*Konoha Village*

The village is busy, as always. However, people have noticed a few strange things. For example, the ANBU task force is out in... force. They have been placed themselves in strategic locations all over the village in preparation for their... guests. Several villages have decided to have a meeting to decide what will be done about the mercenaries but the few times that messengers have been sent out, they have disappeared. So instead, in the guise of tourists, groups of ninja have been sent to deliver the message to Konoha, the largest of the group.

A figure swathed in many, many scarves stands at the gate of the village. He isn't wearing an ANBU mask but this was his mission. The village had recruited several ninja to keep watch over the village, just to be sure.

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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.

~ Musei Souon ~
~ Konohagakure - atop a building near the gate ~

The uniform of the ANBU corps was far from her usual monochromatic getup, but it was a badge of honor, and she wore it proudly along with white mask marked with red that they had provided her with. Unlike most of the rest of her ANBU fellows, her mask did not cover the entirety of her face. To do so would have put her at a disadvantage...Instead, a curved beak jutted out just below the eyes of the mask, obscuring her mouth from a frontal view but still giving her enough space to bring her flute to her lips. Her snowy hair was braided and coiled on the back of her head, and at first glance, it seemed to be part of the mask, too, but it lacked the starkly contrasting red lines that marked the edge of the beak on the mask.

She was perched on the corner of one of the buildings a few blocks away from the gate, head cocked as she listened to the bustling sounds of her home village, her sharp mind dedicated to the task at hand.

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Official Forum Mom

Akemi Saotome: Right outside the village gates.

Akemi was walking towards the gates. It had been too long since she had been inside Konoha and she had taken the scenic route towards the village. Over the time that she had been gone on this mission, Akemi had changed and learned many things that, had she known them when she had her team of genin, things might have not ended the way they had.

She continued walking to the village gates and up to the nearest gate guard. There seemed to be an unusual amount of anbu around, from the looks of things. She pulled out her identification and held it out, saying softly, "It's been a while...what's going on?" Her dark green eyes scanned what she could see of the village and the surrounding area. Something was definitely up, but she couldn't quite tell what the mood was.

Since she was gone from the village, she not only had changed mentally, but physically. Where she used to be skinny on the verge of unhealthy, she now has muscles that are skinny for the sake of the job, not because she wasn't taking care of herself. Her skin is pale, not because she's unhealthy, but because she rarely was out and about during the daytime. Her scars even looked like they had been taken care of more carefully, using lotion instead of scrubbing with a harsh soap and her long brown hair shone wherever the light hit it without any signs of split ends. Her clothes even looked to be new: tight black pants with the baggy green jonin pants over them, the typical ninja sandals that barely looked scuffed, short-sleeve black shirt with a long-sleeve fishnet over it and a pair of black and red fingerless gloves. She looked fit, neutral, and to those who knew her very well, almost content. There were a few people she looked forward to seeing again...

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

-Rai Hyuuga-
=Village Outskirts=

There was a small clearing in the woods just on the outskirts of the village, it was complete with a clear pond and a sizable waterfall. A stream trailed off into the woods and there seemed to have been no signs of any paths to this secluded area. It was a nice quiet place, completely cut off from everything else and it was the perfect spot to be alone. Rai Hyuuga, a chunin of the leaf village, sat on a grouping of damp rocks that were beside the waterfall. He sat shirtless and with a towel draped over his neck, his body wet from the misting water of the falls. The young man sat in silence, his pale eyes staring at where the water was churning into the pond, looking as if he was in a trance. Rai had been spending a lot of time on his own like this lately, there was a lot on his mind and his head was just as mixed up as the water he stared into.

