Ameryuu jogged slowly through the streets of Kumogakure, dodging and weaving in between the crowds. She sucked in a deep breath, sliding in between two civilians before ducking low to avoid another, the old woman's handbasket passing less than a centimeter above her head. It was one of the few days a year where the village was bathed in sunlight, and Ame had decided that letting such a day waste away was silly. She had forgone her usual long-sleeved jacket for a sleeveless one, and the sunlight was warming her arms quite nicely. As she neared the village's main gates she went over her mission details in her head, making sure that she knew exactly what it was that she was supposed to be doing. 

The mission was pretty simple. Some of the villagers from towns in Kaminari no Kuni had been complaining about odd activities nearby. They hadn't specified what kinds of activities though, so Ame wasn't sure if she should expect to find a group of bandits or something else entirely. Her job was only to scout the area and report back her findings of course. She wasn't supposed to run into any sort of trouble on the way, considering that her mission didn't extend too far outside the village borders, but she made sure that she was prepared for whatever circumstances that might have arised. You never knew what to expect when leaving the relatively safe confines of the village.

She made good time, signing herself out at the main gates with her mission approval, and heading out with a promise to not get herself killed. She took to the trees quickly, hopping from branch to branch with ease. She felt the wind ruffling her hair as she sped up, her arms prickling from the slight whiplash. She ducked under an incoming branch, almost slipping off of her next foothold and cursing under her breath. Here in the forests it wasn't as warm in the village but her exertion was keeping her warm, her heart beat a fast-paced but regular thump in her ears. Everything around her looked to be in place, but she was only in one part of a large country, so she couldn't discount the villagers' worries quite yet.

She slowed down a bit and curved slightly, changing direction so that she was on a path for one of the small civilian villages in Kaminari no Kuni. Maybe if she asked the locals exactly what they meant when they had said that they had seen strange happenings around there they could explain the situation a bit more clearly, or even point her in the right direction. At that precise moment she only had the faintest idea of what she was looking for and a rather large place to search for it. She continued to streak forwards, spending the next ten minutes inspecting her surroundings as she ran. The forest wasn't very thick in Kaminari no Kuni's wilderness, but it was thick enough, and the foliage blocked what little sunlight they had in the country. The ground below the canopy was very empty of plant life, but she didn't expect much more.

Ame stopped abruptly, circling chakra to her feet to stop herself from overshooting and taking a tumble onto the ground. She crouched on her branch, narrowing her eyes and trying to figure out if she really was smelling smoke or if it was just her imagination. She couldn't see anything from where she was situated but the smell had hit her in the face, and it was fresh, judging by the thickness of the stench in the air. She hurried forwards, running for only three more minutes before the smoke became visible. A plume of black smoke curled up above the tree tops from somewhere not that far in front of her, wavering in the wind and spreading as it came into contact with the swirling clouds above. Ame got down from her temporary perch in the tree, continuing her journey on foot. She concentrated her chakra, allowing it to expand her senses outwards. Even with the augmentation she couldn't sense anyone nearby, so she continued, hoping to figure out what was that had caused the smoke.

The sight left her in shock. An entire village, burnt almost to the ground. The unrecognizable corpses of people lay around the cracked streets, small fires still burning here and there. Ame took in the devestation with a grim look on her face, as her mind whirred and tried to figure out who (or what) could have possibly caused so much destruction. There was not a survivor in sight, and the only sounds coming from the smouldering rubble was of the crackling flames as they devoured anything else they could find. She could sense no pulsing nervous systems, meaning that most (if not all) the people who had lived here were dead. Those that were in her sensing range at the least. And if what she saw was anything to go by, the rest of the people were in much the same condition.

Ameryuu shuddered, and took a few steps backwards, turning to go back to the village and report the incident as soon as possible. The air smelt putrid, even as she went further and further away from the burning village. She couldn't get the image of the fire ravaged corpses out of her head, and she could feel her heartbeat racing, not just because of the exertion. As her arms hung at her sides and her muscles ached from the continuous movement, she shook her head to try and clear the muddled thoughts. She simply couldn't fathom what could have done all that damage so close to their Hidden Village and right under Kumo-nins noses. If the other small villages had only reported strange occurences, what else could she have missed. She didn't want to take anymore chances, and decided that it would be best if she just went back to the village quickly. Surely someone back home could figure out exactly what had happened there.

The Raikage was not going to like this...

---

Words: 1039
Used to train Suiton: Kamikiri
Chakra: 135/50

Jutsu Used: