[OOC: Here I pretend that Reika was already killed]
Ayane was sitting at the table, trying not to be sad of what happened. Reika, his adopted mother was....dead. It was the second time that he lost his mother and it was getting worse. Ayane couldn't eat his daily Milk and Cereal, it was like he lost everything he had. His rap was....very bad. It wasn't even close to what he was doing before this happened. His eyes were dropping tears every second. He couldn't go to her funeral, he had to become more powerful. His target was Tame, the Rogue Ninja that attacked the Raikage. No time to waste now, Ayane was packing his things. He couldn't get better if he was to remain in this crappy village. He didn't have any friends nor any foes, so it was easy for him to leave. Everyone was busy with her funeral so it wasn't possible that someone might notice that he disappeared.

He took all his stuff and he packed them in a bag. It was perfect now. He wasn't bound to this village anymore, so he could leave without dropping some tears or without having someone to chase and hunt him. Ayane was more than free now and he wanted to prove it by getting along with the Nuke-Nin life. It was going to be a hard life, but It's for Reika's sake. He got to the Kumogakure's gates. He was ready to leave this village once and forever. With big and powerful leaps, he was traveling very fast, getting further and further away for the place that he used to call....home.

Word Count:

Travelling to Kumogakure no Sato. Why was she doing this again? Oh. Right. Moving the kids there under Sanosuke’s care. This… would prove to be interesting. She was out running around the world to keep them safe, hiding her identity. But once they moved to Kumo… well, she didn’t need to do that anymore. But she had a newfound duty to herself and to the shinobi world. She wanted and needed to keep fighting. The kids… would unfortunately get in her way at this point in time. This by no means meant that she wouldn’t visit them, but at this point in her life, building herself up again in Kumo wasn’t her goal. And if the kids wanted to come along… well, they would just have to use that as an incentive to get stronger. But now, she needed to scout the area quickly, find them a new house and then be back on her merry way to Kirigakure. She might as well pay her respects to Reika as well, seeing as the two had been close friends years ago. Or at least, that was the initial plan. She wanted to get back to the Hidden Mist as quickly as possible, what with the whole Seven Bells fiasco going on.

The former Kazekage now found herself running from tree to tree in the woods, keeping a keen eye on her surroundings just in case. She was approaching the gates to Kumogakure now. It was at that point that she saw a blonde haired boy leaving the village. Quite strange… Hm… Gin looked at him from a distance. Judging from his speed, he must have been of a low or medium rank. Maybe a Chuunin or a Special Jounin. But neither of those ranks often did missions on their own, much less with a killer on the loose who had just taken down their leader. That wasn’t the time to send people off on missions at all, much less someone of that rank. And to add to the matter, with the Kage gone, no one should have been allowed to leave the village for leisurely purposes.

This boy was defecting.

That was the only logical conclusion that Gin came to. She smirked beneath her mask. Maybe it was because of a whim that she would interfere. Or maybe it was because some sort of higher power led her to believe that it was the right choice. It was funny how small decisions like that tended to change her life almost entirely. She would go to Kumogakure some other time. Maybe this was the real reason why she led herself to that place. Who would ever know? The only thing that Gin knew was that she was now standing directly in front of the boy’s intended path. “Defecting from Kumogakure no Sato, are we?” She asked bluntly, without pretenses or without beating around the bush. She expected that the boy would stop dead in his tracks and leap from the trees to confront her on the ground. If not, Gin would chase him and catch up to him rather quickly. The results would be the same, really.

[Word Count: 525/500]

“Now what does this boy think he is doing?” Bokuden thought to himself as he found himself shadowing Ayane, the adopted son of the recently deceased Raikage, “When you are known to be close to the Raikage and she is murdered, it becomes rather suspicious when you are absent from all memorial processions.” Through the city and out of the gates he followed the boy from the shadows, wanting to investigate the situation before taking action. It was not difficult to make an educated guess as to what he was doing, however.

He had not been assigned a mission. That much Bokuden could be certain of. As far as he knew, Ayane had also not been given permission to leave the village for any leisurely travel. No one had in fact. Given the instability in the shinobi world at the moment, saying that the events with Reika had put the village on edge would be an understatement. With the memorial services for the previous Raikage still going on, the daimyo and the village’s jounin still had yet to elect a successor. With Kumogakure’s leader murdered and war outside of their borders, everything in the village had come to something of a stand still.

