Dray sat in his room of the two star hotel. It was the acommodation that kirigakure no sato had provided for him throughout his stay in kirigakure. He appreciated that by completing a B- ranked mission for the village more over, if he wanted to, he could have built a small room with his senju wood release skills.

Dray had taken all morning to look around the village and it's surrounding. He had explored every nook and cranny of the kirigakure no sato ranging from the temple ruins to the swampy places and others except those places that did not really exist. His reason for exploration was that he was moving on. His revenge was getting closer as each day passed by. He was going to avenge his family. His mother, his father, his younger sister. Claymore was going to pay. Dray had gained useful knowledge from his stay in kiri. The village, being filled with water helped dray in perfecting his water dragon technique and his exploding water wave jutsu. So much the village had given to him but now, it was time to hit the road. Kirigakure could not possibly teach him everything he needed to know. He had learnt quite enough about water release from kirigakure. Water, being his first element. The second, being the earth release. For that, he was travelling to the land of stone to perfect this element.

At dawn, dray would leave kirigakure just the way he had come. As a loner. His will to get stronger was improving as this claymore was going down. Dray checked the clock on the wall. It was nine o'clock in the evening. Dray had to get some sleep. It was late already and tomorrow was a big day. With a flop onto the bed, he raised the bed sheets over himself as he drifted off. Sleep came followed by a dream that brought about memories that triggered emotions, hatred being the first of them.


"wake up! Wake up!! Wake up!! Its morning" dray's sister shook him...."would you let your brother be, he was training up all night while you were sound asleep you know..." replied his mother..
"And who do you think is sleeping, I trained all night does not mean am tired. Besides, am all ready for training, so, I got to go......" Dray said as he was about to leave the house.. His mother tried to call out to him to come and have his breakfast of cereals before leaving but he just wouldn't listen.. From a corner of the house, a deep voice filled the room with a boom..."and what will happen when you faint on the battlefield because you lack the required nutrients to function efficiently?"... Dray was shocked as he stopped in his footsteps. He turned backwards and walked to the chair to have his breakfast...

Upon finishing his food rather quickly, he set to leave as he ignored his younger sister's nagging words about wanting to follow him to the forest..
Running through the village swiftly, and bumping into many villagers, dray finally reached the southern forest of konohagakure no sato. He heaved a sigh of relief as the forest seemed rather empty except for the chirping, tweeting and different sounds of animals that filled the forest. He had trained all night, that was very true but he was not worn out a bit.. He commenced as he warmed up by performing hand stands which he counted. He did about twenty of them before going down to about twenty five push ups. He hoped unto a strong tree branch for fifteen pull ups before getting into real training as he pulled out both of his swords and began fighting imaginary figures. He gripped firmly at his swords building up his wrist muscles as he took a fencing posture, thereby exercising his thigh... Once he got a chance to defend an attack with the sword in his right, he quickly launched a strike with his left. Dray was beginning to like it but he was being conscious as konoha was at war so, he had to be careful... He continued training, building up his skills and abilities to become one of konoha's greatest ninja and make his parents proud some day as he was able to push himself forward with such thought... As dray was about to leave the forest, he sheathed his swords as he saw birds flying away from the direction of the main village. What was happening? There was surely something going on... Dray left the forest and began racing down home....

As he continued running through the forest, the atmosphere grew extremely cold and silent... The birds had stopped flying as earlier and the very tense environment had now become still. Dray landed unto the streets of the main village as he saw people sobbing silently, shinobis lying injured on the floor, injured, medic nins patrolling the area and other higher shinobis pacing the area consciously... What the hell had happend was the question that filled dray's head... He heard a shinobi mumble to the other... "while we had mustered our men to the front gates hoping that they would attack head on, they tricked us by sending in elite ninjas from the shadows and now, see what this has cost us...men, shinobis, comrades, friends, families..." as he fell to the floor in grief.... Hearing this little but relevant piece of information, dray raced down to his home. The thoughts of his father, his mother, his sister, randomly moving in his head. A part of him was rest assured that they were safe because his father was no ordinary man when it came to skills in sword wielding but another part of him was still restless as the shinobi had earlier mentioned elite ninja...

As dray got to the frontage of his home, he opened the door to emptiness. He could not find anything but his eyes quickly caught someone with a mask flying out the window. As dray was about to give chase, the person was already gone. Be it a male or a female but dray was able to see two little engraved blades attached to two strands of hair that unfortunately fell out of the mask of the person. Holding to that piece of evidence, dray was brought back to reality as he had a faint voice coming from a dark corner of the room.. He recognized it to be his father's blood and quickly moved over to him. Upon getting closer to him, dray felt a thick liquid under his foot even though he was wearing a pair of sandals. He managed to look down as he saw thick pure red blood flowing around him as he traced it into the corner of the room where the voice from earlier had come from. With eyes wide open, dray could see his mother and younger sister lying in the arms of his half dead father... Dray was short of words...he opened his mouth to speak but no words proceeded forth... His father saved him the trouble and explained that a group of elite ninjas stormed the village and did this...probably to other families too... With last words of encouragement and some useful secrets to dray, his father gave up the ghost...

Dray woke up sweating profusely. He was completely buried under the bed sheets and the view was very dark. For the first time in his life, Dray was claustrophobic. He struggled with the bed sheets as he finally breathed in fresh hair. The thoughts he had of his family before he turned in for the night had messed up his head and resulted in this dream. Of course, this was not the first time this memory was triggered but it appeared as if it happened just a few days back like the memories were trying to remind him of his mission. His mission to avenge his family.

Dray raised the sheets off of himself as he got down from bed. He was putting on just shorts as he walked to the bathroom to wash his face and calm his nerves. He came back to the room and looked at the clock on the wall. It was just three o'clock am in the morning. Dray still had two hours till dawn. Just two hours more and kirigakure no sato would be a thing of the past. Not really a useless experience but one of the many things that would help him achieve his goal because that way the only goal he had. To destroy claymore. Perhaps, if he was done, he would return to konohagakure no sato. He did not know yet. Only time would tell...
WC:1466

Dray stayed up till dawn. The night just was not good enough for him. After the dream, he had woken up to make a cup of hot cofee. Somthing to keep his beasty eyes opened. Checking the clock on the wall for about the seventh time, it was finally five am in the morning. Dray got up from the couch he had been sitting on and walked to the window size. He peeped through the glass and tried to see outside. The streets were quiet and the cold weather seemed to be getting into the room.
Just as dray was about to withdraw from the window side, a crow flew straight towards dray and as he ducked, the crow crashed into the window. Dray got up to see the dead crow slowly fall off the exterior side of the window as blood stained the window.. What was this.. Was it some kind of bad omen, a warning, a sign.. Whatever, dray did not really believe in such.

He undressed himself and walked into the bathroom to wash himself clean. He needed to be comfortable as this travel was likely to be a long and dangerous one due to the rumours carried about the mysterious forces that dwelled on the route to the land of stone but there was nothing dray could not handle or so he believed. As long as the word "TRY" still existed, he was a victor. Dray had his bath, swift but clean as he exited the inner bathroom and dried himself with the towel that he had hung on a bar in the bathroom.
He proceeded to dress himself up and he put on his white shirt first followed by his shorts and black trousers after which he put on top of everything, his kimono armour. He equipped himself with his basic and deadly in the hands of a master weapons. Of course, the weapons were hidden within the green kimono armour so it was not visible to the naked eyes.
Dray looked around to see if he was forgetting any thing. He walked to the bedside drawer as he picked his konohagakure no sato forehead protector from on top of it. He tied it firmly to his head for he was a proud shinobi of the leaf.

Dray once again looked at the spherical shaped clock on the wall for the ..lost count.. -th time as he saw the hour hand strike twelve and the minute hand strike six. It was six o'clock in the morning. The sun was not really up yet so he could still exit the village without drawing much attention to himself. Dray walked out of the two star hotel room that he did not know the name of. Dray walked down the stairs as he checked out of the hotel at the reception and dropped the key to the room he was occuping. Room number 15. He had hardly looked at his room number all the while he was occupying it.
Dray walked through the village. Knowing his way more around the village now, he walked in the direction of the village gates. He looked to his left and right, noting his route. He was no farther from the village gates now that he had seen this particular cherry tree. He had a good sense of image saving. He locked almost every image he saw in a part of his brain. The cherry tree, a building with a pinnacle, the mall.. dray remembered as he passed by them.. the open arena and the gate. There it was. Dray was faced with the gates of kirigakure no sato. At the top, in something more like watch towers, there were shinobis, probably jounin or higher in rank.
Few metres away from the gates, dray adjusted his forhead protected and tightened it at the back of his head. He awaited the questions that would be put to him..

