A small boy walked through the thunder grounds that day, he knew not what he was searching for, but he understood only one thing.

"ryu.... zo.... ji...." as the young Elin sat there wandering why they had disappeared and whether they were even alive. Ever since winning the chuunin exams no one has ever come to greet him again. People were avoiding him and even the farmers chased him out due to some secret hatred for shinobi trying to take their farms from them by using their magical jutsu to make their hard work mean almost nothing. Even though only a handful of shinobi had enough skill for that, it was true that shinobi were the core existence in this world and that normal people were losing their place in the world. As they walk amongst monsters, the little boy had heard a friend of his say to him when he came out of the tournament victorious that he was a monster.

Also after seeing his flaming jutsu there were rumors that he had been secretly sabotaging farms even though it was the work of bandits. He sat there with his legs crossed hoping that the people would stop looking at him with such cold eyes as he was brooding about something.

The resounding and thundering sounds of thunder would echo into the open field, and then it came. As if to say the world was crying for the small boy who sat still meditating as the rain came pouring down hitting him against his forehead as the boy raised his head slowly to look on into the distance as he saw a stranger enter this field without fear. Who was it that came to him, was it fate or was it coincidence and did any of it even matter anymore as the eyes the boy showed seemed to look lonely and at the same time sad to the point of dwindling into a raging anger hidden deep behind his hair which was wet and waving through the winds that began to build up.

Words 344

Now that the events on Ryuchi Island had transpired and that he had already witnessed the invasion of Kumogakure, the reason that he had come here in the first place, it was about time that he get going and leave the Land of Lightning to finally return home to Konohagakure. He wouldn't be too excited to see his parents; he'd avoid them at all costs. He hoped to find another place to stay so that he wouldn't have to deal with those pests; perhaps he could lie low in the woods. No, there were too many bugs out in the forest; he'd need an actual place to stay. Now that he was one of the Three Legendary Sannin of Konohagakure, he suspected that he would get plenty of offers of a room to stay in if he asked without even lifting a finger, though he had to make sure his new title didn't get to his head. He also suspected that his toxic parents would be bragging away about how their "spectacular childrearing" led to this success; however, it was all bullshit. All they could do was brag. They had no other skills, as they were genin at what... 40? If anyone had done a good job with raising Kashizudoto, it'd be his grandparents; though he didn't get to see much of them either, especially with all his shinobi work. He wondered how proud they were, though he quickly dismissed the thought.

Regardless of the fact that he was probably supposed to go back to Konoha as soon as possible, he felt like taking it slow on the way, so that's exactly what he did. He walked down the path in a black swordsman's robe embroidered with golden patterns, a gift from Master Piandao after finishing his apprenticeship under him. He had on a bamboo sheath containing his Tentetsutou or Sword of Heaven, a black katana which he had forged out of rock from a four billion year old meteorite under Master Piandao's watch. Next to it, he had on a coil of wire measuring about fifty meters, a utility which he could use for a variety of tasks such as rappelling up surfaces without the aid of the Supernatural Walking Practice, propelling oneself towards a surface, extending the range of the Dragon Fire Jutsu, capturing enemies, setting up traps, etc. Underneath it, he had his holster containing one kunai and three shuriken; they were hardly useful anymore now that he had a sword, yet he didn't mind carrying them along. Now that there was no more reason to mask his village identity, he wore his Konoha hitae-ate on his forehead, tied around in a normal shinobi fashion, nothing too fancy. Of course, last but certainly not least, he walked with his messenger hawk, dubbed "Hawky" perched upon his right shoulder as usual. He was a loyal companion who he had trained to fight back in the Land of Earth and had helped him in his shinobi duties since.

He walked across the outskirts of the village nearing the Wilderness of the Land of Lightning, taking his time with every step to observe the lightning all around as the rain trickled down the faces of him and his hawk. He wasn't worried about all the lightning strikes; he was fast and strong enough to protect himself even if this part of the land was known colloquially as the "Thunder Grounds" for its danger. The young sannin observed various cracks and holes from strikes of lightning bolts dotting this part of the landscape; however, he would soon spot another sight: a small boy meditating in the middle of it all. He needed to get this boy to safety. Of course, the young sannin himself was only thirteen years old, but this kid seemed really small regardless of age; though he could've been chronologically older than the young sannin, he didn't look like he'd be able to hold his own if a lightning bolt came at him out of nowhere unless he was a shinobi and could use jutsu.

