So then, a new mercenary corps operating a base in the Dense Forest outside the village. How the hell had that flown past the current administration? Was it just so lackadaisical that no one cared? Did no one actually know? Was there a mole in the ranks covering for them? These and dozens more questions rolled through the former-Kage's mind; he might not be the Hokage anymore (he wasn't even really a person anymore, not officially, since he was supposed to be dead); but you never lose that mindset, that need and want to protect your people and your homeland. Least, not Kage and men like him. He was too much of a 'White Knight' type when it came to that; he protected because he was loyal to his homeland and his people; they were his family, all of them; and Inuzuka protected family first and foremost. That they considered everyone within their territory to be family was just a secondary consideration. These people, these mercenaries... he wasn't against mercenaries; he understood that there was a call for the trade, and so long as that need was there, they would exist. He wasn't the type to just run people out of his territory just because of who they were. No; he needed to check on this, to see how much of a threat, if any; they posed to the people of Konoha. He would decide what to do when he was satisfied that he had a handle on the situation as it was. Make a decision when he had some information. Recon, scout. He'd been a scout for years; it was his talent and his birthright as an Inuzuka. Information gathering had been a habit for while; one honed to perfection (or as close as he could be without being a psychic like his husband); so he was sure that he could figure out the right course of action after this little visit.

Ah, hubris. He was guilty of it in spades.

Still, this shouldn't be much of an issue. The man he'd spoken to; Bau; hadn't recognized him, and his appearence was adjusted in a similar manner as it had been that day; the biggest difference, beyond his clothing being different, was that he was wearing the bandana that many ninja wore instead of the standard issue headband, however his had no metal plate that mared his village loyalty. It was merely holding his hair down, covering the dyed strands and further serving to hide his overall identity. With his fang mark covered and hidden expertly using creams and powders that wouldn't stand out as his entire face was covered and done up as such, there was little to tell of who he was. Unless someone had actually seen his face with enough detail to hazard a guess off the cut of his jaw and the glint of fangs; not that uncommon in the ninja world overall, less so in a village of animalistic clans; he was fairly well hidden.

The trip into the forest was a simple enough; this was his homeland and his forest, he needed nothing to be safe here; nothing but his claws and teeth and wits. To be safe, however, he had a few kunai on him; nothing out of the ordinary at all; even more so as he was going to be approaching a mercenary hideout; if anything the lack of weaponry might be a sign to be concerned; what kind of person approaches a mercenary hideout with just a couple of basic kunai? Only an idiot, or someone confident in their abilities. Given he was a bit of both, well; this would be interesting.

Walk up the river, look for a cabin... that was all he'd been given. Easy enough; there were only so many cabins out here, and only so many places that an underground hideaway could be created. Safely, without being noticed by the patrols, anyway. He had what he thought was a good idea of where the cabin was, and he was heading toward it. It was waaaaay off the normal patrol routes, deep enough in the forest to be safe from random people out for a walk or a camping trip. Near the main river, yes; so the chance for barges to pass by, but those rarely paid attention beyond the immediate shoreline, no reason to otherwise. No, it was an ingenious place for a hideout, and he was going to look there first.

The trees made for a sort of highway for those in the know; it was why you never saw patrols on the ground, they stayed up high. Better visual ranges; less obstructed view. Not many thought to look up; but ninja were taught from early on to think in three dimensions, not just two. Up and down mattered, not just left and right or front and back. No, up and up and down and down; always look for odd places for a ninja to appear.

But the lack of anyone around the little cabin was... worrisome. Sure, most mercenary outposts weren't guarded heavily; but this was almost... ghostly. He would smell old trails, animal and human and a mix of both; but nothing that seemed super recent. Maybe he was wrong?

Or maybe there were jutsu on this place that suppressed sensory skills? He'd be more surprised if there weren't, actually. Hmmm, really, it was par for the course if this was a mercenary hideout... might as well be sure. Jumping to the forest floor was simple enough; he was only a few dozen feet in the air, and he could jump from higher and land harder without much issue. If it'd been a dangerous drop he would have just climbed down using Supernatural Walking Practice; but as it was his knees could handle the impact no problem. There was no reason to attempt to hide his presence; he'd been invited, in a way; and there was no possible way he wasn't already noticed, he hadn't been hiding at all; so he wasn't going to start now. No, he merely walked up to the door of the cabin and stood there a moment. Nostrils flared, ears seemed to rotate even if they shouldn't be able too; he had totally normal, human ears, by appearence anyway; but he was one of those that could still wiggle and control them a bit, so he was doing that. Eyes scanned. Information, scents and sights and the smallest sounds.