"Who are you and where are you going to..." a shinobi at the gates asked dray as he looked confusingly at dray's over all green attire. His hair was green, his clothes were green. He looked so weird.
"I am a shinobi of the leaf. I came into kirigakure no sato few weeks back through this same gates and it is time for me to proceed with my journey...." Dray replied as he awaited the reply to his reply.
The shinobi looked up to another shinobi who had been looking at the scene unfolding below. Understanding the issue, he nodded his head as the shinobi at the gates let him through.
Exiting kirigakure no sato, once again, dray hit the road... He remembered that his trip to the village hidden in the mist which was kirigakure was by water but this travel, this kirigakure to iwagakure, was going to take place on land and it was going to be a long long walk, run, jump, hop and whatever moving forms there was except for flying, that is. Dray had a good sense of geography. Advantages of being a smart kid back at the konoha shinobi academy. His mind flipped to the academy. He had some sort of attachment there, like something was drawing him to come back to konohagakure no sato but he could not place his finger on what it was exactly.
In his hands was a scroll and on the scroll was a map. It showed the five great nations and of course, routes to them. Not only did it show routes to the five great nations, the fire, the wind, the water, the earth and the lightning... It also showed routes to minor villages and important locations too...
Dray started his journey, following the map carefully and accurately. He knew the measurements on the map and the bearings too. The legend of the map helped him greatly in recognizing whatver he saw. The road was a long and quiet one. Quiet roads were always the most dangerous of roads. It was all plain earth. Nothing else was visible. There were no trees around except for some little grasses. Everything just seemed not ok.

Advancing, dray would increase his speed as he would go from a slow walking to a quick running. He wanted to get to Iwa as quitck a possible. He could not afford to drag his feet on the floor all day. As dray went on running, he kept a close eye on his surrounding but that did not help what was coming next.
As dray leapt into the air, he landed left first as he landed his second leg. Suddenly, the earth beneath him would spiral over him in such a quick manner that dray's eye could not picturee what happened. It all happened in a flash. One minute, he was above ground and another minute, he was below ground. He needed definetly need to analyse the situation but before he could do that, a opening appeared from his right side, still beneath the earth as a can was let in. The can ejected a smell that covered the room and before dray could react to anything, he slumped to the enclosed ground and passed out....
WC:1200

Few hours later..

Dray opened his eyes slowly as the view before him appeared in a blury state. His head was aching badly. He tried to stand up and he saw the chains on his hands, the same chains were on his legs too. He looked to his side and found out that he was above ground. His shirt was stripped off remaining his trousers. His back felt the cold of something that looked like a stone table. The hell was going on here..
He just could not get any answers to his many questions.. the death of the crow this morning must have definetly been a signal... He calmed his nerves and lay down as he counted backwards... ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one... then he relayed the day's action over again.
First, he woke up very early due to a dream or more, a triggered memory. He saw a bird crash into the window all by itself and die. He ignored it and got set. He exited kirigakure with the aim of travelling to the land of stone. He brought out a map and set his foot on the path of Iwagakure. Hastening his steps, he began to run. Running for a while, his foot landed on the ground as the earth beneath him turned over and trapped him below. Next, through an opening by his side came a sort of can that released a gas. That was all he remembered as he passed out. Thinking of various situations, he concluded that he was probably kidnapped and about to be robbed as he would be probably released after that. He tried to convince himself that that was the case but a part of him knew that he was wrong. If he was to be robbed! Why did the bandits not attack him head on, because they knew he was skilled? How the hell did they know that or perhaps, they could have sneaked up and eliminated him right there. What baffled him was why they used a technique that was definetly high ranking such as spiralling the earth on a target without giving him or her a chance to react. As if that was not enough, they released a gas that could make an elephant pass out and still taking extreme precautions, they kept dray in chains... Was he an animal? No. He was a beast that did not need chains to be put in place. Dray just waited to see whatever would happen....

"He was not a tough target. I thought he would put up a fight, master. All I did was trap him and make him pass out. That gas would make him unconscious for a few hours if it does not kill him. Once he is awake, you will see him and we can begin the rituals for your immortality, master"... the voice whispered.. Dray had cleared his head and that was why he had heard those faint whispers. What rituals were they talking of? Was it possible for one to be immortal? Why was it him that was needed... Carefully, dray yanked the chains on his hands but they would not come off.. He tried the same with his legs but the situation was the same. Getting fustrated, he yanked all the chains hard and loud that he did not care whoever heard it...

"So, you are awake..." a deep voice filled the room..
"He looks like he has a lot of life experience and memories that would increase your lifetime a great deal" another voice followed... These words just seemed to confuse dray more as he could not see the ones talking...
"The hell am I doing here..." Dray shouted as he yanked the chains... He was young for his age but still, he sure had seen a lot in this world and the memories locked away in his head were almost infinite...
"Stupid you! Dont act tough now when you did not even put up a fight when I captured you..." a voice snickered as the owner of the voice came out of the dark.... He was now visible to dray and accessing him quickly, he would not reach dray's shoulder level if both of them were to stand beside each other. He would probably be at his elbow level.
Dray had to admit that the attack was a perfectly planned one but still, the fella was a coward for not facing him.... "and what brave man would sneak an attack on a target...." Dray said as he tried to taunt him.

"Even in chains, You speak confidently." said the deep voice that filled the room first. "Why dont you show yourself and be a man instead of talking in the shadows like a weakling." dray replied calmly trying to force out this master mind.
"Why dont I show myself and be a man instead of talking in the shadows like a weakling eh. You see, the answer is I can't show myself and be a man instead of talking in the shadows like a weakling because I am not a man. Hehehe." the voice boomed once again in the room this time, sending shrills down dray's spine as he gulped silently.
"but...." the voice said and paused, keeping dray in suspense. "I'll show myself to you because unlike other used and dead fellows, you have the courage to ask to see me besides, when this ritual is done, you'll be no more than a skeleton like I am..." the voice concluded as the mystery stepped out of the darkness. His appearance caused goose bumps to surface on his skin. Half of his face was a decaying skin while the other half was a complete skeleton. Same with his hands and feet so definetly, a part of him was decaying and the other part had already decayed. What in the world is this....

"I seem to take a liking to your spirit and for that, you'll once again have the benefit to listen to my story...

At a very tender age, I developed this disease that made my body decay. This issue made every body move away from my side. For the most part of my life, I was alone. My mother, my father, my brothers, my sister, my relatives, even the little friends I had, they all deserted me. Why? Cause my body was decaying? Cause my bones were becoming visible as the flesh decayed? Cause they were afraid they would get infected? Why? All their reasons for deserting me was irrelevant..

Then, I made up my mind. I began wearing cloaks that covered most of my body. I began living in the shadows until I met Zen... My faithful servant. He also had no home, no relatives, no origin, no life until he met me. He had a skill of his own. Something he was perfect in, you want to know what, he was good in taking something from someone and giving it to someone else. And so, a new life began. A new life for both of us. I and Zen. He captured humans for me. Either male or female, humans that had a lot of memories.. These memories are stolen from them through a special ritual and the memories are given to me. These memories give me a new life. Something to embark upon. The will to live. This will regenerates my decaying flesh and makes it fresh again. I can then breathe in peaceful air as I then begin to live the life of the one that had those memories....."
"So, why do you need me if you've stolen lots of memories...." dray replied after hearing the man speak.
"Good question again" the man replied.. "I already feel alive with the thought of having your memories.." He laughed sinisterly.. "You see, the ritual works like this. When the process begins, your memories flash before you for the last time before they are forever taken away. This memories are then transferred to me. Depending on what the memories contain, I have to live every bit of scene that that memory entails. The sad part is when there is no longer anything to accomplish with the memory, my bodie begins to decay again warning me that the rituals needed to be done again or my body would decay permanently...."
"So, what would then happen to me..." dray asked.
"Ah.." the man replied shaking his head.. "None of my targets have survived this ritual because they all turn to skeletons after their memory is forcefully extracted.."

