: Yukenra's Room \-

Yukenra awoke from his nap feeling refreshed. He lay rather still as he stared up through the skylight over his bed which was a simple water mattress on the floor adorned with a few pillows and a sleeping bag. As he stared into the blue sky over Konoha several things crossed his mind. A lot of it was about the various girls and kunoichi he had an eye for in the village. His more productive thoughts were about perfecting his current arsenal, ways to make money, new jutsu and training methods. He never dwelled on any one thing for too long as his thoughts were flowing about casually. Despite all this thinking, he was still at a loss for what to do with the rest of the day he was given off. He eventually got up and stretched while yawning simultaneously. He walked over to a rectangular container and from it he lifted his crystal blade from a restorative solution. His last fight ended with the blade getting a few nicks, but after being allowed to rest in the solution over night, the blade was back to 100%. He removed it and place it upon a display rack which was it's usual home when he wasn't out training with it or on a mission. He then went over to make shift bathroom to take a shower and get dressed, donning his typical battle ready gear. He fastened the blade to his hip using a sash and set out for the training grounds to practice his sword techniques.

_________________
My Poetry and More!

-Rai-
=Heading towards outskirts=

Rai couldn't help but crack a small smirk at the younger Hyuuga's response. Rikudou seemed like a nice and friendly person, however those qualities weren't exactly suited for being a ninja. This however only made Rai a bit curious about what the younger Hyuuga was capable of when push came to shove. The young man nodded towards Rikudou, the slight smirk still very present on his face.
"Try not to fall behind, I'd like to finish this quickly." he said in almost a challenging sort of tone, somewhat baiting the younger Hyuuga into showing him a bit more than his 'nice' side.

With that Rai leapt up onto the roof of the nearest building, traveling along the streets would have just taken longer than necessary to reach the outside of the city. He didn't waste any time and began to leap from building to building, his feet nimble and gradually picking up speed as he moved across the rooftops. At first it was apparent that he was holding back quite a bit, but after about a block of traveling the young man kicked it up a few notches. He moved like a blur almost, glancing back behind him every once and awhile to see if the younger Hyuuga was still following.

_________________

{Follow The Leader~}

Rikudou waited only a moment at first when Rai began trekking across the rooftops. I suppose he's in a hurry to get to work. Have to admire Rai-sama's work ethic for this mission! The young man mused in his head before leaping off to catch up. As Rai was keeping his speed in check early on. Rikudou caught back up easily and found a suitable position to follow Rai.

Each time Rai would speed up, Rikudou would quickly adjust himself to keep up. Each time the elder boy would look back, Rikudou would have that same gentle smile on his face, which he would only seem to make even more cheerful whenever he noticed Rai looking back. He was even very methodical during the fast pace, always keeping seven feet behind and two feet to Rai's left side. And the boy seemed to only be exerting however much effort as Rai himself ever was.

_________________

-Malkizid-


Mission done. Distraction placed. Distraction failed. Being dragged out of the hokage's building by his collar like some sort of stray dog was not the best impression he would like to have gotten from Jin but it was not the worst of his fears, Malkzid knew full well what was waiting for him the instant they were out of sight from people... Fathers before me, today I become a man. Whimpering in his mind while the rabid dog pulled him ever closer to the inevitable.

The alleyway? Of all places for something like this to happen it had to be an alleyway... This would not due. Her hands were strong, stronger than he probably could imagine since they were ninja's after all, so the only sane thing to do was try to physically push himself through the wall at his back. It wouldn't budge if the thug hit it.
Her breasts were large and like most men who found himself in this situation felt blood rush from his brain at a drastic rate, secondary brain was trying to gain control.

Think! THINK! THINK! THINK! Gotta be a way out, gotta be a way to dodge. Can't... let... Jin... Demons breathe they are soft....... NO! CAN'T FALL TO TEMPTATION! Eyes darting left and right, looking to the sky for answers but found only clear blue skies. today would be perfect if it wasn't for the awkwardness of the moment. To this point Malkizid had been phasing out everything Jin said, it could only end badly if he fell into her trap... But a woman on a mission knows no surrender.
Only one way outta this... Raising his leg to lightly touch Jin's crotch while giving a suggestive look with his eyes, slowly lowering his medical mask to reveal the fang-like rows of teeth that flashed in the sun. Leaning forward he pressed the moment, locking lips and pushing jin back lightly. For a brief moment she dropped her guard, knowing she had him snared. The demon strikes at such times.