A lot had happened to him over the past year, things that he probably shouldn't have allowed to effect him in the ways that they did. He had been such a promising ninja, proving everyone wrong and showing a great amount of potential. That was of course before his team fell apart, first there was his fight with his teacher, then several months later the loss of his two team members during a mission. Those events hit him hard and someone who had more than enough skill to become a Jounin was still stuck as a Chunin because of how he changed. He was a ninja and yet he allowed the loss of his team to affect his performance during missions, failure after failure Rai just didn't seem as if he would ever bounce back from it. The young man pulled the towel over the top of his head and leaned further back onto his rock, now laying himself down flat on the rock as if he were about to just lay there and fall to sleep.

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Bradao "Brad" Callen
-Training Grounds-

Bradao stood in front of a dummy staring at it, the wind blowing his scarf slightly. He stayed perfectly still for a few more moments, standing there. In a flash he reached into his large scroll on his back and threw a few kunai at it. He then jumped backwards doing a few hand signs. He grabbed the ground as bamboo shoots sprouted up. He grabbed them and threw them at the dummy. The bamboo senbon stuck nice as he did a few more handsigns. Bamboo began wrapping around Bradao's arm as a bamboo lance appeared. He then ran forward and stabbed into the dummy, his arm stuck in it's gut. He released the bamboo from his arm and stepped back. Admiring his work he pulled out his weapons and resealed them. "That was a fun quick practice." He said as his stomach growled. "I need some ramen." He said as he walked back towards the village.

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Hey everybody, PandaBrady here, with more roleplaying!

Also, please support Monty Oum, his work is amazing, especially RWBY. I wish I was that good.

~~Odella~~
~~Village Gate~~

The first thing that came into view as Odella walked towards the gate was her hair. The strange pattern of purple, green and blue seemed to ooze and shift as she walked making some people think they were hallucinating. She wore her usual outfit her tight fitting top and skirt showing her pale legs and shoulders causing a few of the male travelers to stop and stare. She was used to the stares some cause of her hair others because of her body but she ignored them, knowing that both were potential weapons in her arsenal. Her eyes were constantly flicking around always aware of what was going on around her. She did not want to be surprised. She was in a village other than her own even if there were somewhat peaceful relations between the small Chaos Village and the rather large Leaf. She slid into line behind a rather thin girl who was showing her identification. With a quick glance Odella was able to see the name Akemi on the card but little else. The girl had been given some ID of her own pulling from her bag a large token bearing the seal of the chaos village she rested the heavy thing in her palm. It was about the size of her palm but was made from some unknown substance that carried some otherworldly weight.

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My Art Thread....Now with Real Paint

~ Musei Souon ~
~ Konohagakure - closer to the gate, atop a building ~

The pale bird-masked ANBU tilted her head as a faint familiar scent floated toward her on the breeze. She sat there for a moment, going through her mental filing to place the smell. It didn't belong to anyone she'd had recent contact with, so she had to dig deeply into her memory. As she did so, she rose from her perch and silently made her way along the rooftops, following the scent.

She pulled up short within earshot, just in time to hear the tail end of Akemi's comment. She nodded to herself, crouching on the edge of the roof. Joshin-sensei would have been proud of her ability to pick out such a scent correctly.

"Akemi-san..." she whispered to herself, fighting the urge to wave to the woman or hop down to greet her. Sometimes she still had to catch herself and remind herself that while she was On Duty she was no longer herself, but a faceless, nameless ANBU operative. She hadn't realized before how lonely the existence was...

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Official Forum Mom

~Nara Akira~
~Village main gate~

As Akemi passed her papers to the ninja of scarves, the weekly kart of Ramen supplies came in squeaking behind the young Chaos Shinobi. As she slowed before the gate guard, so did the kart. The driver was a regular to Konoha and knew the procedure. As soon as he came to a halt, a yawn came from the kart’s cargo. A moment later, a dark figure hopped out from the back and dimly glanced around as he scratched his head. The man’s high pony tail suffering from some slight bed-head, his black shirt and pants were wrinkled, and he had some stubble across his face. Akira had come back in style.