"Hmm hmm".. Could be heard as the shorter man, Zen cleared his throat..
"But once in every five years of this ritual, Zen says that a target, after his or her memories have been extracted would have the grace to begin a new life as the target would die and wake up in a new body and a blank memory that is if he or she survives the period when he or she would die.. Besides, this is the fifth year of this ritual and I have used the memories of two targets but none of them made it back from the dead and their annoying memories were too short to expand my life span...."

Dray closed his eyes as he opened it and yanked on the chains but they still would not come off... "You won't benefit anything but hatred from my memories..." "When the hatred comes, I will face it.." the man counter replied as he advanced towards dray slowly.
"If this is how it will end for me, just make sure you kill a man named "claymore" when you find him in my memories.." dray said as he yanked the chains once more before laying down quietly and closing his eyes. His only hope now was this Zen revival that happened once every five years but as the man had stated that he had used two targets in this fifth year and none of them survived, what makes it so sure that he would succeed it. There was little possiblity. He just had to believe in the spirit of his father, his mother and his younger sister. He was just a seventeen year old male, seeking revenge for his family that was brutally killed. If he was right on his path, then he deserved another chance to live but if not, then he would finally join his family wherever they are having in mind that when this mysterious man got to the claymore section of his memory, he would do him justice.

"The ritual shall now begin.." said the shorter man- Zen as his little voice echoed through the room....
WC:1792

As Zen completed his sentence, dray saw the seriousness in his tone. Now, he knew that they meant business. Immediately after his command, a brighter light shone on dray, to his right, another light shone one another earthen table just like his own and the last light shone to his north where no one was. The mysterious man who probably had no name went and laid on the other earthen table. The shorter man, zen, went and stood in the light at the top of dray and the other man, right in their middle.

Dray opened his eyes and turned his head to see what was about to happen. As the man, Zen, stepped into the light, he began to perform some handseals after which he stretched his left hand towards dray and his right hand to the other man. He was definetly acting as the transferring medium of dray's memories to the man. Just then, a blue aura surrounded zen as the aura morphed into an arm and grabbed dray's head...
"Aaarrgghhh........"
Dray shouted... "No, my memories.... Not this one....he was my first true friend....nooooo" As the memories flashed before him...

It was a bright morning and today out of all days was a bright one. Of course, almost everyday was a bright one for the little senju boy. He was born with wisdom, immense knowledge and extreme understanding. He was a star amongst his sky of friends.
Today, there was going to be a written test in the shinobi academy and for this test, dray had prepared well enough that he was very confident he would pass with flying colors. Dray raised the sheets from himself to reveal that he was wearing just shorts. He was someone to imitate. Since his parents and sister died a couple of years back, he had been living alone and he had done well so far not needing too many help from anybody besides, not many people know that he lives alone.
Not wanting to get late for the test, dray quickly hurried to the bathroom. He ran the shower and quickly stepped away from the path of the water. It was friggin cold. Dray stepped into it again and stepped out trying to get accustomed to the temperature of the running water. With courage, dray had his bath and stepped out of the shower to dry himself. He brushed his teeth and dressed up. His attire consisting of long black trouser, a green shirt and killer boots. He quickly ate a breakfast of bread, fried eggs and a cold orange juice before exiting his home.
The path to the academy was a rowdy one as almost everybody who attended the academy did not want to be late for the test.

Sighing softly, dray branched into the alleyway and carefully lowered himself into a sewer after he had removed the cover and replaced it. The water running through the sewer looked clean as dray walked beside it on solid ground. It was a short cut to the academy. This was not the first time of him using it so he had little to no problems navigating the way despite the many turns and tunnels.
Some seconds later, dray popped up behind the academy and made his way to the entrance. Looking behind him, away in the distance, he could see the fellas he once saw before he took his short cut. They were yet to arrive. Dray entered his classroom and took a seat in an angle where he could see the whole class from.
He waited patienly for the teacher while surveying the room and the students that came in.
With the annoying academy clock announcing the hour with it's loud ring, the teacher walked in with a stack of paper in hand as he spoke.."Everybody, please take a seat. I want to see nothing more than a simple pen on your desks, also if I find you cheating in any way, you will be punished and this test will be considered a failure. However, if you manage to fail the test without cheating, you will be rescheduled once more in a month. With that being said, you all five minutes to get ready, and once those are gone, the test shall begin.”... Of course, all he said did not apply to dray as dray never cheated or attempted to. Only if intelligent tricks where counted as cheating then, he would be guilty but still, that was if he was caught.

Before then, a boy seemed to walk in. He had the face of a girl but something about him made dray stick to the fact that he was a boy. Such attitude towards a test. Arriving late eh.
In no time, the test sheets were distributed round. Calmly, dray filled out the space for his name. He looked at the questions and saw that they were what he knew.
Wasting no time, he shaded the right answers and checked them again. He was sure of his work.
Standing up from his seat, most students seemed to gaze at him. He boned their suprised looks confidently and proceeded down the aisle to submit his sheets to the examiner.

Dray walked down and submitted his exam sheets to the examiner who smiled. Dray walked up the aisle to gather the rest of the writing materials he had brought to the academy. Once again, he spotted the boy who he had earlier seen coming late to the exam hall. At first, that was when he came in, dray did not recognize him probably due to the fact that the young boy was stressed and his face was all mushed up. Dray now remembered him to be the boy from the uchiha clan though his other name always hid somewhere in dray's head. The boy had probably not studied for the exams as dray saw on his face that he had nothing to write. Dray wished he could help but the boy would have to do this one out of his own.
Few seconds later, “Everyone, drop your pencils. You all have one minute to bring your test sheets on my desk, or your test will be considered null, in other words, you will fail.” the examiner said. Dray calmly watched the boy. He had managed to mark some answers in his book. Whatever they were, dray hoped they were right.

With the examiner collecting all of the exam sheets from the students, he left the room as the bell rang and the students left the classroom too. Dray thought of going home to rest and then continue his training later in the day. That was a perfect way to get better. Rest the already trained up muscles and train again. Dray trains for about five hours, he sleeps for three and studies for two. He made sure to balance everything. Afterall, he had to live up to the expectations of his dead family. Even though they were dead, they still lived within him. In his every thoughts, his every actions. They guided his path.
The morning was fast fading into the afternoon. The sun, as bright as ever shined upon konohagakure no sato. Dray wondered what was beyond those village gates. One day, just one day, his many questions would find answers.
Dray thought of what to do in the academy. After the test, classes were pretty much over but he felt like there was something he still had to do before leaving the academy premises.
Dray put his both of his hands in his black trouser pockets while scanning the area for whatever it is that his eye would catch. At an angle, he saw some students running here and there and at another angle were some that were sparring and trying to hone their skills. Were they truly doing it for the sake of trying to get better or they did it because they wanted attention because dray could see a couple of girls watching them and smiling.
Girls never like dull guys. Dray hated honing his skills in public. He did it only when he really wanted to or he needed to. What's the point of showing all your skills in public. He loved to have a hidden strategy. A trump card. Even when he spars, he tries as much as possible to suprise his opponent even if he did not win. That was true victory. A situation whereby your opponent realizes that you won the battle but lost the fight. In every battle, dray tries as much to analyse his opponent's fighting style so as to decide the best way to face him. Having such intelligence at a young age, dray knows he'll become a beautiful shinobi for konohagakure no sato- The village hidden in the leaves.

Dray was about to turn back when he spotted the boy with the girly face. He was dressed in a black shirt. The senju and the uchiha. Quite a beautiful catch phrase. Dray calmly walked up beside him and pressed his back against the wall and raising his right leg to the wall too. His father had always told him the tales of the senju and the uchiha clan. The uchihas were filled with a natural hatred while the opposite was the case for the senjus but dray did not totally believe it. What in the world was natural hatred, was it from birth or what. How would a new born child be filled with hatred? This many questions just keep swarming in his head and it often gave him a headache.
Dray looked forward while speaking to the boy just few inches away from him.
"You did not study for the test.. did You?"