Sympathizing with Ayane’s loss, Bokuden was secretly hoping the boy would turn around on his own before Bokuden himself had to get involved. But the further from the village gates they travelled, the less likely that scenario became. It would not be long however, before a third party entered the picture. A masked woman, he surmised by the shape of the person’s figure from the distance. He would need to get closer if he wanted to get a better position to gather information though. After all, entry to the village was being monitored just as closely as those exiting at this point.

“Defecting from Kumogakure no Sato, are we?” she asked of Ayane, immediately grabbing Bokuden’s attention. And how could it not? That was quite the bold way to greet anyone, let alone a complete stranger. A dangerous way as well. The situation had now become more serious than just shadowing Ayane. He had no idea who this person was, but he didn’t need her giving him any ideas or nudging him in a way that would make Bokuden’s intentions of bringing him back to the village more difficult. It was time for him to act.

“Now, I wouldn’t say all that,” Bokuden would announce, emerging from the shadows of a nearby tree branch, “He’s just going out for a walk. He’s been going through a lot, you know. Sometimes all one needs to do is clear their head. I believe that most unfortunate situations could be avoided if all parties involved just took a moment to calm down and think about the consequences of their actions. Don’t you agree… Ayane?”

---

485~

Ayane was surprised to see somebody that would actually ask him that. As far as he or she was looking at Ayane, it seemed like an offer was waiting for him. “Defecting from Kumogakure no Sato, are we?” There wasn't even the slightest hesitation move in those words. Ayane was truly defecting, it was nothing that could've stopped him now, that he made his decision but, it still is easy to defeat a Chuunin, right? The Fire style was his weakness, so if that mysterious shinobi or kunoichi had such an ability, it would've been over. The water style was also one of his weaknesses, since his papers would've got all wet and heavy, making it easier to defeat Ayane. But still, he had the Lightning style to counter the water style to the Fire Style to counter its equal. "You need to fight fire with fire", right? So he was thinking. Maybe he/she came after him, either to kill him (because of his history) or because he intended to defect from this village. One thing was for sure, Ayane had to do a move.

He was almost at the point where he could've attacked recklessly. Seeing how neither him or the enemy was saying anything, Ayane was preparing his hand-seals when he heard a familiar voice. It was Bokuden's voice! He appeared from the shadows of the field and he responded to the question that was originally given to Ayane. “Now, I wouldn’t say all that, he’s just going out for a walk. He’s been going through a lot, you know. Sometimes all one needs to do is clear their head. I believe that most unfortunate situations could be avoided if all parties involved just took a moment to calm down and think about the consequences of their actions. Don’t you agree… Ayane?” Those were some powerful words that were clearly giving Ayane Reika's true will. The thing was that Ayane wanted revenge, something that couldn't be obtained here, in this crappy village. Bokuden's words were full of superiority, almost convincing Ayane to come back home and to lock this idea of defecting forever.

Ayane suddenly replied: "Bokuden, I totally respect you, but this is a decision that I want to take! Since Reika is dead and you are the most qualified ninja left in this village, it is clear that you'll become the next Raikage! So, I won't come back because I have nothing to do there anymore, but to suffer and bathe in my own sadness! My answer to your question is no, Bokuden, I don't agree with you!" Ayane was almost sure that Bokuden will use force if the words are not enough, so he was prepared to fight both him and the mysterious ninja, even if he was to die.

Word Count:

Dammit all, she should have realized that she would run into someone scouting the perimeter before she went and spoke to the boy. She was getting sloppy, or so it seemed. Then again, Gin Kuroka had never really been one for stealth. Hell, to be honest, she was terrible at it, or at least as terrible as a shinobi of her rank could be. She had obviously managed to catch the younger boy by surprise but this man... This would be much more difficult, yes. But at the same time, it would be incredibly entertaining to fight him. He stood tall, silver hair much like her original color combed back in a neat way that seemed to tie his outfit together quite nicely. The stern look on his face along with his physical impression spoke volumes of someone disciplined and unwavering. He wouldn't let them go without a fight, even if he were outmatched 10 Kage to one. Or at least that was the former Kazekage's impression.