"Hey," the young sannin would speak from a few meters away as he approached the boy in the dangerous area, "Mind telling me what you're doing out here? This definitely isn't an area to play around in." He would look at the boy, who was currently sitting criss-cross applesauce, trying to understand why he was even here in the Thunder Grounds, sitting down as if this place wasn't known to be extremely dangerous. Even as a stranger to the land, he knew that this wasn't the place for small children.

WC: 788

The small boy looked to the man with sad eyes as clouds began moving about more violently as the thunder was striking against itself in the sky as the grounds shook a bit as a large bolt of lightning struck near the stranger and roughly eight or more struck randomly with two nearly hitting the small boy who had a really sad look on his face. The man said something like hey or hi as he was not sure which as he just replied with a soft barely audible hi in return as he was still sitting there.

The guy asked him why he was here and mentioned something about this place being dangerous as the small boy was not sure what was not understanding the situation as the boy started getting up slowly as he was a bit wobbly he felt a bit happy that it was a stranger and not some of those pesky villagers who kept asking him about teaching them jutsu, or showing off the skills he used in the chuunin exams. He was making his way towards the guy who looked like a wandering soul of a wandering wanderer from one of those old samurai books he read once.

He was not really that recognisable since he was wearing some really old clothing and his hair was dirty as well as his eyes having faded out from their usual colour. He walked towards the stranger with tears forming in his eyes as he just moved towards the stranger and got close and started crying for no reason as a lightning bolt struck behind him as the explosion hit the ground making him fly forward as he lost consciousness flying through the air as if kicked forward in slow motion as the boy made his way through the air like poetry in motion.

Words 344 + 307 = 651

OOC NB - Sorry for taking so long

The moping little kid, who looked as sad and desperate as ever in the raging Thunder Grounds, responded to his greeting with an extremely soft "hi" that, if it weren't for the young sannin's above average perception, would have been lost to the loud booms of thunder that raged across these grounds. Either way, he needed to get this kid away from this place; otherwise, the boy was asking for a death wish. The young sannin wasn't particularly old himself, no doubt; however, this boy, whether or not he was chronologically older, looked tiny and incapable to handle himself, clearly not ready to be out in a dangerous place like this in tears.

The moping kid, wearing old, dirty clothing and donning a shaggy set of hair, got up, much to the young sannin's surprise, only to begin to approach him with tears welding up within his big eyes and releasing themselves into a torrent. Why was he crying? He needed to get this kid out of here first, talk later.

All of a sudden, a lightning bolt would crash down right behind the crying boy, knocking him off his feet unconscious. Having a good reaction time, the young sannin would catch the boy in his arms almost immediately. Oh, god, this wasn't good, but, at the least, the boy was still breathing. The young sannin would resolve to get him out of these dangerous grounds. Therefore, he would pick the unconscious boy up, haul him over his right shoulder, and run out of the Thunder Grounds, making sure to avoid lone trees, cliffs, and any other things that tended to act as lightning rods along the way. Eventually, he would make it out of the danger zone with the boy in tow assuming that nothing or no one tried to stop him and would lay the boy on the ground, checking his pulse to see that it was ok. He could only wonder why this boy was in such a place in the first place, suicide perhaps? Well, he would find out once this boy woke up, at least...

WC: 1143

Breathing softly, breathing heavy then just breathing normally again as the boy was half dazed as every now and then he would open his eyes slightly and see lightning in the back ground and a bunch of rubble and as clouds gathered it looked as if it was raining, though that was simply the tears flowing from his eyes like a ever flowing river that has never known of the dangers of the lightning struck world around them.

The boy fell asleep somewhere along the way as his breathing had become very soft and gentle as they kept moving the slight bumps from movement not enough to stir the child from his deep sleep. He yawned a bit as his he felt like someone was touching him as he looked it appeared as if there was someone checking his pulse or maybe trying to steal his bracelet, he was still a bit groggy as he had water in his eyes from waking up this time and his hair had gotten a bit wet as along their journey there was a bit of rain here and there, but the main concern was lightning so there was no real option to avoid it.

The boy was trying to make out some words before sitting up a bit rubbing his eyes as if he had awoken from a bed. His pulse that was felt was actually rather weak and was probably also a result of him having missed out on eating for a few days. His tummy began making strange sounds as the boy looked dazed as he said, "hi, who are you?" as he was a bit lost right now having forgotten his out burst earlier. His hair was a soft brown and so were his eyes as it seemed he did not quite get used to the change he made, but he was still a bit worried since he had to get his new shinobi card later as he was no longer wearing his headband and had gone out as a civilian on that day.

Words 651 + 344 = 995

"Hi, who are you?" the boy asked once he had woken up as if he had forgotten his earlier outburst and meeting with the young sannin entirely. Was this amnesia? The young sannin would be very worried about this, as he had no idea how to fix any brain damage: that was the specialty of medical shinobi. He didn't have a clue where the nearest hospital was, but where there is a will, there is a way, if he ever had to find a hospital, he could locate it with sheer determination. However, for now, he just needed to talk to this moping kid to see if he could find out what was up.

"My name is Kashizudoto Sarutobi," the young sannin would ask, "Don't worry, you're in good hands: I'm one of the Three Legendary Sannin of the Leaf, though it may not look like it. I must inquire, who are you and why were you out in the Thunder Grounds? You must be aware that a place where lightning strikes frequently is no place to mope, no? I want to help you, just please tell what's going on." He would hope that the mention of his title would be enough to calm down the crying kid and reassure him that Kashizudoto was a responsible person (whether or not he actually was responsible is up to the reader's interpretation). With his Konoha forehead protector on his head, it would be believable that he was a foreign shinobi from Konoha, though perhaps his age would make his title unbelievable unless he actually showed the boy his promotion scroll; he didn't feel like making a big fuss trying to justify himself though. Hopefully, this crying kid would reveal his name and some more details about himself so that the young sannin could get things sorted out and help him out.

WC: 1459

Kashizudoto was such a long name and wasn't Sarutobi a clan whose name he may have heard before as the small boy looked a bit dazed and clueless, not excitement or life in his eyes at the time. The guy said he was in good hands and that the man was one of the legendary sannin of the hidden leaf village as he wondered was he being kidnapped or saved as he was not sure with all the information flying around with rumors of wars and foreign bad policies that just had him lost in thoughts unable to organise them and realise the situation that within his own mind had to revise.

The man requested the small boy for his identity as he was still a bit fuzzy as he had a name, but it seemed to escape him for now whether this was intentional or not was unclear as the lightning may have fried a few brain cells. He was asked who he was and why he was here in the thunder grounds as the boy began trying to piece together his memories. He was told he was moping about, as he began to wonder if he was moping as he began to mope in order to cope with the fact that he may have moped.

"I am ..." as he had a look of shock on his face as he only noticed it in that moment that he had forgotten his name, he had a name but it was hiding itself from him as he looked like he was no longer in a mood to cry but trapped within a fear known as confusion. "I forgot... and all I know is home is somewhere here" as he looked a bit dazed before hugging the man for no reason other than not knowing anyone else at the moment as their were faint images of women that seemed to be deep within the past and a man that stood above all of them with dark skin and epic dreadlocks as his mind was still putting everything back together again.

Words 995 + 349 = 1344

"I am ..." the little boy spoke, finally having opened his eyes and looking quite a bit dazed as he mumbled, "I forgot... and all I know is home is somewhere here." Again, the boy started crying and hugged the young sannin, which wasn't all that surprising this time, though a little disturbing. What could he do? Was this a lost child? An orphan? Kashizudoto honestly had no fucking clue.

"I dunno what to tell ya," the young sannin would speak to the boy, "How about I get you to a hospital so they can check up on you, alright?" He would then grab the boy and pick him up, resting him upon his shoulders with ease, his hawk flying off of his right shoulder to allow room for the kid.

"Hawky," he would command, "Go find the nearest hospital from the skies. Once you do, seek us out through scent and lead us there. Since we can't see from the skies, we'll probably be wandering around aimlessly, but we might find something, I guess." The hawk would then take off, and Kashizudoto would soon start walking off with the boy on his shoulders.

"So..." he would ask of the kid, "What do you remember anyway? I just found you moping out in a rather dangerous place, so I got you out of there as fast as I could. Take your time to think, I know it must be tough for you to recall everything." Hopefully he could at least recall something valuable about himself so that the young sannin could return him back to wherever his home was in one piece.

WC: 1733

The sannin man told him he had no idea what to say as the boy had a worry in his eyes, but before the boy could go deeper into his crying fit he was told about going to the hospital as the boy looked a bit calmer now. Though part of the look made it seem like the boy doubted him, or perhaps it was just the look of being too tired from crying to understand what was going on anymore.

The boy felt a lot better as he felt so much better being high up as he looked down at the world as the boy seemed to enjoy heights and with all things considered the thunder grounds was an area that was rather high up, even though it could never compare to the sky bar or the sky forge let alone the peek of the mountains themselves. The boy had only noticed the hawk now as he reached out nearly grabbing hold, though his movements were a bit fast had the boy noticed the hawk sooner he may have caught a few feathers.

The hawk was called hawky as he giggled softly at the name and was starting to feel a bit better, as the hawk took off and the idea of a hawk finding a scent made him curious as he was thinking of asking about that. A few people looked at the strange duo as some thought it was father and child while others thought it was a guy with his little brother. The guy asked him what he remembered as he began to think about it as he looked down before resting himself more putting extra weight on top of the man.

"I remember wanting to fly" as he seemed happy to be so high up, then he thought a bit as his mood began to drop suddenly. "who are you?" as it had slipped him for a moment as he thought for a bit having maybe hurt himself even more then first realised. "where are we?" as they situation seemed to shift from bad to worse as the boy seemed to only really be reacting on emotional memory and not having tangible memories at the time, if only the sannin knew how deep the situation really was.

Words 1344 + 382 = 1726

"I remember wanting to fly," the little boy recalled as he sat on Kashizudoto's shoulders before asking, "Who are you? Where are we?" So... It looked like his memory was a bit short right now? The boy looked a little dazed; perhaps he had been orphaned or had experienced an even worse trauma. Maybe he'd witnessed the bloated distraction forces that Kiri had sent into the Land of Lightning, now in an afraid state that rendered him practically helpless. Whatever it was, it was a sorry state, and Kashizudoto needed to get him to the hospital.

"As I said before, my name's Kashizudoto Sarutobi, and truth be told, I have little idea about where we are right now, as I'm not from the Land of Lightning. However, my hawk and I are working to locate a hospital so we can drop you off there safely," he would remind the little boy before adding, "You wanted to fly, eh? Perhaps my hawk could take you around for a spin if you want. Hawky's able to handle my weight; I'm sure he could fly someone your size around with no issues." If he could do a little thing to make this kid happy, he certainly would. After all, a hospital could only do so much for a mentally sick child. Positive human contact was something that the kid would probably need.

"So as we walk," he would tell the boy if/after he said his piece, "How about we make a story together? I'll start off with nine words, and you add nine more. We'll take turns doing that until we find somewhere for you, ok?" But this game wasn't just for the heck of it. He was trying to see whether making a story would jolt back the kid's memory; perhaps the little boy would leave clues in whatever elements he added to the story...

"There was once a kid who was moping because..." And from there, hopefully the kid would continue; maybe in these details that the little boy was forging for the kid in the story, he would be able to recall details from his life. It was a long shot, but he was bored anyway, so he decided this would be the most efficient use of their time.

WC: 2122

The guy said that he told him before that he was Sarutobi Kashizudoto and that the truth was that he had little to no idea where they were as he thought to himself that they were lost. The man told the small boy that this was the land of lightning and that his hawk were working real hard to find a hospital to drop him off safely as he spoke about the wanting to fly to him as he remembered as he got some excited look in his eyes now.

The huge hawk could fly around with him and then he would be free to fly, as he was so overjoyed and excited as he began swaying a bit on top of the man's shoulders. Had he been heavier or bigger this may have been a fairly good nuisance, but he was fortunately not too heavy and for the most part seemed to be a bit underweight. He then heard the guy say that as they walk they could make a story together as he began to wonder if life was like a box of books or a story from a fairy tale as his mind was drifting off again.

The rule about nine words made things a bit hard so he would have to count the words before following up which seemed a bit difficult, but the boy figured the challenge might be fun. The guy said there was once a kid who was moping and then he followed up with. "...everyone left him all alone with no one else..." as he was actually saying the truth without realising it at the time. He was all alone now that all the girls who were his friends left and his family were gone as well. The boy then waited not sure if he did it right as he began counting the words again on his small fingers as he seemed to settle down and was being kept preoccupied for now.

Words 1726 + 331 = 2057

OOC: Sorry for the short post. Didn't have much to write about.

"...everyone left him all alone with no one else," the little boy continued where Kashi left off after a pause, probably recalling his own memories and counting his words to make sure they added up to nine. This was most likely something from his own life, a sad thought; he was probably orphaned and left behind by his friends. Yet, Kashizudoto needed to dig even deeper than just the surface level that he'd found here. Considering that the boy had already revealed something that was likely an aspect of his own life, Kashizudoto would determine that the best thing to do would be to start with leadups and allow the little boy to finish his sentence with appropriate information.

"The little boy, who was abandoned, was raised by..." he would speak, allowing the boy to hopefully recall who or what he was raised by, if anyone raised him at all. Perhaps he could find this kid's home if he had one... This "story telling game" had been successful so far.

WC: 2293

The next sentence said the little boy was raised by someone and he began counting the words slowly again as he accidentally hit Kashi with his elbow. Then after confirming the nine words in his head he continued from where it left off with the reply of, "a bunch of weird monks who disappeared into the..." as he paused as he started counting, it seemed the nine words made him fall short of saying where the monks disappeared to and also left Kashi with a need to fill in the blank at the end of that sentence. The small boy was troubled and if the sentence got broken it might mean the end of the game as it was all left to Kashi to save the game.

The boy had been raised by strange monks, but there was more to the story since the monks were gone where did he stay and who looked after him all this time. Even the other information about him was shrouded in mystery at this point and only time would tell if anyone would come to understand this situation. Meanwhile some old ladies were commenting on how cute the small boy looked on the shoulders of what they considered to be a handsome man, though the small boy just made it look even better to the bored old ladies as the boy stayed a bit more calm though began swinging his legs a bit showing that he was a bit restless at the time

Words 2057 + 250 = 2307

"- a bunch of weird monks who disappeared into the..." the little boy continued in this "story-telling" game as Kashi would spot his hawk far off in the skies, on its way back. It had probably found a place for Kashi to drop off this kid. After all, he wasn't too good with small children, considering he wasn't too much older himself. Still, in a big brother kind of way, he wanted to help this kid in whatever way he could. The nine words was a restrictive requirement that left Kashi with a large blank to fill that he couldn't quite accurately do without screwing up the "game" of extracting information about this child.

"- really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really -" Kashi would add on, the cheap way to allow the little boy to continue his sentence by the use of a ton of filler words. He would allow his hawk to descend from the skies and land upon his shoulder.

"Hawky, show us the way," he would command before the hawk would begin to fly in the air and lead the two towards the destination that Hawky had found. Along the journey, Kashi would allow the boy to give his nine words and continue the story, while he himself would just add a ton of filler words during his turn. Like so, if the boy continued playing the game with him, Kashi would extract the boy's story in nine words fragments until they would reach the hospital, where Kashi would drop him off, telling whatever he had grasped of the little boy's story to those who were supposed to take care of him. With that, he would make his way off with his hawk on his shoulder. It wasn't as if he were in a rush or anything, but he did need to get going at some point.

Waving back to the kid who would be with the hospital staff, he would trek through the dirt until the hospital and the kid were out of sight. The only thing he could look at now was what was in front of him, and that was his path home. He was done in Kumogakure, done in the Land of Lightning, finished with his job here. Now he and Hawky had to make their way back to the Land of Fire. He could only hope that the kid was safe and sound over at the hospital, but there was no turning back now.

He remembered the grime on the walls of the hospital, the dirt and refuse all over the crowded streets of the village where the hospital was located. Poverty was rampant in this area and in others around these parts of the Land of Lightning. For better or worse, Kashi determined that leaving the boy in an area close to where he was found would be helpful, even if this area was impoverished. Yet even he couldn't help but worry as he trodded along his way to a port. Even the bird was fidgeting a lot on his shoulder, as if Hawky had sensed the little boy's plight and felt anxious about it himself.

At the port town, he would book an appointment to board a ship heading for the Land of Fire the next day. He would walk through, exploring the nice little town, until he spotted a little kid who had an uncanny resemblance to the one who he had left behind in the hospital. "Everyone left him all alone," he recalled from the little boy's story, and Kashi, even though he brought him to a hospital, was no exception. He, too, had to move on with his own life.

WC: 2916

[Exit]

Senjutsu: B -> A: 1466/8000
Senjutsu: A -> S: 1450/8100