Dray definetly knew the answer to his question. He only asked the question for the sake of striking up a conversation. He wanted to know what the boy knew no matter how irrelevant it was afterall, no knowledge is lost.
Dray stared into the emptiness while waiting for the little boy's answer...
"Wake up big brother, Wake up"...she continued shooking him thorougly. He opened his left eye to look at his younger sister. She was always up very early in the morning. She had turned to an alarm clock for dray, but today, dray was in for the joke. He wanted to make her feel like she was not functioning. He picked up the pillow at the top of his bed and put it over his head. For a few seconds, the room was quiet. Dray opened the pillow to look at his sister. She had finally found a way to draw his attention.. She had folded her legs while seated on the bed and her hands held in some manner that made dray laugh. Was she meditating. Before dray could take any other action, "Tag, you are it"...she said while tapping dray's forhead and running round the room. Dray sighed. He and his sister had a rule. Whenever anyone of them was tagged, he or she had to chase the person who tagged them. No exceptions. So, she wanted to play eh, dray was ready to. He switched his personality and became his playful self. He chased her all over the room, tagging her as she chased him too. They did this for about an hour until both of them were exhausted as they flung themselves unto the bed, heaving a sigh of relief.
Almost instantly, both of them rose from the bed at the same time. His sister crouched as he stood upright. They looked at each other and smiled. His sister crawled while he tip toed. It was an assasination mission. All they had was a sense of smell. They were to eliminate that smell and they knew just what they were facing.

As both of them tip toed from dray's room past his younger sisters' they walked behind the large chair of the sitting room where their mother and father were seated straight to the kitchen. Ah, there mission was complete, they both smiled as the picked up the sweet smelling cookie from the cookie jar...
"Mission failed" said a scornful voice from behind them. It was their mother with her disguised voice again and this time, she was blocking their route of escape.
Uniformly, both dray and his sister raised both of their hands in the air. Their mother smiled as they also chuckled. They took some more cookies and went to join their father in the living room...
“Oh! Wait!” the voice said as his already light green eyes reverted back to normal... “You’re the guy who finished up rather quickly on the test, aren’t you? Did you actually give up that early, or you knew all the answers, and found the test to be rather simple?” the uchiha boy beside him asked.
"You dont get suprised when you see something you are expecting, do you?".. Dray had well prepared for the tests beforehand so he knew what to expect. He had taken time to study though his learning periods did not compromise his training or nap time. He was a free man. He had the right to do whatever he wanted. Free in the sense that he had no house responsibilities but still, the thought of not having a sister to play tag with, a mother with a disguised voice, blocking an escape route, a father to join in a living room all made the hole in his heart grow wider... Dray had a feeling that the boy probably preferred long trainings to studying books. Dray once had that mentatility until he learned from his father that what you study, you learn to put in use. Only if the boy knew this. Perharps, dray had found a new friend..

"Why dont I show you a quick route to the village and back to the academy so you won't ever be late to class again." dray said, hoping the boy would agree so dray could show him the sewer road.
Dray really hoped that the boy would consider his offer. He would have finally found a friend worth him after such a long while. After his father, mother and younger sister's death. He became a closed person, always doing everything alone. Being with himself. He found it hard to open up but now, right now, at this very moment, whatever word or sentence that could be used to describe this period. Dray felt like his body was opening up to the uchiha boy, all by itself. Was this the power of friendship?
As dray waited for the boy's reply, whether good or bad, though dray always liked to think positive.. He opened his mind eye to one of the many books he had read in solitude..
..."The greatest gift of life is true friendship, and I have received it from you. Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for real silence. A time to fully let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own already forged destiny and a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over. Friends show their sincere love in times of trouble, not in happiness. When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving us advice, good solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our painful pains and touch our deep wounds with a warm and tender hand. Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend. You might take me as an enemy today but Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a good friend. Friends are born, not made and right from birth, their destinies are crossed.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart, deep down in it's core. The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have. I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.' The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach my full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to my personal excellence. I Infuse my life with serious action. I Don't wait for it to happen. I Make it happen. I Make my own future. I Make my own hope. I Make my own love. And whatever my beliefs, honor my creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what I can to make grace happen... Myself, right now, right down here on Earth."
The book was written by a popular book writer. Dray had begun to read novels of different categories ranging from inspirational to motivational to friendship to love to behaviour and even to death. At a very tender age, he had known what it meant to die.
His thought were now getting the better of him as each day passed by. These many knowledges he was gaining kept on flashing frequently, becoming a habit to him.
Dray now shifted his gaze on the young uchiha boy..
“Hmm... well, the thing is that I have
already a few things scheduled, to
which I really need to attend to.” He said as he bowed his head to dray probably as a sign of apology. It was a pity, the boy could not make it. Dray felt bad. It was as if he had given out himself cheaply. Something he had not done in a while.

“However, my name is Tenzō. If you’re up for it tomorrow, I will be glad to accept your offer once
more.” He concluded.
Ah, dray was reliefed. The boy had not completely turned him down. He felt at ease now. There was no problem in showing him tomorrow..
"Fine by me".. Dray replied as he saw the boy leave his presence.. Well, what else was he waiting for as he proceeded out of the academy gates and off to his home.

After this quick flash before dray's eye on a sort of empty space, the shot out of his head and into the aura arms as it was transferred from dray to zen then to the mysterious skin decaying man. After this proccess, dray kept mute as that memory ripping had taken quite a toll on him.. Not long, another memory began to make his exit as dray screamed once again..."What would you use a memory of death for....."

Dray had just been returning from the woods of konohagakure when he stopped to think about what was beyond the village.. He was planning on requesting permission from the hokage to leave the village but now was not the time.. He still had a bit more to do in the village. He was yet to meet his sensei.. That was probably the one thing that was still keeping him in the village. He could not imagine what it would feel like to travel out of the village. To free his head of those places, those thoughts, those voices, those feeling that were always coming to his head whenever he was in the village. He began thinking as he kept on walking without even looking forward... What was to become of him if he travelled out of the village..he did not know.. Where would he go.. He had not decided.. What would be his reason to leave the village..he had not figured out... Having numerous thoughts in his head just seemed to fuck with his body, his mind and his very soul.. He just explored a part of the village and dealt with some ruthless thugs.. He was putting on a white inner wear, his black trousers and his green kimono- like armour.. As dray looked forward after walking and thinking for so long, he found himself in a vast area.. An area so big that he had never seen such in konoha before.. He looked backwards and saw that the woods he was in earlier was now about twenty metres from his current location..then he figured out that he was definetly in the borders of konohagakure no sato. The land that seperated konoha from other villages. Then, an idea struck dray.. He could probably explore the border before he had a chance to travel out of the village.. He checked himself well to confirm his eleven kunais, about five shurikens, twenty senbons, two scrolls and a pack of bandages.. Without any shinobi in sight, dray began his exploration.

Dray kept on walking withing these vast land as he once again entered what seemed to be never ending woods. The trees in this particular area where much taller and broader than those within konoha itself. There were abundant vegetation and this place was so quiet that even an ant yawning could be loudly heard...
Dray continued walking as he started admiring the various trees which he had not seen before. If he had abundant knowledge about anything in this world besides himself, it was about the forest..nature to be precise.. He grew up learning the sounds, appearance and things of the forest. Most of his childhood times were spent in the forest of konoha yet not even once had he been hurt by a single animal though he had been attacked by animals numerous times. His vast knowledge about the forest together with his clan's kekkei genkai helped him in the development of his plant style release which even led to some people calling him the senju- beast.
Dray being a very perspective person took notice of every single detail in his surroundings. His mind marked where and where he had passed incase he lost his way in such a large wood he had never wandered into. Suddenly, dray heard the shattering of an object. Most definetly glass and with the help of his ears, he traced the sound to the point where he saw a young guy...putting on a purple clothing and a mask kinda over his nose and mouth pretty drowsy... but dray was not one to fall for such if it was trickery as he began questioning the young guy in the hope of protecting his dear village....Identify yourself or are you one of those infiltrators that come to spy on the leaf and guising under another personality?? Am afraid that I will have to stop you from entering the village hidden in the leaves if you do not provide me with satisfactory information..dray said and waited for the response of the young man.