Nothing.

Sensory blackhole outside of visual input.

Yep. He was there.

An arm lifted, hand clenched into a fist with two knuckles partially extended, used to rap of the door several times. A totally normal door knock, to gather attention. he had a feeling that opening that door uninvited was a bad idea. Better safe, eh.

Ah, yep; there we go. A hidden panel in the door slid open, allowing for a set of eyes to stare out at him. No response other than that; waiting for a password or something like that. All he had was a name, however, so that was what he gave. "Lookin' for Bau Eitilt. Told me I could find 'm here." he'd dropped into what was the local mercenary dialect; it was... the local language, yes; but rougher, lazier. Sounded more like someone that should be there than the still lazy, but almost cultured tones he took on when he wasn't growling at you.

The response was the panel snapping shut and the door opening; showing nothing but a darkened room and nothing else. Definitely sensory blocks all over the place. He should have been able to see the entirety of the inside of the cabin, it was tiny but he could barely see beyond the door. Yay, blind entry. Fun times, fun times. He took the invitation however, no hesitation that was noticeable, walking into the door and into the cabin; ready and waiting to get popped across the temple or base of the neck by something heavy; or something of that nature. Pessimism for the win, yep.

"Stairs. Down. Tell the guy at the base yer lookin' fer Bau."

Stai- ... oh, he could see now. Made sense; once you got inside, you'd need to be able to move around. He remained silent, merely doing as asked and heading down the stairs and into the darkness of the underground. No amount of lightning ever seemed to mae underground spaces bright enough for his eyes; he was too used to the sun and the moon and the open spaces above ground. Even the depths of the oceans felt brighter than the underground world to him. But he was a creature of water and air, not of earth; so earth would never feel homely to him; not like this anyway. This was dark and enclosing and wrong to his senses; but he didn't let this discomfort show. No, he moved, and moved, and moved; down down down; until he reached the base of the stairs and found the guy the other had spoken of. Again, he gave just the simple request, "Lookin' fer Bau Eitilt."

"This way." And more following. Yaaaay. Well, at least he could start working on a mental map of this place. If he could keep from getting disoriented, he'd be okay; but that was going to be a nightmare; without the usual landmarks he relied upon... yeah. Down the hallway they went, he remained silent as did his guide; eyes moving to map while he focused straight ahead, managing to keep a relaxed enough stance even while he was working. A neat trick; but it didn't always work.

Huh, food. Lots of food. They were coming up on a kitchen of some sort? Or maybe a storage room? Something with a lot of food nearby. He couldn't really be sure he could trust his sense of distance, the hallway could branch in any number of ways, so the scents could be coming from half a compound away, riding on the ventilation system, or something like that.

"Inside." The guide had stopped at what turned out to be an open set of double doors, leading into...

Oh. A cafeteria? No... more like... a diner; but the setup. Huh. Well, that explained the food. Fair enough. Bau was easy enough to pick out, with that massive frame and general 'outlander' appearence. Excellent. He gave a quick nod of the head, a common gesture among the local mercenaries, and moved into the dining area, toward were Bau was at. "Yo, Bau. Bad time, or we good for that little invitation you gave?"

WC: 1800

Bau sat at the table at the head of a table covered in a red table cloth. It was dimly lit but still he was managing.to see everything just fine. After all he was probably the most capable person in the room at a given time. His green eyes almost seemed to glow in the room as he studied the others. Basic mercenaries that were out to make a penny and pick a fight usually. A couple of them were capable and had unique abilities but the majority stuck to the simple D rank missions available. Almost all if not all the money they made came right back to the chapter house it seemed as they drank and ate it away. That was for the more jovial individuals that were strong enough for civilians but had no real control over their chakra or real weapons training. They sat at their own table closer to the door and were mostly friends. He didn't mind them so much as they remembered to control themselves in public. Already he had to take coats away from two people that had decided to take the word mercenary as a thuggish word and tried to bully others out of their possessions. He had left them with a couple of bumps and doubted they would be back. Still he wouldn't keep any of them around if a battle started right there.

Still his gaze shifted to the table nearby to his left. There sat three individuals each quietly tasking themselves with something or another. A young woman with glasses stirred a metal spoon in her coffee with a twirl of her finger boredly while staring into it. A magnet user that was capable with her set of kunai but had little to no inspiration to go out and work. Across from her were her two team mates. One was a male with a blonde pony tail and a bow next to him with no quiver oddly enough while he read a book about ancient plant life and the tree's of ancient times. A Senju who created arrows on the go. The last one was wearing bandages and a med kit on his belt with red spikey hair. He was slumped over the table and snoozing while he had the chance. A good team to have around but getting them to work was rough as only one of them was responsible. Not that Bau could talk. He had only taken the one job so far with the Aburame who was absent for the moment and since then rationed it out on food here. He wasn't much of a drinker and the other mercenaries were buying what herb he had left. He still didn't have the balls to go out and speak with the Inuzuka again. Still he was on the verge of just heading to bed with some toast when the door opened.

Still his eyes widened a little in surprise as a guest entered. A few gazes turned as an icy chakra entered the room but it only quieted a little from the idiots closer to the door. Bau himself was sitting with his sword strapped to the back of his chair and his walking stick sitting next to him as it leaned against the table. It was obvious he was in the head seat by the lay out and his seat being a little higher. Still he was slumped over considerably trying to look less noticable when Kenta arrived. He was wearing just some simple green farmers robes with nothing special to them and he wasn't wearing his coat or hat. Above him a flag fluttered a little from Kenta entering that had the mercenary symbol emblazoned on it. Bau waited until the man about his own age made his way towards him before Bau would rise from his seat in a show of respect. He smiled a big smile as he was aware of eyes on them. Still he indicated an open seat next to him with an extended, large hand. A menu sat there leaned against the triple candle stick with mostly entree options on it and beer options with only one option for tea or Sake. Still Bau spoke up cheerfully as he found his seat again. Responding to what the stranger said.

"Yo, Bau. Bad time, or we good for that little invitation you gave?"

"Hardly lad. I was just gettin a wee bit bored thinkin of wha I wanna eat. Sit down and order a bite ta eat, you look pale. I suggest the T-bone steak and baked potatoe. It comes loaded with da goodies. Sorry iffin it was rough gettin in by da way. Da two of dem be brothers and have a talent for blockin vision ye see. Makin it darker den it has ta be. All dey ever want is guard duty. Can't say I mind."

827

"Hardly lad. I was just gettin a wee bit bored thinkin of wha I wanna eat. Sit down and order a bite ta eat, you look pale. I suggest the T-bone steak and baked potatoe. It comes loaded with da goodies. Sorry iffin it was rough gettin in by da way. Da two of dem be brothers and have a talent for blockin vision ye see. Makin it darker den it has ta be. All dey ever want is guard duty. Can't say I mind."

Made sense. He thought something was similar about them, but the way this place smelled, the way things echoed and reverberated weirdly... he wasn't sure how much he trusted his senses to not be lying to him; both because of any sort of precautions they were taking as a group, and the properties of the earth around them. The offer  of the hand was taken, his grip firm but not crushing, as was the offer of a seat, with a nod of his head his own an offer of thanks and respect. Manners and properness, he had his own version of them. Small gestures, body language, things that were far more difficult to fake effectively than a tone of voice or words. "Fair enough. Smart tactic, really; harder to orient in the dark, easy to miss things." Meat and potatoes... yeah, that was definitely a tempting idea. He was always up for food, always; and he was willing to take that bit of a risk. It wasn't like there were many toxins and poisons that didn't have any sort of taste, and while you wouldn't expect taste to be a heightened sense for a dog, his was rather... well, extremely fine tuned. He was great at picking out the wrong in flavors, which was a great skill to have when you were collecting wild mushrooms and such for dinner. "That actually sounds like a pretty damn fine idea. Any place that can cook a good steak is golden in my book." He actually wasn't joking with that, either. He was a very easy to please type of person. For a moment, he remembered something that had been missed the last time they'd met, back at the ramen shop in the village. "So I never did manage to give you my name, did I? Figure i should fix that now, if we're going to have any sort of working acquaintanceship. People call me Keinsuke, normally; sometimes just Kein. But I'll go by whatever anyone calls me, so long as they're consistent about it." Keinsuke, his ANBU codename, as well as his father's given name. He was able to give it in that way that any long term mercenary or ANBU soldier would their common cover name; without knowing better, it came off as completely legitimate and without triggering the senses of 'fake' or 'cover'. Given his father had almost named him after himself (the name was shared along the male line of his father's clan, the first born males were always named Keinsuke, or Keinsuke was their middle name, or somesuch like that. His mother had put her foot down a bit there, and had spared him that bit of awkwardness.

"So, tell me about this place; this group of yours. You've done a good job of peaking my interest, and that's a rare thing lately. Pissing away my days grumping at kids and bullshitting about the glory days of old has been my life for the last while; and while it's been... eh, tolerable; it's not the best way to pass the golden years of my life." He talked like he was an old man; and in some ways he was. The explosive powerful prime of his life had been in his early youth; he'd gone from child to leader of a village in less than a decade, then fallen from grace and done a vanishing act for another decade; all before hitting thirty. He might not look that old, and he physically wasn't; he'd done more in his time on this earth than most three times his age had. "Ya'll are new, yeah? I could swear I hadn't heard of ya' before we met before; I'm usually pretty up to date on stuff, even out of the life as I've been."

WC: 741

741 + 1800 = 2541

"Fair enough. Smart tactic, really; harder to orient in the dark, easy to miss things."

Bau couldn't help but smile a little bit. To be honest he wasn't a great leader and the decision and modification of the house had little to do with him. He had actually arrived just recently to the whole scene. He had only managed to get in one single mission so far. However the fact remained that he was either the strongest or the most skilled that cared to reach for his position that he held now as head of the chapter. He wasn't great with responsibility really but he was an honest man which made the chapter run a little smoother. Still he listened as the man next to him spoke once more. A guest that one or two from the non shinobi table were eye balling which Bau didn't fail to notice with a glance of his emerald eyes. Still the individual spoke again and Bau listened with a smile.

"That actually sounds like a pretty damn fine idea. Any place that can cook a good steak is golden in my book. (A short pause) So I never did manage to give you my name, did I? Figure i should fix that now, if we're going to have any sort of working acquaintanceship. People call me Keinsuke, normally; sometimes just Kein. But I'll go by whatever anyone calls me, so long as they're consistent about it."

Bau blinked as he lifted a hand to wave to the window. The cook that was leaning there looking over before sighing impatiently. The cook was rather lazy and just there for a job but Bau didn't mind at all. He cooked really good food or so Bau was told since his numb disability made it so he also couldn't taste anything. The smells were heavenly though. It was something small that he missed since his spinal injury but every time he smelled meat his mouth watered and he knew he would never taste it. Still he would live vicariously through those around him. Still as the cook arrived at his table Bau looked up at him with a smile before speaking.

"Chef Ramuka. A wee pork chop with barbeque sauce and cheese for meself and for me friend here, Mr. Kein would like a big ol' steak with a loaded baked potatoe eh?"

The Chef would grunt before asking kein his preference for how the meat was cooked and wandering off without jotting anything down. As for the mans Name to be honest Bau didn't recognize it at all and he wouldn't of recognized the name Kenta either. He wasn't very worldly. Still his attention was drawn back to the man as a question was posed to him.

"So, tell me about this place; this group of yours. You've done a good job of peaking my interest, and that's a rare thing lately. Pissing away my days grumping at kids and bullshitting about the glory days of old has been my life for the last while; and while it's been... eh, tolerable; it's not the best way to pass the golden years of my life. Ya'll are new, yeah? I could swear I hadn't heard of ya' before we met before; I'm usually pretty up to date on stuff, even out of the life as I've been."

Eh....He supposed there was types of people in the world that actually felt good about their history and time as a warrior. Bau himself thought he was older than the individual just based on appearance but he could be wrong about that just based on how the guy talked. Still he kept his smile as he didn't care to cover his own history in conversation with a stranger just yet. He himself was in no way proud of his history. He was ashamed of the lives he had taken for a profit and for rage. Such was the way of his people though honestly. Their warring ways had led to their downfall and it was a small comfort in this newish land that people were not constantly trying to kill each other. There were some bad fruits here and there but hardly anything more than that. Still Bau blinked and tried to recall the information on this place he was expected to know. His words a little quiter just in case he wasn't accurate so the other tables didn't hear. Hardly needed though with how the volume at the one table was still rising.

"Actually...from what dey told me. Ol' Bau joined a mercenary group dat is governed by the nations. We can only work as approved in a way that benifits da nation we is in and can not work in a way that harms it or helps another nation against it. Provides some distance between the other chapters and us but ye know it seems ta work lad. Konoha done supplied us dis location and hand us the work they dun have the people ta use for it when they be short handed or we take da jobs dat are just too dangerous to use dere own resources on. They done pay us ta beat up people they dun have time for yeah? As for how it works in house well, Da strongest warrior in a chapter is head. Anyone can challenge for da position officially and it gets monitored...just so happens with it bein so new and all Bau was strong when he got here enough to have it."

1776

"Actually...from what dey told me. Ol' Bau joined a mercenary group dat is governed by the nations. We can only work as approved in a way that benifits da nation we is in and can not work in a way that harms it or helps another nation against it. Provides some distance between the other chapters and us but ye know it seems ta work lad. Konoha done supplied us dis location and hand us the work they dun have the people ta use for it when they be short handed or we take da jobs dat are just too dangerous to use dere own resources on. They done pay us ta beat up people they dun have time for yeah? As for how it works in house well, Da strongest warrior in a chapter is head. Anyone can challenge for da position officially and it gets monitored...just so happens with it bein so new and all Bau was strong when he got here enough to have it."


Really now? That was definitely different. He could understand that out of some of the nations, the smallers especially; but to have the giant powerhouses like Kiri or Konoha bother... hmm. Things really had changed. From what he'd been piecing together shit had hit the fan several times since he'd gone into hiding, so it was... well, not as surprising as it should have been. When the ninja are in disarray, the mercenary flourish, and it was in the best interest of the nations to channel that untapped resource. Really, while it wouldn't have been his first choice... it was a solid one, if done right. It would also explain how he hadn't heard of them before meeting the giant of a man from the farlands; if they were government sanctioned, then the normal mercenaries wouldn't claim them as part of their world. It could be argued that government sanction precluded them from being mercenaries; at that point they might as well have just been army dogs; but he could also see why keeping them officially labeled as mercenaries, even legal mercenaries, was needed.

"Interesting. Very interesting. Leadership by the strongest, pretty common for merc groups; having a government pass to operate... well, can't say I saw that coming. That's basically what the ninja villages where for; seems like a redundancy to have legal mercenaries when you have ninja working for you. Then again, it seems like the ninja have been having some... hard times lately; what with all the village burnings and leadership changes. Guess they needed something stable, and there's always going to be paid guns floating around; more so than government trained soldiers anyway."

So all of this happened recently... likely after the Senju that was supposed to be running the village went dark. Hmm... He'd need to see if Naota could get his hands on the records of this, he was rather interested to see who authorized it. Or was it the daimyo himself? Possible, the old fart had been trying to exert more control over the village for a long time, long since before Kenta was even born really, but the Kage at the time hadn't allowed it, and Kenta had very little love for the civilian oversight and such forced by him; even less so for the man himself. After all the shit surrounding his kids, knowing that the daimyo's personal science-pets had been in one the attempt to steal his infant children from their beds... well, there was tension there; but Kenta was enough of a politician to not cause a civil war over it.

Barely.

Maybe he should.

But not now, not even right away if he was to take back control. He'd need time; time to rebuild and regroup and recover the might of his homeland, his people. Maybe having a group of mercenaries around could play to his favor...

"Sounds like ya'll have a good set up, really. Specially if they're giving you better than the dreg work most merc's take. How's the pay, eh? Decent enough to get in on?"

WC: 700

700 + 2541= 3241

"Interesting. Very interesting. Leadership by the strongest, pretty common for merc groups; having a government pass to operate... well, can't say I saw that coming. That's basically what the ninja villages where for; seems like a redundancy to have legal mercenaries when you have ninja working for you. Then again, it seems like the ninja have been having some... hard times lately; what with all the village burnings and leadership changes. Guess they needed something stable, and there's always going to be paid guns floating around; more so than government trained soldiers anyway."

Bau paused his musings to listen to this part in particular. This person was either fairly knowledgable about politics or at least fancied themselves as such. Not that it really mattered as they were a guest and not some sort of official inspector or something trying to shut them down. Redundancy or not Bau found they had a fairly large workload as it was even if they were only given the scrap contracts Konoha let them have. He was sure it was similar in other countries but he didn't really know if they ran differently. After all he hadn't exactly traveled the world yet. Heaven knows he belonged way down below by now. He was supposed to be a dead man and lots of people he didn't want knowing otherwise thought he was. A back wound was usually something people in his country didn't recover from. If you couldn't walk anymore you layed there and died. However someone had wanted him to live and with years of effort and stubborn pride he had managed to regain the use of his legs. Still his green eyes shifted to look the man over before sitting back in his chair and speaking up in response. Waiting a moment as the person spoke once more and replying with a smile.

"Sounds like ya'll have a good set up, really. Specially if they're giving you better than the dreg work most merc's take. How's the pay, eh? Decent enough to get in on?"

"Aye for someone not locked ta the village the pay ain't bad. We get the scrap work the village dun want for their own ye know? Spose it be cause we are more expendable. Dey can let us lot die off for their cause without a second thought. Top oh dat dey take da contracts for the usual rates but tax us a little heavier. So the village makes more from us and loses nothin."

Still Bau glanced passed the man just across from him then before his eyes narrowed and his head suddenly shifted to the side. One of the beer mugs flew by a second later where his head had been and the thick glass shattered against the wall. From the civilian table where the trail of splattered beer led all the way to where it now dripped down the wall stood a very large man. Probably the biggest amongst everyone at that table. Making even Bau look small. He was obviously smashed beyond reason and was down for all sort of stupid mistakes. The table with the shinobi team stopped what they were doing and looked between Bau and the man before sitting back and watching. It appeared they had no interest in intervening but rather wanted to watch Bau handle it. After all this was his responsibility and they often felt letting civilian mercenaries in was too much of an oversight. However Bau had no say in recruitment and so he had sat back and simply observed until now. Still Bau rose an eyebrow as the man called him out right then and there. In front of company no less.

"Bau Eitilt!(he said with a hint of sarcasm like it was a snide remark) Your time is over foreigner! It's time a real man had your seat and I challenge you! Right here right now! Fight me or get out!"

The room would grow quiet for just a moment then as if breath was being held. Hands shifted to weapons behind his challenger as if expecting to have to remove Bau by brute force of numbers. Still hands on weapons hesitated almost like flinching as Bau could be heard sighing impatiently. There was a thin level of anxiety in the air as the man clenched his fists while Bau rose from his seat. He held up one finger to indicate he needed a moment to his guest before walking around the table patiently and with a deliberate steady pace. To Kenta though he could smell the anger rolling off of Bau and would easily be able to tell Bau did this to take the time to chill out and not over react. Still Bau stopped in the middle of the floor and stared the man in the eye from about two meters away across open floor. In about ten seconds from that point the man rose his fist and roared as he charged forward and tried to do a straight jab with his massive hand at Bau's face only to see Bau move around him with an odd grace for Bau's size which made him seem like a breeze calmly flowing around an obstacle. However that breeze turned into a mighty gust as suddenly a foot caught the huge opponent behind the knee and knocked him down to one knee mid punch. Surprise registered across the big mans face quickly followed by pain and Bau put his right hand on the right shoulder of his opponent. Chakra surged into that hand as veins popped and the fingers suddenly clamped down like a vice. Bones cracked in an instant under that grip as the man cried out trying in vain to pry Bau's fingers away. Bau spoke then in a quiet way that everyone could hear.

"I will only say dis once lad. And it does not need ta be repeated as this leson will be one ye remember. Never challenge someone with chakra control when ye have none. The field of power and experience between us be vast. Iffin ye dun learn yer limits ye will be buried like the others dat will eventually fall workin here. We bleed fer pennies and die for dimes. Don't challenge me again without learnin a thing er two. Jackal, tend to his shoulder aye?"

Finally after two more bone crunching noises that drove his giant of an opponent to sobs Bau's hand returned to normal in appearance and he turned to walk back to his seat and sit down. The cook taking a break from cooking to clean up the glass as he muttered about cracking the big mans shoulder himself. The red head wearing bandages would sigh before rising from his seat to move over. His team rising with him to help him drag the big man out of the room for treatment. Bau hadn't been very kind but he had made a point. The rest of the civilian table either got up to clear out or went about more quiet conversation while avoiding eye contact with Bau. Still Bau smiled pleasantly enough and looked to Kenta. He bowed his head politely before speaking as he leaned back again.