Akira stretched his arms out, swung himself around, and casually walked towards the gate keeper. As he passed the driver of the kart, Akira slipped a few bills out from his sleeve and placed them on the passenger side, giving the man nod mid stride. He didn’t so much as glance at Odella as he stepped past her, and removed his ID from under his shirt at his waist-band. He glanced at Akemi.

“You need to eat more.”

It was like they saw each other yesterday. Before Akemi could respond, Akira turned to Erimaki. The boy he knew stood and could look him eye to eye now. Time does fly. He frowned slightly, then asked.

“Is Haka still angry?”

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-/ Yushka Yukenra \-
: Outside the Village :

On a lake a no more than brisk jog away from the bustling Hidden Village that was Konohagakure, a silhoutette of a small fishing boat could be seen through the thick mist that hung over the water and in the air near the lake's edge. The boat sat in dead silence on the crystal clear water, barely making a ripple as it lofted on the surface. A few lines where cast from the oar powered vessel and three figures sat back to back, seemingly napping as they awaited any signs of life on the other end of their fishing rods. Behind the boat, just under the surface, trailed a water container and a line full of fish they'd already caught as Yukenra had been at it since before dawn.

Elsewhere on the lake stood one of the few survivors of the Yushka clan wearing little more than a pair of swimming trunks. He was the focal point of the mist that grew thicker in closer proximity to him. Today was Yukenra's day off having just returned from an minor escort mission. Nothing too far or troublesome for his team to handle, just a group of bandits that needed dealing with. Their jonin squad leader barely lifted a finger, which allowed the genin to gain some good combat experience and teamwork from the ordeal. None-the-less, Yukenra chose to spend the free time training and doing a few errands.

He was in the midst of practicing a taijutsu kata while maintaining a few techniques to practice several areas simultaneously. When his kata was finished, he cancelled the mist technique and dove head first into the lake to get some swimming in before heading back to the shore. Satisfied with his bounty, he met the clones at the dock who had already secured the boat and retrieved his water container and the fish. He left the rods and oars on the boat, donned a straw hat and sandals, and started his trip back to the village.

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My Poetry and More!

{Village Outskirts}

"Ah, Rai-sama!" Came an abrupt voice as Rikudou was walking up from Rai's left side. "I had not expected to see you out here." He smiled pleasantly, dressed in the common haori and kimono for the branch house -- in place of his typical attire for missions and training -- with the Hyuuga clan's emblem on the haori's back. He stopped some few feet away, giving a respectful bow to the elder boy. Rikudou then moved his eyes up, then from side to side, glancing around the area surrounding them.

"Do you come out here often?" Rikudou stated while reaching down into a pocket to pull out a small bundle of some sort. The slight scent it carried gave away that it was food of some kind. Likely just a snack he brought along.

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-Rai-
=Village Outskirts=

Rai's head leaned up from the rock, his right hand lifting up the towel away from his face just enough for him to see the source of the voice that just called out his name. His face remained neutral, not showing much surprise or concern that his alone time was just interrupted.

"Ah, Rikudou-kun... it's been a while." the young man said as he pulled his body up into a sitting position, leaving the towel draped over his head while leaving his eyes still able to see the young Hyuuga that was approaching. If Rai recalled correctly, he was a member of the branch family, though Rai hardly spent any time around other Hyuugas recently so he wasn't even completely sure if he was able to get the young boy's name right. He nodded in return when the boy gave him a bow, Rai wasn't much for formalities when it came to dealing with his family members, however being at least somewhat polite towards the boy seemed like the proper thing to do.

"I come here often enough, it's quiet, peaceful, a good place to clear one's thoughts." he said plainly, turning his head away from the boy and looking back out towards the waterfall.

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-Lucas Slade-
(Local eatery)


To an onlooker, it was just a normal day and an average person had come to eat at one of the shadier spots in Konoha but the unsettling part was that despite some of the more thuggish people attending this place the two rather average looking men didn't seem to bother looking around nor showed the slightest bit of attention to the fact that everyone in this little shop had a weapon of some sort somewhere.
The ANBU might have been crawling all over the city but that didn't mean they cared about the little areas like this, inside the shops wasn't their concern.

Lucas had always been a good person, rather calm and very easy going, but he had a fatal flaw in his demeanor. He showed strength despite all his attempts to hide it. Some people didn't like that at all.
No more than 10 minutes after entering the little shop there were reports of a brawl between two patrons and some shady travelers.

To an onlooker it looked like chaos, tables flipped upwards and food flying everywhere. In the middle was a young man with short brown hair and dark blue eyes with the widest grin you'd ever seen throwing punches at anybody who got too close.
Dodging under a makeshift club from a broken chair, Lucas planted his elbow into the poor fellows chest sending the unfortunate fellow into a group of his fellow assailants. Two more came from the front to overpower the young man with sheer size but to their surprise this young fighter was fast, sliding between one of their legs, as he passed the big mans legs Lucas threw a hook with his right hand and buckled his assailants leg, the other was taken out a moment later with a strong hit from Lucas' right hand to the jaw. Both men sprawled out on the ground.

"What is WRONG with you people? I tell you to be a little quieter and you start a fight! Look at you now, on the floor like a bunch of swine. Pathetic..." Lucas picked up his wooden hat and gave his brother a shrug, the two left the cafe in a walk like nothing had transpired. They hated to cause a scene.

Lucas turned to his brother as they departed, "Where to now Cyrus? I ain't hungry but this place is kinda... boring. Wait this place has gotta have training grounds, maybe we could go spar with some of the locals!" With a cheerful grin he took off in a full dash for the training grounds, is brother would catch up sooner or later.



-Malkizid Artithra-


With dreary eyes the usually stoic and resolute Malkizid strolled through the gates of Konoha, the patrol gave him a bit of a hassle and asked is business. After telling them about some letter delivery they let him through without another word and for that was thankful, oh how he hated nosy people who got in his way. All he wanted was to be left alone to just have a nap or practice his family jutsu's, something he likely wouldn't get in this town thanks to all the ANBU in the area watching like hawks.

Malkizid gave a resigned shrug and parted ways from his comrades, the two were an odd couple that got along way too well. Bound together by something as of yet unrevealed to their newest comrade but it didn't matter, he didn't want anything to do with them outside of missions and that suited his tastes just fine. The woman in his group was such an annoyance, clinging to men and wearing what people assumed was a whores coat. Disgusting.
Taking out the amulet he wore, his thoughts returned to his sister. You would never do something so loathsome at her age... Shaking off the memory he took a stroll to a shaded area underneath a large tree, taking it as a good opportunity to rest after the long walk.

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"But when one of it's baby chicks is in trouble, Momma comes a run'nin' and a squawkin and a run'nin''." -General Treistar

-Bradao "Brad" Callen-
= near the training grounds =

Brad was walking back towards the village when he saw a man running straight towards him. He stepped to the side wandering what the heck that was about. Brad ran after tge man to see if something was wrong. "Excuse me sir?! Is something wrong?" He yelled to the man. "I wonder if he's from another village." He said quietly to himself.

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Hey everybody, PandaBrady here, with more roleplaying!

Also, please support Monty Oum, his work is amazing, especially RWBY. I wish I was that good.

Akemi Saotome: Village gates

When she was joined by another presence, she used her peripheral vision to see what she could, and raised her eyebrows slightly in response. She used to wear things like that: tight, revealing, but found out that she didn't really need it. Turning her attention back to her front, she also noticed a feeling that she was being watched with more than two sets of eyes, but ignored it for now. If they were an enemy, they would have acted before now, if they were smart...and it didn't feel like the stare of an enemy anyways.