Dray was expecting a satisfactory answer or he would not even pose the slightest attempt to let the stranger into the village. This could probably be the beginning of another war. Somebody coming to gather info on the leaf and cause war. Since the day dray's parents had died in war, he had hated war and had vowed to stop it by all means. And now, what the boy would say would determine his fate even if he meant him dieing here as there was no other visible shinobi in the area.
As dray finished questioning the young man, he relied in a rude way asking dray who he might be to question him... And at this statement, the young man had decided his own fate. Behaving rude to someone who had the upper hand. As dray was one who detested rudeness, no matter how small it was, he could not go against his personality.. He could not allow someone so inferior to him put a stain on his personality... Dray had wished it would not come to this.. He had wished that the young man would give a perfect and satisfactory answer that would let dray allow him into the village hidden in the leaves and they might even probably be friends but this young man had just written his own destiny in stone. How dray wished the man knew that he was about to die.. Dray need not tell him because nothing he would say would change the situation... Now raising his head to the boy who had moved about two metres back taking what looked like a fighting posture, dray said with rage filling up in his body system....such insolence to me...a shinobi of the leaf.. I do not know about other shinobis..but I as a shinobi of the leaf do not tolerate insults and am sorry to let you know that you will have to pay with your life....

Dray finished his statement rather quickly as he dashed towards the boy who was two metres away.. Upon getting to a metre of him, dray's cunning insticts still lurked within him even though he was no longer a genin.. He kicked up some dirt that would disrupt the already drowsy man's vision as dray would get within inches of the young man and plant his left hand into the ground thereby using it to support the weight of his upper body as dray would launch his legs into the air directly under the yound man and thrust his legs upwards under the man's chin jabbing him upwards.. As this attack would definetly cause the young man to fall metres back as he probably wouldn't have the strength to take the hit. Depending on whether the man would fall backwards, stagger or evade the attack, dray would proceed to the man's location as he would land a barrage of punches on the man if he were to stagger from the previous attack. If he were to fall to the ground, dray would proceed to his location as he would perform a front flip and land his right leg strongly on the man's chest causing him to cough out little blood but if the man did manage to evade the previous attack, dray would then stand his ground and pull out two kunais but regardless of whatever the young man did, dray would still keep a metre long distance between he and the young man while carefully drawing out two kunais from inside his green kimono- like armour...

Exactly... Dray's first attack had hit as the force from the jab sent the boy flying metres back. Pursuing after him again, dray got to him and flipped forward attempting to land a powerful on the boy's chest that would make him cough out blood but the boy was no learner as he simply rolled over before getting up and stretching the distance between them both. Dray too, not being a slacker had quickly gotten up and withdrew two kunais from his kimono like armour... Dray had not a moment to act when he was interrupted by the young man who suprisingly started performing hand seals and with a slam of his hand unto the ground which was moist, three wolves came forth from the ground as the boy set two to attack dray and the last one to probably defend him... Impressive... Dray thought as he well knew the earth mud wolves technique. He was aware that these mud wolves would reform back into their normal shape if they were hit and for that reason, dray would not waste any time on them as dray would then perform some hand seals and call forth his own mud wolves to attack since he had the same exact doton jutsu.. So the boy was a doton user.. Dray figured out.. As the wolves would go into battle against each other, dray would throw the two kunais in his hand towards the boy's two shoulder as he would then throw another two shurikens at the boy's legs hoping to movement.. As dray would then finally throw two shrikens with one aimed for his ear to push him off balance and the last shuriken heading for his throat.. A quick death.

Dray watched as his projectiles soared in the air above the fighting wolves.. Most of the projectiles were stopped by the last wolf of the young man that was guiding him but dray smirked as one of the shurikens knocked on the door of the boy's flesh precisely around his neck region as blood poured forth to welcome the incoming visitor.. Dray was certain that the young man could feel the pain of the injury but that did not stop him or seem to get in his way as he simply went on to perform a series of hand seals... So, the stubborn type huh.. Dray thought... Dray had no choice but to admit that the young man in purple clothing was some what like him. Always fighting on even when he had the least chance of winning.. Just like when he fought with his sensei..

The outcome was certain and dray's fate had been sealed right from the beginning of the battle but ignoring that thought, dray still went on to fight his sensei until he earned his respect... But that was not so in this situation. The only common thing was that the young man's fate was sealed just as dray's fate was sealed when he fought his sensei.. Apart from the fact that dray was aiming to protect his village- the village hidden in the leaves from danger, he was also washing off the stain that this fellow man had put on his personality with his act of rudeness... As dray was not one to underestimate anybody, no matter who the person might be, summoning three mud wolves was quite a feat from someone of the boy's calibre..what more did the young man have under his sleeve.. Dray was eager to see as the night was still dark with the light of the moon giving them visible sight yet dray was not ready to be a victim of the boy's tricks...
Infusing an amount of chakra into the log of wood besides him, as well as feeding the mud wolves with a bit of chakra to keep them standing, dray ran towards the boy though the fighting wolves were betwwen dray and the young man..so upon getting to the bridge, dray jumped foward over the occupied and distracted wolves as he put his hand to his mouth with the appearance of blowing a trumpet as dray opened his mouth to release a blast of water moving at 10m/s towards the young man... Before dray now landed a metre away from the boy with the fighting wolves about three metres behind dray... Let's see how long he'll last.. Dray thought..
Dray's water trumpet had done well in sweeping the young man off his feet thereby sending him crashing into a nearby tree trunk.. The young man was clearly exhausted as he was soaked in blood from his numerous injuries and water from dray's jutsu..
It was pretty visible that the young man was exhausted as he could not even stand on his feet after dray's attack.. He was now sure that his death was near but he still pushed on as he mumured some words in his seated posited. Three raiton natured bolt appeared above him with one over his heads and two by his side... So, he had this and did not use it all this while..hmmph.. Dray thought yet dray had the perfect counter if he was being attacked.. As dray prepared to use his already set plan if the lightning bolts came anywhere near him but instead, the attack was directed at dray's three mud wolves.. Phew..saving me my chakra.. Dray smiled but as the wolves were destroyed by the lightning attacks, the boy seemed to command the mud wolves as the surrounded dray and set to attack him..
As the wolves came at dray, he sighed at the little pesky things as dray simply stamped his feet on the ground as the ground brought forth earth spears that hooked the mud wolves right below their jaws in the process, destroying them... Now, it was dray and this young man.. Nothing was seperating them both.. The time of fate had come and dray was not ready to defy it... With some hand seals, the earth beneath dray paved way as about twelve spear like earth missles came forth waiting fro dray's command.. As dray was only ten metres away from the young man, he wished he did not have to do this but when the time for doing the right thing had come, dray was not one who bothered in not doing so..

As final and parting words to the almost dead young man, dray proceeded not caring if the young man heard or not....In your next life, try to answer question more suitably and most importantly, try not to put a stain on people's personality and finally, warn yourself and others to always fear people in green..dray concluded as he launched ten of the earth missles at the young man who was pretty helpless and had already accepted his faith.. Preserving the remaining two missles in the earth, dray would follow distantly behind the missles as they would explode upon contact with the young man blowing up various parts of his body as the explosion caused by the missles would be concentrated due to their numbers.. As dray would then get to what was left of the young man as he would still have a little life in him that he was probably hanging unto, dray would say to the man finally as he was standing before him...You are what you make of yourselfas dray would then yell out....MOKUTON: SAKISHI NO JUTSU!as both of dray's hands would transform into two large wooden branches with extremely sharp edges as dray would use sheer force to impale the young man's heart with his right hand and stab his lower abdomen with the left bidding him farewell....