Pushing Jin away with a decent amount of force, Malkizid sprung into the air with a bright red face, quickly covering it up with his mask. Seconds after he'd ditched, his chameleon jutsu disguised him to the buildings. "Too close... For comfort..." Wheezing at the rush of it all, the emotionally exhausted ninja slumped down in a dark alleyway.. Safe for now.

_________________

-Rai-
=Outskirts of Konoha=

Rai wouldn't have wanted to admit he was surprised with how Rikudou was able to follow him without much trouble, but there was certainly a small sense of admiration towards the younger Hyuuga's abilities. He would be the first person to say that you should never underestimate the abilities of someone ranked below you, however it was still good to see that the younger people were still there to keep the older ones honest.
'Good...' Rai thought to himself, a small smile on his face as he landed onto a tree branch just outside of the walls that surrounded the village. His head turned back to face Rikudou, still bearing a small smile on it as he looked at the other Hyuuga.

"I'm not sure what exactly we're looking for, the Hokage said he had a bad feeling about something... so it's possible we could just be going on a wild goose chase." he said in a neutral tone, orders were orders however going off of a hunch usually wasn't the most accurate way to do things. It was likely that they wouldn't find anything at all, however even he had to agree that it was worth investigating.
"Stay on guard, scan then area to the left of this position and I will scan the right... report back here after five minutes if you find nothing, stay put and observe if you do come across something... we should be able to find each other fairly easily if either of us run into anything after the five minutes pass..." Rai wasn't sure why it was, but he felt comfortable giving orders at that moment. It was something he hadn't felt comfortable doing in quite some time.
"See you in five minutes..." With that Rai nodded towards the younger Hyuuga, activated his Byakugan and then leapt off in the direction he said he would scan.

_________________

*Beyond the Outskirts*

It didn't take Rai long to run into trouble. He was able to see the figures far before they noticed him. There were three of them, all masked and wearing loose silver robes. The masks were radiating a strange chakra that prevented Rai's ability from identifying them. One was exceptionally tall but the other two were nothing special, around Rai's height. For some reason, one of those two seemed familiar somehow. The tall one was doing something on the ground and the other two seemed to be waiting for him to finish.

_________________
Final Fantasy IX was the best Final Fantasy game ever and if you think otherwise you are WRONG!

My fanfiction account. Comments and criticisms are very welcome.

{Outskirts}

Rikudou smiled back, his eyes now as cheerful as his exression upon seeing Rai's own show of happiness. He bowed his head a bit. "Yes, Rai-sama. I'll report back if nothing extraordinary ocurs." He turned as Rai headed off, bounding into the opposite direction of his mentor. He squinted a bit for a moment before his Byakugan activated, his pale irises expanding to a slight degree as he looked about in his direction.

I'm happy to see Rai-sama smiling today... Hopefully the souce will remain consistent. He certainly has need for more things to keep him appeased. Rikudou thought while moving between trees every few seconds from scanning his last location.

_________________

-Rai-
=Outskirts of Konoha=
Rai noticed a few figures off in the distance with his byakugan and immediately began to slow down his movements. He could tell that the group was definitely up to something, however it was hard to know just what exactly they were doing. This put him in a difficult situation now, he needed to know what they were up to and quick, waiting around for too long could have meant that something bad would happen. Rai knew that he couldn't wait for the time to pass for Rikudou to come and find him, he would have to do something a bit more aggressive.

The fact that there were three of them also complicated things, he didn't want to rush headlong into battle without knowing how skilled they were first. He needed to think of a plan and fast, there wasn't much time for him to waste, he needed to stop whatever it was they were doing. It was then that Rai spotted a few stones on the ground beneath him, causing him to smirk slightly as an idea finally crossed his mind.

...