An annoying voice broke the all too short silence. She raised an eyebrow as he gave her no time to respond before taking his conversation elsewhere. She ignored his conversation, deciding that she could be just as rude as he was. Some things had changed afterall. "Nara, what a pleasure." She said, her voice slightly dry as she raised an eyebrow. His comment about her weight almost made her laugh. If anything, she had gained weight since she'd been gone...but then again, it could always be that odd sense of humor that he had. She pulled the length of her hip-long ponytail over her left shoulder and twirled one end of it, as if in boredom. In reality, she was just waiting to find out what was happening in the village. Not that she wasn't happy to see everyone, but, she had yet to see the people she had been waiting to for so long.

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

{Village Outskirts}

Rikudou nodded as he walked around past Rai. "I see. Well, if you would like company, I'll try coming around when I can to visit. But, I'm guessing you prefer solitude..." He held back the light chuckle that had quickly formed. Still doing that 'lone wolf' impersonation, I see... Perhaps I can find a way to help.

Rikudou paused and pushed up at his thin glasses, eyes glancing upward a moment as he stopped beneath a tree with a thin cut in the bark. He nodded a bit before beginning to walk up the tree. Stopping before a tiny hole, he unwrapped the snack he held, which turned out to be a sweet cheese wrapped in a thin crust of bread. He placed the snack into the hole just a bit before walking back down. Soon after, a small squirrel poked its head up and glanced around before taking the offered gift back inside with it.

"Whatever your answer, I'm sorry if I interrupted your thoughts. I just came by to feed a small animal I had found wounded yesterday. It seems some children had been throwing rocks at it..." His smile vanished as he solemnly frowned and shook his head.

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*Gate*

Erimaki stared at Akira a moment before answering. The loose scarves that surrounded Erimaki waved in the wind. "You can ask himself yourself." His eyes flicked up to the look at a tree before returning to his guard duty. If one looked carefully, they would notice him activating his bloodline every few minutes to sweep the area.

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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.

~ Chou Nijishi & the Iwagakure Bunch ~
~ The road to the village, approaching the gates ~

Niji walked quietly at Yasuun's side, nibbling on her lip with a bit of a faraway look in her very plain eyes as she spared concentration for the illusion that she had been holding up over them and their third teammate, Durako.

To the normal person (or even the abnormal one, as long as their eyes could not pierce illusion), Niji and Yasuun appeared taller than they really were, a happy-but-plain (and none too wealthy, so don't bother, thieves) traveling couple. Durako, appeared much shorter than he was, with the illusion painting him as a boy of about 6 with coloring similar to the plain-and-forgettable versions of Yasuun and Niji's illusory cover identities.

"We're almost there," Nijishi stated softly, glancing between her other two teammates for guidance. She was never one to make important decisions, such as how they would proceed when confronted at the gate.

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Official Forum Mom

-Lucas Slade-


"Excuse me sir?"

Lucas planted his right foot forward and began to slide for a short time as his momentum ceased, to his surprise he had been going a lot faster than one would normally go. This other guy probably though he was running from a murderer or something! What a laugh that was. Turning to look at the one who called out, Lucas gave a wave of his hand and slowly walked closer as he called out to the stranger, "Nothing is wrong, just excited to be in Konoha after a few months on the road. Was gonna try to find a training area and maybe someone to spar with. Haven't had a good fight in weeks man!"

Looking down for a moment, Lucas realized that he was still in that disguise to avoid conflict on the open road. With a shrug Lucas tore off his disguise to reveal his usual clothing. "So chief, feel like giving me a good run?"

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"But when one of it's baby chicks is in trouble, Momma comes a run'nin' and a squawkin and a run'nin''." -General Treistar

~Ikazuchi Shuuha - Approaching the Village~

As Odella made her rather conspicous entrance towards the village gate, her teammate, a few hundred feet behind, ran as fast as he could to catch her. 'Damn it Odella, we're a team and you just left us behind.' he thought as he glanced behind him running right past what assumed to be a couple. 'Looks like I lost him as well. I'll make it up to him later, right now I have to try to catch up to her.' he thought as he continued to run, finally the gate was in sight, and so was his teammate. Shuuha breathed a sigh of relief, it was a good thing he caught her before she got inside the village, it would have been nearly impossible to regroup at that point.