As dray's wooden hands pierced the young man's organs, he could feel the fire in him quench... The young man's death was more of his fault than dray's. He should have been more specific in answering questions and more polite too..but on a second thought, this was dray's first kill. He was defending the village of the leaf as an excellent shinobi so when he found CLAYMORE, he would not be much of a problem to him. Killing off this unknown ninja was clearly a silent and perfect way. Dray killed him without having a single blood stain on him except the wooden branches of dray's arm that would return back to normal without any stains as dray seemed to search him but couldnt find anything valuable on the man to pay for his rudeness except a little money dray kept..but most of all, dray would like to accept the fact that this young man was a shinobi regardless of the village he belonged to and for this reason, dray did not want the birds of the sky to feed on his dead body..
As the explosions hit the young man's area, it made sure to clear a bit of the man's surroundings.. As dray now saw the lifeless body of this youngman lying flat on the ground, dray formed little handseals as the earth beneath him rose up to about two metres above the dead body.. The form in which dray raised the earth paved a little opening for the dead body of the man to fall in.. As dray was on top of the risen earth, he jumped down backwards as he re-called the remaining two earth missles that he had previously not used and sent them towards the risen earth... the earth missles hit the risen earth at the base, exploding and causing to to break and fall over the deadbody in the earth..
After the ruble and dust, the scene looked just like dray had just buried this shinobi.. Leaving behind no evidence except broken earth that would level itself very soon when the rain fell besides none of what had happened here was traceable to dray.. Dray had killed the young man yet he had given him a perfect graveyard.. With no scents or cuts or even the slightest sign of blood to give dray away, dray dusted off the dirt on his cloth as he made his way back to the village hidden in the leaves..

"Now, make sure you dont dig up tthee boddy...." Dray sputtered as yet, another memory was ripped from his soul....
WC:6214

As the memories were being ripped from dray, some he freely let go but others, he struggled hard to keep but his all of his actions proved futile.
As the memories were ripped by the aura hand of zen, one by one, one, and two, and three and four, until dray lost count, he was finally given up. As each memory was ripped, a small chunk of dray's life span was ripped with it. It served as a back bone to the memories so as the memories were being transferred into the mysterious man, his own life span was being improved. Dray did not hear the man make any noises or movements. This was not his first time. It was not his second and neither was it his third... Dray was at the brink of death. He feared that he would die if this ritual was not concluded soon. He now cursed himself as to why he had so many memories. Why he kept so many things in his head. He cursed his life, his very soul, the day that he was born into this world. Why did everything have to be like this. Why did he not heed to the warning of the bird that crashed into the window, back in kirigakure no sato. Dray had no cause to live anymore.. He did not even hope to receive the zen revival that happened every five years. He just wanted to die and be forgotten. He was not known by any one. He was not a popular shinobi. He strived to make himself known and live up to the legacy of the senju clan but all proved futile. Nothing he had done seemed to work. Perhaps, he was not destined to live. He had embraced the faith of death. His will to live was lost. He was just a simple husk now waiting to lose the rest of his memories as die like an empty vessel....

Then, the aura hand dipped dip into his head again. It dragged the last of dray's memory but dray fought it for a reason. It was no other memory. Dray struggled with the aura hand... "NOooooo.... This is the one person I have found faith in. The one that had put me on the right path... The one who had always acknowledged me... Wronged my rights.. Healed my wounds... I haven't spent enough time with him but I am proud to call him my SENSEI! " Dray roared as he broke the chains holding his hands down but at that moment, another arm shot out of the original aura arm and stuck dray's hand to the earthen table. Another arm erupted again and did the same to dray's other arm...... Dray was immobilized. The aura hand was draining his chakra.... as he saw the last of his memories flash before him before being ripped away forever as tears streamed down his eyes...

The cool breeze of takigakure filled dray's mind with fantasies. He stared straight at the moon as if he could reach it by just stretching his hand forth. Afterall, his father always said that "you can have it if you want to. The only thing standing in your way is no one other than yourself" With a sigh of relief, Dray fell off the tree branch and snapped out of his imagination. He had almost forgotten where he was. Now, he remembered. He was in takigakure, he left his house and walked straight to taki's lake eternia. A place covered in great canopies. A perfect place for his exact training. This location was most suitable for people with the sharingan, the byakugan or people who possesed a means of seeing or perceiving their environment when their ordinary eyes could not do much. But dray on his path was well aware that he had neither a sharingan or a byakugan. Not to talk of a jutsu that would enable him see when his own eyes could not do much. But that exactly was the purpose of his training. He was here to train his perception. His ability to perceive his environment.

Though, he was well versed with the forest, considering his background. But on a second thought, he could not always be in the forest. What if his opponent caught him in a non- forest area? What then would he do. So, if such would ever happen, then he would depend on his perception, his speed and his time of reaction. Dray thought for a while. What the best way to train himself in a place his ordinary eyes could not see much would be. He began to think. No ideas were coming into his head. He closed his eyes and ran his hand down his swords. He other hand felt his ninja pouch. There were about eleven kunais, some shuriken and about twenty senbons in his ninja pouch well sitted on his back pocket. Once again, his hand ran down his swords and they began to shiver. The swords were getting colder. They wanted to be let out. But who exactly would they be unleashed upon. He needed the right opponent. But were exactly would he find that? His hand began to tremble. He couldn't hold it any more. He let out a beasty roar and for the first time in many years, he felt like he would finally have the opportunity to hold the tree soul swords in their correct locations. When this swords are wielded by the right person,in the right locations, they can unleash great terrors if the wielder has the potentials. He left his spot with his eyes closed depending on his surroundings to lead him. It was hard though but he was getting a hang of it. He began searching franctically through the area for a worthy opponent.

After searching endlessly for a worthy opponent, dray was stopped in his tracks by a sound... He recognized the voice very well like the voice was stuck somewhere in his memories.. The sound... "Ahem" echoed through the forest as Dray turned as faced his rival. The words..."If I didn't know any better I'd say you know somehow where I am going to be, or maybe it is I who's stalking you," He remembered him so well. He remembered their last fight. His called himself nameless. But after a few findings of his own and a bit of description to others, he found out that his true name was Genko Binsu since no one really carried an umbrella around even when it was not raining. The man continued as he said to dray.."We meet again old friend, and I'd like to apologise about almost killing you the first time we met.

Your skills were enough to force me to raise my guard up. I was impressed.".
Dray got more pissed as he remembered how the swordsman forced him to flee from their fight with a terrible jutsu... As Dray remembered that, he tried to keep calm even as the soul swords saw that they had found a worthy opponent...Genko Binsu eh..dray said as the man showed but a little suprise...Dray scanned him from head to toe as he noticed a grey kimono on the man and his umbrella held loosely in his hand. But dray was not satisfied yet. He didn't see any visible weapons though he knew the swordsman would surely have some hiding somewhere in his cloth. The kimono was hindering him from seeing them. So, he knew he had to do something about it..."we never really had a chance to test our swordsmanship the other day since we both were all bout ninjutsu and playing cat and rat.. For this reason, I challenge you to a duel of bukijutsu and taijutsu. Only supplementary ninjutsu that are neither offensive or defensive are allowed. I know I don't need your reply to go on since I can see you won't back out from a fight"..Dray said as he performed a full twist backward for a distraction as he threw four senbons at the swordsman. Two of which will hit the kimono piece resting on his shoulder and the other two at the part joining the kimono by his arms as these would rip off the kimono from the swordsman, making his full armour visible and also pissing the man off. Dray began at the man as he flew towards him and threw two kunais at his thigh trying to restrict his movement.since he remembered very well that the man's armour covered just his legs and upper body the other day they fought. Dray would then land the man with a bastard kick that would bring his head downwards as dray would then land in front of him and jab him up with a kick... As he would jump back twenty metres from the man be his attack successful or not.

As Dray leapt into the air seeing as the swordsman evaded his attack and moved away from the spot of the bastard kick replacing it with a sharp pointed sword, with a bit of effort, Dray attached green chakra strings to his sword and swung the sword at the pointed weapon below himself. Using the force of the clash between both swords, dray re- directed his course of movement and flip backwards landing on his knees. Without wasting time to catch a breath, Dray charged at the man after sheathing his sword and converting the chakra string to the two kunais now in his hands, he infused one out of the kunais with a bit of chakra hoping that the infused kunai would serve it's purpose when the time came. He shot both of the kunais at the man's thigh releasing the chakra strings and attaching the strings to two of his swords. He moved fast extending the strings from his hands and performing a barrage of about twelve slashes at the man's chest, arms and neck while directing the course of the swords. If the man managed to dodge the kunais letting them go by him as he normally did, Dray would then reconnect the strings unto them and attack him blindly from behind since the man was not looking, he would not see them coming and a chance of hit would be a bit available to dray.