"I hope ye be acceptin me apologies for da show. People get excited at times yeah?"

3015

"Aye for someone not locked ta the village the pay ain't bad. We get the scrap work the village dun want for their own ye know? Spose it be cause we are more expendable. Dey can let us lot die off for their cause without a second thought. Top oh dat dey take da contracts for the usual rates but tax us a little heavier. So the village makes more from us and loses nothin."

Oh, he knew that feeling. Jesus, that was starting to become a problem when he'd been in charge of things; the daimyo and his men trying to take a bigger cut of taxes from the village and the ninja, making it a bitch to maintain the kind of payments for missions that let the ninja survive and participate in the village economy. The civilians in general had been doing wonderfully, but the ninja and the military were the backbone of the village even in peacetimes; it was the single largest industry, since diversification was something that couldn't be allowed in many aspects. Focusing on arms trading (legal, anyway), military power, etc... that was all they could do; beyond smaller trading of resources harvested from the forest via the main port. He'd tried very hard to expand their manufacturing ability, since they had the materials and the equipment, and sending ships out to the seaports meant that they didn't have to worry about secrecy in that aspect.

Oh, flying beer mugs? Fun.~

A challenge, eh? Sounds about right; with how the structure of the organization had been explained to him, he wasn't surprised at all that this was happening. Maybe a but that it was happening while he was there, but eh. It was good to see. He wasn't worried, either; no one here had a shot in hell of hitting him, so he just sat there with an expression that was a ghost of a smile, looking around to see if anyone had forgotten their mug of drink that he could swipe.

Hmm, calling out a foreigner? Stupid. If the man was strong enough to take charge, then let him. This was going to be fun to watch, and very informative; he was rather curious to see how the massive man fought. He was expecting to be surprised, something told him the male wasn't the general berserker type. The moment taken to calm himself before the challenger charged confirmed that. Yep, there was agility and experience there; the movement was fluid and solid, the crush strong and devastating. Yep. Not someone that you want to let catch you. Definitely not. Hell, he'd take some pretty serious damage from a crush like that; or he figured he would anyway. Endurance wasn't his think, not in that sense. He was a squishy, as Amaya had once said; fast and agile and a bastard to actually hit, but taking huge amounts of damage when he was caught out. He'd need to work on that now that he was home; or get himself some armors.

The massive male returning to their table was met with that ghosting smile of Kenta's, the blond leaning back and locking his fingers behind his head in a cradle like fashion, moving to lean backward and into a bit of a stretch as the larger spoke again. Returning to his former position, "Nah, you're good. Can't be angry over shit like that, it's gunna happen when it happens, so you gotta just run with it. Fun show, too. Little surprised you didn't just rip him in half, really. Or hell, maybe now he'll be cowed into being a team player. Or something. Those types, never can trust them, even after they've been put in place."

WC: 641

641+ 3241 = 3882

"Nah, you're good. Can't be angry over shit like that, it's gunna happen when it happens, so you gotta just run with it. Fun show, too. Little surprised you didn't just rip him in half, really. Or hell, maybe now he'll be cowed into being a team player. Or something. Those types, never can trust them, even after they've been put in place."

Bau would nod slowly as finally the food and drink was brought out. Bau sat back and smiled as the pork chop was set in front of him with cheese melted onto it and a glass of water while Kenta got a steak still steaming with singed marks in a grid pattern across it and smelling of glory and liquids pooling around it. The Baked potatoe somehow had a crispy edge like a french fry and salted with sour cream and tiny onions on top of melted cheese with the inside presliced into thick chips that would fall apart like mashed potatoes under the fork. butter and garlic had been melted into the bottom of the crispy shell and soaked the lower parts in a magnificent way. His beer had a froth too it that had one drop running down the side of a glass that beaded with cold moisture and smelled of a butterbeer. It's sweet scent matched only by it's cool, refreshing taste. If anything the cook certainly knew what he was doing. Still Bau spoke as he collected a knife and fork. Sawing into the meat happily showing his too was cooked to perfection and somehow had cheese running in little holes inside of it.