He slowed down finally, trying to catch his breath as he approached his teammate. He pulled out his Kodachi, and proceded to place it just into Odella's back so she could feel it. "So, what's the big idea Odella? Don't like to be associated with us or something?" he paused as he tried to catch his breath some more. "It's not very nice to leave your team behind. We might start to get annoyed if you make a habit out of this." he said to her as he used his other hand to pull out his forehead protecter out of his pocket, keeping it in his other hand for identification. Shuuha then quickly glanced behind him. 'He must be really far behind me. I hope he catches up soon. I don't want to have to go find him now.' he thought as he waited for his teammated responce.

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Fenix13 : Cheesemore if you get any more awesome this thread is gonna explo- WHAT THE FFFUUUUUUUUUUU- *Everybody dies*
BeeAre : i'm just going to go ahead and say it: this thread is cheesemore's thread now. like. he's officially spam's last post crusader, always seeking the last post like a knight looking for the holy grail. poor bastard. godspeed you goofy motherfucker.
JesusChrist : 16. Cheesemore should always be addressed as "fucking Cheesemore" because he's so pathetic [see: Last one to post thread]
SoulScavenger : Cheesemore, your avatar is awesome. That is all.
Akaine : Cheesemore...if this was facebook, I'd approve of your comment with clicking 'like'.
sam4books : Cheesemore earns an awesome point.

-Rai-
+Village Outskirts=

Rai didn't seem to acknowledge the fact that Rikudou had asked him a question at first, his eyes stayed glued onto the falling water and it appeared as if he hadn't even heard what the boy said to him. This was indeed the perfect place to be by yourself, company in general defeated the whole purpose of his going to that place to begin with. But it wasn't a problem, it's not like Rai was antisocial as he sometimes seemed when he was in this kind of mood. The young man's head turned towards the other Hyuuga when he approached a tree, placing a snack inside of a hole for a small squirrel. Rai listened as Rikudou explained his real reason for being out there, it was something that really reflected upon the younger Hyuuga's personality that he would do something like that.

"Solitude can be good sometimes..." Rai said before taking in a deep breath and letting out a sigh. The young man laid back onto the rock once again, placing the towel over his eyes while leaving his mouth open so that he could continue to speak.
"Do as you like, if you wish to come to this spot again I won't stop you." he said plainly, pausing for a moment to think before he spoke again.
"Children can be cruel, don't let it bother you." Rai finished, though it was a bit hypocritical of him to say that given how lately he'd let his emotions get the best of him and cause his performance to suffer.

_________________

-/ Yu-Yu: Konoha Side Gate \-

It didn't take long for Yukenra to get back to the village, knowing his way about the woods surrounding the area from his exploring during his time at the ninja academy in Konoha. Despite having left from the main gate to depart, he chose to enter through the gate nearest his building for the sake of the fish and his most loyal customers. One of the local fishmongers allowed him to set up shop in exchange for a cut of the proceeds, and Yukenra got room, board, and a part time job out of the deal. It took him some time to build up clientele, but as an orphaned drifter he had to make a comfortable living some way. His home island once thrived as a fishing village, and when his father wasn't training him, he was off learning the fishing trade from other family members.

His mother taught him how to cook, his specialties being sushi and grilled fish kabobs. When one customer combined an order of each on one skewer, the Yushka special was born. He had a bit of work ahead of him. He wanted to get the fish iced down, scaled, gutted, and beheaded as soon as possible. It didn't bother him though because the joy of cooking and the extra cash was usually worth the time and effort. His only gripe with the whole thing was the lingering smell of fish, but that was something a few long baths could fix for the average nose.