As dray ran forward, his mind was set on victory. He felt real bad having to run away from their last fight. He and the man pretty had tough times. He felt he was not strong enough but some part of him knew he was getting better. How could a mere swords man carrying an dead umbrella and with a weird patched eye simply give him such a hard time, was the man some part of any strong organizations, Dray had not really heard of any organizations recently except one which he kept to himself. Who was this man? Some minutes ago, he had sounded pretty confident. But now, where was his confidence. It seemed getting to know the elderly man's name was only but a little priviledge but he had come to realize that a name does not really define a person. Any body could be any body but he had the feeling that this weird man was not just a nobody. Does he not have any companions, comrades, siblings, village? He wanted to know better..but he felt that he was not worthy of asking the man anything if he could not defeat him.. Or perhaps, the man could be his sensei.. But another part of dray asked if he could really be the student of such a great but weird man..

Dray actually hated the situation he had found himself. A great deal of his friends that graduated the academy with him were saying happy goodbyes to genin level and getting promoted but here he was stuck with his so low rank, stuck with the same almost no- armour, stuck in this very village that he had known like the back of a palm, a place where his parents were killed. He suddenly got more angry. His emotions began to flow. He wanted to break the rules in this fight. He felt that he could only beat the man using ninjutsu. But he thought again, did he actually want to break the rules he himself made, was that to be expected from a shinobi, from someone who had dreams, from someone who had goals or did he actually want to depend on ninjutsu for the rest of his life? This questions were swarming in his head as he grew much more angry that as he ran towards the man, the cool breeze of the area carried his agony and the grasses felt his pain as he tramppled upon them with anger. The forest got more quiet as only his footsteps could be heard. He looked at the annoying smirk on the swords man's face as he pulled his swords into an attacking position and chasing towards dray.Are you laughing at me?dray yelled out in fustration. As the man got closer, the distance between the two fellows grew shorter. A clash was coming in place though dray knew his strength was no where near the fearless man.

His speed was nothing to talk about. But being a pretty good analyst, Just as dray had thought, the elderly man came to a halt inches away from dray's thrown kunais. He jumped forward front- flipping over them. A normal ninja could have just parred the kunais away but this unusual man had something for dodging and this would well work pretty good for dray since he had a reason for the chakra infused kunais the man had dodged. He had earlier infused one of the kunais with a tiny bit of chakra hoping to use it later. Since only supplementary ninjutsus were allowed in this fight.
As dray got to a slashing distance of the elderly man's sword, the swords man drew a tilted, upward slash originating from his left side, mainly his left foot across dray's torso. Dray opened his eyes all wide wondering if the man really was out to kill dray. The movement of the man showed that he maybe wanted to decapaitate dray. But on dray's side, he couldn't evade the in time. His speed was too slow for that. But at the same time, he needed something that would push him to his limits and beyond his limit but was this man his rival? That was a question to be answered later as dray's life was on the line here. As dray attempted to step to the right trying to evade the attack, he felt the whim of the older man's sword at his new postion. Now, dray had hopped from the frying pan exactly into the fire. But he was not done for yet. He was not going down here. At the hands of a stranger. He still had dreams, he had goals, he had ambitions, aspirations, expectations and even if he were to die one day, it would definitely not be here.

He knew he would one day be worth a befitting death. But how would he be worth such death if he did not make it out of takigakure alive and with all parts of his body complete? Dray stepped farther to the right and flipping as the man's swords clashed on a kunai well hidden on dray's left thigh as he always had kunais both on his left and right thighs at almost all times, slicing through a bit of skin on dray's thigh causing little drops of blood to surface out of dray's skin. With the man having the edge here, dray started backwards facing the man, strecthing the distance between them to ten solid metres as threw four kunais at the man backed up with six senbons. One kunai aimed at his right arm, one kunai aimed at his left arm if he decided to dodge to the right, two kunais to his right if he attempted to duck or bend backwards kunais, two senbons at his spine before reaching the ground if he attempted to flip backwards, or at his neck if foward and two kunais to his hips and finally two to both ears. As dray leapt into a tree to conceal himself from the swords man. After jumping into the tree, Dray tore stright piece of his cloth enough to wrap a thigh as he tied it on his left thigh to prevent more loss of blood since they drops were still minimal. The place where the sword man's sword had made an impact was now finely covered as dray still focused his gaze on his opponent watching him evade those attacks. He perfectly remembered in their last fight that while he was hidden, the man had a way of perfectly spotting him out.

If it was a sensory jutsu, the man would have little chance of using it without dray noticing and if it was dray's theory of the man's patched eye being a byakugan, Dray would confirm it as he gazed locking his eye directly unto the man's face from his hidden location.
Dray was prepared to prove himself. He didn't want the man to acknowledge him for his efforts. He wanted the man to acknowledge him for his success and that was exactly what Dray would make happen. From his cramped up location in the tree, Dray could see the never getting tired swordsman swing his sword twice in opposite directions to defend himself against the basic projectiles dray had thrown earlier. Dray bit his lip. He thought he had predicted the man since he had known him to always dodge attacks and let them pass him by. But this time around, the man simply stopped the basic projectiles with swings from his sword, effortlessly. The more reason why he needed explosive tags. Maybe if explosive tags were attached to it or if a smoke bomb was available, maybe then, he would have had a chance. He saw as the remnants of the basic projectiles scattered on the floor around the swordsman. With the swords man fending off those attacks easily, it would not be long before he found out where dray was. Dray thought of his next line of strategy still gazing upon the man. He himself had created the no ninjutsu poilcy and he had been thought not to break rules especially self- made ones cause if he could not abide by self- made rules, how in the world would he respect rules from higher- ups?

Suddenly, dray felt like the swords man was seeing him directly as he was looking exactly in his direction. But the elderly man did not run at him just yet. He looked down to his swords watching blood drip from it. Dray felt a ting on his bandaged thigh. Hardly had anyone gotten a pinch of his blood. He was enraged but what more could he do.. He was not running away from this fight like he was forced to when he first encountered the man. The man reached for his back and brought forth a large sized fuuma shuriken, opening all of it's four blades and gripping it by the centre egdes of it's inner ring with his left hand. He stucked his sword into the earth beside him and brought out two normal sized kunais from his kimono's waist belt. In a glimpse, dray saw the two kunais coming right in his direction. One to dray's left and the other to his right. Had the man found out his location, or was he just confirming it? Dray prepared to defend himself with a kunai just as both kunais ran past him. He was relieved. The man was only trying to pin point his location though he knew he was some where in the trees. But Dray knew he was not safe in that tree for long. He had to act but what would he do. With a heart of courage, Dray jumped down from the tree shifting his weight unto his right leg so it would not affect his thigh though he could walk well with it. He only did not want it to bring out more blood. Dray walked towards the swordsman and within five metres of him, he brought out the remnants of his basic weapons and threw it three metres towards the swordsman letting the basic projectiles get stuck in the earth in front of the man. Dray unsheathed his three soul swords and flipped them to the side also digging them into the earth as he spoke out...

You really are a respectable, skilled and aggresive gentleman. I never expected you to abide by the rules of my no ninjutsu policy. You may not be a missing ninja but your looks show that you work alone and people who work alone hardly follow rules. The test of bukijutsu has been undergone, now it time for hand- to- hand combat. Am well aware that am no match to you in terms of speed and strength but there's one thing you don't outsmart me in....... As he stepped within three metres of the swords man and waited for the man to dispose off his weapons and accept the challenge before Dray began lauching his attack.