A few moments later after Rai had set everything up, he had positioned himself closer to the group of masked figures, keeping himself downwind and moving as silently as he could. He observed the group for a few seconds more, noticing their sizes and the equipment that each of them had on their person. He decided that there wasn't any more time to waste, and enacted his plan. A large group of explosions could be heard in the forest, toppling a few trees and launching several stones high into the air. These stones seemed to shimmer with chakra for a moment before they too exploded high in the air almost like fireworks. This all took place not too far from where the group of masked ninja were located, easily enough of a ruckus to not go unseen or unheard. It was during these explosions that Rai calmly walked out from his cover into the clearing with the group of ninja.

"That was my partner signaling for backup... a bit loud, but I suppose that's the whole point..." the young man said as he pointed back to where the explosions came from, a small smile on his face as he eyed up each of the ninja once again.
"Care to explain who you are?" he said in a lower tone of voice, clearly in a threatening manner. Rai didn't know what to expect from these guys, he knew he'd need to keep his guard up until anyone who heard the explosions came to investigate.

_________________

*Beyond the Outskirts*

All three looked up, startled. One of the two more normal looking ones put his hands up quickly and performed a series of handsigns. The other two looked at him and began to act before they slumped bonelessly to the ground. "Hello again, Rai-kun. It's been a long time" The voice was annoyingly familiar. Then the figure pulled off his mask. It was Rin, seemingly alive and well. There was chakra everywhere, presumably from the tall one's and Rin's jutsus.

_________________
Final Fantasy IX was the best Final Fantasy game ever and if you think otherwise you are WRONG!

My fanfiction account. Comments and criticisms are very welcome.

-Rai-
=Outskirts of Konoha=

Rai's eyes narrowed as one of the masked figures began to perform a series of hand signs. His body tensed up in anticipation of a technique, he wouldn't have been able to have reached the person in time to stop him and there wasn't anything he could do aside from keep his guard up. But it was then that two of the figures fell to the ground, causing Rai's eyes to raise slightly out of confusion. The figure that had performed the hand signs finally spoke to him, causing the Hyuuga's eyes to widen even further.

"No... it can't be... this..." Rai said to himself softly, his body started to shake with fear as the figure began to remove his mask. He couldn't believe his eyes, but there was no way he could deny that Rin was standing right in front of him at this very moment. His eyes were full of shock and for a few moments it looked as if Rai wanted to say something but just couldn't let the words escape his mouth.
"Rin... how are you still alive? I thought... back then you..." Rai couldn't even finish his sentence, it was still too painful for him to think about. He had never been more confused, how did he survive? Why was he here now of all times? Where had he been for so long? So many questions swirled around in Rai's head, it was making it hard for him to think straight.

_________________

{Outskirts of Konoha}

Rikudou froze up as he saw the explosions in the sky. He turned quickly, making a mad dash back in the opposite direction. He looked ahead a bit and waited until his byakugan had enough range to finally see Rai and Rin standing together. Something is wrong with this... I'll need to get closer to hear what's going on. Rikudou lifted his hands up as he leapt between the trees, making a few quick seals with his hands. But why is Rai-sama just standing there...?

Rikudou glanced aside for just a second before pausing and watching. Rikudou then began running along the ground, sprinting between the trees on his way toward Rai.

_________________

*Hokage's Office*

It was good that Age had regained his normal relaxed by this time as a distant, brief sound could be heard in the office. Remembering the conversation that had just taken place he made no mention of the blast though. "Welp, time to go get cozy." He said as he left the office for real this time, so that the locals could have some privacy to discuss what that sound was. Besides that though Age was certain from the way the Hokage handled himself that if he wanted Age to get involved he'd be able to effortlessly and discreetly tell him no matter where Age went. At the very least Age figured he should pretend he wasn't going to investigate for the sake of diplomacy.

Reaching into a pocket Age scribbled a short note as he walked and stuffed it down the mouth of a windup mouse toy. After a few good turns he pulled the key free and the toy sprung to life, legs all a flurry and after being placed on the ground it quickly disappeared across the street and down an alley. It was of course heading for Lucas with a message about where they'd be staying, assuming he wasn't already being detained for causing a ruckus. It didn't take long for Age to find the inn either, though he stopped and asked for directions once. "Hello, I have a room reserved I'd like to check in."