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My Poetry and More!

~~Odella~
~~Village Gate~~
"A habit out of what?" She asked in her most innocent voice possible as she turned around to look at her teammate. She ignored the familiar feeling of the kodachi pressed to her back. "Its not my fault I walk faster than you?" She said sticking her tongue out at Shuuha. She loved to torment him and annoy him it was very enjoyable but if it came to blows she wouldn't want anyone else on her side than her two teammates, Mister Black and Mister Serious, She had nicknamed them in her head. She was serious about being a ninja just not in the same way as her teammates. "Where is Kuro anyway?" She asked poking him in the stomach playfully. "Lazy boy needs to get here" She frowned a bit as she looked at him wondering what was going to occur at the meeting.

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My Art Thread....Now with Real Paint

"I'm right next to you," Hokrio said with a hint of annoyance, his voice breaking its silence less than four feet away from the two of them. He turned his head towards them, eyes still gently shut but furrowed at the brow, and said "I was walking in your blind spots, mixed in with your shadows. I thought you might detect me, but no, I guess you were too concentrated on being first in line to notice." He snorted and quietly demanded, "Who are you calling lazy?"

"Keep your eyes open," he continued, either unaware of or indifferent to the irony of this advice. "We're in a foreign land, and there are bound to be spies everywhere. Watch what you do and don't discuss our operations in the open." Behind his eyelids, his eyes were turning this way and that, his focus shifting between all the shadows he detected around him. Even in the very faintest of light, everything cast a shadow. The slightest shift could indicate an attack or a watchful eye. He had to be mindful of where his allies were at all times and any dangers they might be in.

Hokiro stifled a sigh. Working with a team was a lot more stressful than going solo...

_________________

Durako nodded in acknowledgment as he walked beside Nijishi, looking up only briefly to glance at the gate. Fortunately, thanks to her, their journey to the village had been relatively without incident. It was downright relaxing compared to the last few missions they had completed, and so Durako had chosen to look at the journey as a short vacation, and a chance to catch up on his studies. As such, he had spent most of the trip with his nose stuck in a book of ninja techniques, trusting in Nijishi and Yasunari to steer them clear of any trouble...or trusting in Nijishi at least. Even now, his dark eyes were busily scanning the pages as they walked.
"Please release the illusion when we get into visual range..." He said softly. It wouldn't do to have the guards of Konoha thinking they were trying to sneak inside disguised as someone else.

Before long, their little group were approaching the gate, falling in behind the small crowd that was gathered there. Durako rather pointedly ignored the scandalously dressed woman among them and prepared to present their identification.

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=Yasunari= In front of the "あん” of Konoha's Gates=

The journey itself had been fine - there was so much color compared to the granite-colored mountains of his homeland, and there always seemed to be some sound floating about on the wind, whether it be the chirping of birds or the rustling of leaves. Yasuun wasn't quite sure why they had been sent here, but he knew he just had to follow his instructor's orders: "Shut up and listen to what Kurokami and Chou tell you."

So if Yasunari was uncomfortable because he had to pretend to be someone else, he didn't show it on his face - or at least the face Nijishi had created for him. That face was too busy trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. His own face was full of tension and it was only when he let his breath out to whisper to Nijishi that he realized he had been holding his breath.

"Nishijay," he whispered urgently. He began to idly scratch the small dark spot on his navel - a nervous tick that Yasunari had developed when he was "looking around" with his mind's eye more than his real ones. The large double doors of the Village Hidden in the Leaf loomed up ahead of them, and Yasuun was immediately caught up in a swath of a multitude of "people-chakras" emanating from within the walls. Just as he was trained, however, Yasuun began to mark each one he came by, in case he ever needed to find it again.

And then he nudged Nijishi forward, as if to say, "You're up." Or it could have been "I need to go to the bathroom."

It was really up for Nijishi to decide.