While Draygglez spoke, the swords man listened attentively.. After Dray had finished talking, the man seemed to comply with Dray terms by saying..Very well..as he collapsed his fuuma shuriken and tucked it behind his belt and then walking away from his sword and towards Dray. His steps had gotten faster as he suddenly planted his left foot down two metres away from dray, balancing himself on it. Springing off. Of the same foot, launching himself about one meter into the air, while lifting his right knee up above his hip, swinging it back and bringing himself down hard into a 360 degree turn. As his right leg came around dray front, intending to land a hit on dray's chest, dray joined both of his hand together and raised them to his chest trying to defend it but the force of the kick was so strong that it pushed dray few metres back with dray almost on the floor. Without wasting much time, Dray got up and started towards the man as he saw him land on the ground.. Within one metre range of the man, Dray made a 360 degree turn with both his right and left leg but using the left leg as his pivot as the right leg swung the the sand, dirt and broken substances on the floor right at the swordman's face..one thing you don't outsmart me in is trickery and improvisation..

Dray said as he continued. As the man would be stunned by the particles or not, dray would dig his left hand into the ground using it as a support for his body, he would them launch a barrage of kicks on the man probably on his face or chest, whichever connected depending on how the man reacted to the dirt. He would then take his right hand backward and back flip five times creating a distance of about three metres between he and the man. The swordsman had managed to shield dray's kicks towards his face with a hand that had been there before due to the effect of the dirt dray threw into the elderly man's eyes. The man also endured the kicks to his torso like he had something hidden under his kimono. Probably an armour, dray thought. After some seconds, the man seemed to regain consciousness as it dawned on him that dray was already about three metres away from him. A smirk showed on his lip vividly saying that he was impressed with dray's performance. As he made for his counter, he started at great speed towards dray. His left hand was stretched out above his hip. His open palm in the direction of dray's chest. With a blink, he got to dray but dray's speed was no match for the man. The swordsman pushed his left palm into dray;s chest pushing dray's body backward with force. Both bodies hit a clash as the swordsman's body came to a halt leaving dray's body to crash into a dray. With little to nothing that dray could do, he felt the swordsman grab his leg and jerk it to an instant stop before releasing him. The action of the man showed that he did not intend to harm dray though, he could have let him crash into the tree and receive serious injuries. He probably wanted to show dray who the boss here was and dray had well understood that.

The man continued as he spoke to dray with what seemed to be like honesty in his words...You are an interesting fighter, and you're quite strong for your apparent rank. I wouldn't mind fighting you again one day when you've made it to my level. I can imagine that fight would be one of my favourites,".. The winner of the fight was sure here but what more could dray do. Dray knelt before the swordsman with his head down and spoke with sincerity and acknowledgement...I accept my defeat as a shinobi of konohagakure no sato. I have tried my best in deafeating you but all proved futile. I might have lost this fight but I have learnt something from it.. In addition to that, I kindly ask that you be my sensei as I am willing to follow your ways.. I promise to be an outstanding student- sensei... As dray finished speaking, he knew he had made a great decision that might make changes in his life. He just hoped it was changes for good...He then waited for the man's response with his head still down....

And finally, the last memory was ripped with force....
With his last breath... He muffled... "Your... deatthh... is.. Nearrr....."
WC:4413

Breath left dray as the ritual was completed. Zen withdrew the aura hands as he performed some other hand seals and permanently sealed the memories into the mysterious man. The man awoke differently. His flesh was fresh as new. He looked around checking to see where he was. "My name is Draygglez Senju" said the man to Zen as Zen chuckled a bit and touched the man's forehead with his index finger.. "You do this after every ritual and it's so funny...." Zen said.
"Making mockery of me now?" the deep voice of the mystery man returned. The memories in his head had probably synched with each other and put themselves in the right places. All that was left of dray now was an empty husk that would soon decay and become a skeleton just like the other half of the mysterious man was.. The mysterious man looked suspiciously at dray as if not satisfied with the success of the ritual.
"Goodluck if he makes it. He probably won't even remember who he is or rather, who he was not to talk of knowing who we are or where to find us...." Zen comforted his master as both servant and master left the vicinity...

"Wake up, Wake up, Wake up...." said a cute voice to his ears. The voice sounded familiar. Dray got up from the floor. Everywhere was white. The ground, the sky, the surroundings, it was all in white. Looking down, he saw somebody tugging on his black trousers... His eyes opened wide. His mouth agap. Suprise was written all over his face. With one swift swoop, his younger sister was in his arms. How in the world was she here. Just then did she point to the two people in the distance.
He was suprised because when he checked the surroundings before, no one was there. With his sister in his arms, he moved closer and the two people standing there, being a male and a female happened to be his mother and father... He was speechless. He did not have time to think of what exactly was happening as he flung himself into the hands of his father and his mother. The once happy family was back again. A dream come true. "HHhow did I get here.....?" Dray finally tried to ask... "You were on earth few seconds ago but your in paradise now.." his father answered him. Right then, dray remembered all that had happened on earth afterall, this was what he wanted. To be with his family, forever and ever, to live in peace with them.

"Whatever happenened is in the past now, papa, mama, little sister... I have what I want now, to be with you.." Dray said as he buried his head in their arms. None of what had happened in the past really meant to him now.
"We also wish for you to be with us. For our once happy family to become happy again but your time is not yet up my dear son.. So, you have to go back, go back now, be good, dont pursue any lost cause. Do come back when the time is right....We'll meet again.." His mother said as she withdrew herself from his grasp..
"A fact of life we all die. But the positive impact you have on others will be a living legacy. What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. Precious in the sight of the holy is the death of His saints. Nothing can happen more beautiful than death. Death is the gate of life and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. Thinking and talking about death need not be morbid; they may be quite the opposite. Ignorance and fear of death overshadow life, while knowing and accepting death erases this shadow. Every tear from their eyes shall be wiped away; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Men fear death, as if unquestionably the greatest evil and yet no man knows that it may not be the greatest good. Good men must die, but death cannot kill their names. Generosity during life is a very different thing from generosity in the hour of death; one proceeds from genuine liberality and benevolence, the other from pride or fear. People fear death even more than pain. It's strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over. To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die. Life is a brief intermission, between birth and death, enjoy it. I think of death as some delightful journey that I shall take when all my tasks are done. A day grows old as we do. Do not wish death upon it. Let it live, let it love, and only then should you let it rest in peace. We must be diligent today. To wait until tomorrow is too late. Death comes unexpectedly. How can we bargain with it? Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death." His father concluded as both his mother, faded and sister were covered by a bright light. In no time, they were swallowed by the light.

As Zen had said, the zen revivial of the memory stealing ritual was true. Dray was the one that made it in the once in five years truth. He was no longer himself. He looked a bit younger and fresher though his age would still remain the same. All the scars of spars and training that he had were all gone. The slant cut on his left eye, the large stich on his huge chest, the earings and piercings on his ear had closed up. His muscles were reduced too like wise his hair that had grown upwards unlike the spiky one he once had. It was like he had evolved from a moth to a caterpillar. His whole body was covered in sticky goo like he was brought out of a cocoon. He was born anew. This was a perfect rebirth. A once in a life time situation but the down side to all of this was that his memory was gone. He knew nothing. He was a new born child in an adults body. He knew not his name, neither did he know where he came from. This was the beginning of a new legend.

Dray got up from the earthen table as he yanked his legs but they were still held by the chains. He stretched his hands to see what was holding down his legs as a chakra string shot from his index finger tip and into the lock of the chain as it unlocked it. Dray was shocked as he did the same thing to his other leg. He was finally free. He roamed about the building seeing skeletons here and there. Finally, he saw a mirror. He looked into it but he knew not what he saw. Beside the mirror were some clothings. He changed into one that he felt ok with, quickly developing a likeness to green.

He found his way out of the cave as he shielded his eyes from the sun. He looked to see what was bringing such great reflection unto his face. He put his hand over his face dumbly, trying to put out the sun rays from his eyes. He kept on walking. Not knowing where he was going to. He just knew that something beneath his was carrying him forward- his legs. He kept walking until he began to see figures. They were stones. Here and there but he knew not what they were. He moved closer and touched it but it did not move. He ran his hands around his, feeling every curve it had. He did that to other stones, trying to spot the smallest difference between them. Losing all of his memories was the worst thing to have ever happened to him. He wandered into the village hidden in the stone, unknowingly to him.
WC:1400

Total wc: 16,485
Travel-600
Attained Kagutsu-S rank (12,000)
Remaining: 3885