"I do suppose so lad. And I do hope he acts with a wee bit more wisdom ta his name but I doubt it too. I dun trust anyone enough ta leave mah door unlocked with nothin in front of it iffen I sleep but that happens bein raised abouts war and all. After ye take a life ye never the same and I will break im a thousand times before I even start considerin killin him. It ain't in me's no more. Not me way."

With that Bau slipped into silence before he cut a bite sized chunk for him anyway of his meal and plopped it in his mouth. Savoring it for a moment as his eyes almost rolled back in his head. He could taste the juices squeezing out of each tender bite of meat as it melted in his mouth and mingled with the sweetness of cheddar fresh cut and melted perfectly so it didn't harden. However he was only three bites in which was about half of it when the door burst open and his glanced up with a mouth full. Jackal had come back in looking ticked off as he held a green orb over his arm where some bandages had soaked a small amount of blood. He glared at Bau before leaning over to whisper in his ear. "He didn't take to losing lightly. Stabbed me in the arm and took off hooting and hollering about how you were going to pay and soon. Chances are he is heading to do something stupid. I suggest you handle your business Sir." Bau sighed and swallowed before downing his entire glass of water. He picked up his porkchop in his hand and rose to his feet before bowing to Kenta. Speaking breifly before he was gone.

"It seems I have to go deal with a fool. He has some shinobi friends not from round here. Chances are he is heading to them for help making a scene. I am going to try and intercept him before he reaches them but if I can't, chances are it is gonna be some time before I come back. Enjoy your food and call on me if ever you want to try this again." And with that he flashed out having used a common academy escape jutsu.

Exit thread
3687

"I do suppose so lad. And I do hope he acts with a wee bit more wisdom ta his name but I doubt it too. I dun trust anyone enough ta leave mah door unlocked with nothin in front of it iffen I sleep but that happens bein raised abouts war and all. After ye take a life ye never the same and I will break im a thousand times before I even start considerin killin him. It ain't in me's no more. Not me way." ... "It seems I have to go deal with a fool. He has some shinobi friends not from round here. Chances are he is heading to them for help making a scene. I am going to try and intercept him before he reaches them but if I can't, chances are it is gonna be some time before I come back. Enjoy your food and call on me if ever you want to try this again."

The blonde merely snorted, amused overall by the entire situation and the day in general. He'd come into this whole mess thinking that he was going to be investigating some random group that was only managing to get by because no one way paying attention, only to find out the daimyo was once again fucking the village over by hiring out mercenaries to do the jobs that where supposed to be done by the ninja. The entire point of the ninja, at least in relation to the village's relationship with the rest of the country in which they resided, was to be the military force that took care of things like that because the samurai and civilian militaries couldn't handle the job, or where too busy being the daimyo's personal bitch. More reason to deal with things swiftly, once he was ready to set that in motion. In the meantime... food. He'd had a show, now he had a steak. He was an invited guest, no one was giving him a shit eye, so he was going to eat it; then make his way out.

Before Bau was gone however, he flashed the male a smirk that said 'have fun, buddy', then dove into the plate of food. You don't give an Inuzuka food and then expect them to ignore it, after all. That, and he didn't feel like vanishing right away; it would make more sense for him to settle in a bit; he was invited by the big man, and it would be more suspicious for him to just race the hell right now the moment their meeting was over, at least without him having been inducted into the group and sent off on a mission or bounty hunt or something right away. Nah, he was going to swagger about for a bit, get the lay of the people, beyond the idiots throwing shit, anyway; and then head off looking like he was mister cool britches and swagger. He didn't need or want these people to like him, merely not question his being there. Swagger and cool confidence and all that jazz was the default projective setting for types like this, usually; if he was wrong he'd find out pretty damn fast.

He plowed his way through the food, taking his sweet time in a way, and not bothering with anyone and anything until he was done and ready to head off. He'd noticed pretty quick that no one was bothering to clean up after themselves, so he didn't either; merely moving toward the door and turning toward where he was pretty sure he remembered the exit and such to be. So long as there wasn't some sort of genjutsu redirection effect going on, he had a decent enough map of the place up to that point, so he was just following that. Given he hit the staircase pretty much when he expected, and didn't have any problems getting up and out of the entrance of the cabin above... well, that was good to know. Now to head home and make some notes, yeah.

-EXIT-

WC: 694

694 + 3882 = 4576

4576/4400 C1 - B3 END