Of course the kid beside her spoke up before she could. She listened to him. What a strong conviction he had. And was it revenge for Reika's death that he wanted? Interesting. The interaction between the two made it evident that they had met before. Furthermore this man was to become Raikage in Reika's stead. Escaping him on his own would be nearly impossible for the nameless boy that now stood a few feet behind her. She looked at the kid for a brief moment, her eyes filled with empathy and sorrow, but lacking the pity that people in his situation usually got. Pity was an insult, a fool's empathy in Gin's view. She immediately looked to the man in front of her. Bokuden, was it?

Gin let out a scoff and looked at the silver haired man. As a precaution, she activated the sharingan that lay under the see through eyepatch that covered the prosthetic eye. A seamless move that would aid her should the man go for a preemptive attack. "You heard the boy. He wants to leave Kumo. Let him go and be at peace with himself," Maybe when she was younger and more Naive, Gin would have understood Bokuden and advocated for the kid's return to Kumogakure. But too much had changed since then. Gin had realized that the law's inflexibility made it inherently immoral in cases like this one. Maybe that was the reason why she decided to stand by the kid instead. That and the thought of a good challenge.

But nevertheless, she would rather avoid a conflict like this one for the time being, lest she have to find somewhere else for her children to move. What a drag. "Should you decide to pursue him, you'll have to fight me, and is it really worth the trouble?" She asked, standing nonchalantly and scratching the back of her head as if to show that she would rather avoid this ordeal if they could. "And you'll help me out, right, kid?"

Remaining Chakra: 345/355:

"You heard the boy. He wants to leave Kumo. Let him go and be at peace with himself, Should you decide to pursue him, you'll have to fight me, and is it really worth the trouble? And you'll help me out, right, kid?" It seemed like the mysterious woman was on his side. It also seemed like she wasn't going to stop him from defecting, but she was going to help him escape. Who was she? What were her reasons for doing such a thing? He had no clue, but still, he was trusting her. Ayane had no idea about who she was but he was happy to have someone that was supporting him. Even though he didn't know her abilities yet, Ayane wasn't too confident about this next fight. He was going to face the legendary Bokuden, of the Hidden Cloud Village. He was feared because he was the only person alive that had the Black Lightning. The lightning itself wasn't the reason everyone was so scared of him, the idea of fighting an element that didn't had very clear abilities was creeping everyone out.


Ayane was now going to respond to the mysterious ninja with some rhymes. He prepared his voice for a few seconds and then he started rapping:

"If you know I'm defecting
Why would you ask me things like this?
Just pay attention sis
Because he will get both of us dismissed!"

Then he turned his head to Bokuden. “So that’s it?” Bokuden answered to Ayane, throwing a cold glare his way and pretending the woman didn’t even exist, “You’ve experienced a loss, so your answer is to throw everything away? You pretend that you cared about Reika, but you would just as soon forsake everything she stood for and cared about in order to sate your own selfish desires. What does my candidacy for the seat of kage have to do with any of this? Did you think that the village’s jounin would elect a child just because he was the adopted son of the raikage? You’re behaving like a petulant brat and if you weren’t so blinded by your own self-pity you would see the error of your ways. You are not the only one hurting after Reika’s passing. This is a wound that the entire village bears, regardless of your own personal relationship with her. But you would rather abandon those people that your mother dedicated her life to protecting than helping them through their grief. This is not a request. You WILL be coming back to the village, one way or another.” With the same type of voice, Ayane simply gave him a Rhyme song:

"Bokuden, you are full of yourself
How did that ninja get inside?
Has the mighty Bokuden tried
To protect the village with his pride?"

One way or another, Ayane was going to get out of this village. He knew that only with his clan's basic technique he would have a chance against Bokuden. Suddenly, from his body, some sheets of paper started to slip away. The sheets of paper were levitating around him, as his body was an incomplete paper form of a human. Here and there, there were some small holes that should've clearly been filled in with the papers that were flying around. Without even moving, Ayane made a Fuma Shuriken from paper and he launched it at Bokuden. Ayane wasn't sure if that was going to hit him but this attack was more of a false one. Ayane had his best jutsu activated now, so it wasn't going to be THAT bad after all. He was still a chunin, it was true but, he wasn't a normal genin. His mom died twice and he had far more hatred that Bokuden would ever have. He didn't understand in which situation Ayane was it. He wanted just to get his revenge on his killed. He wanted just to be....loved.

Word Count:

120/150:

Oh and the kid was a rapper… well, this would be interesting, more so if she was actually going to take responsibility of him. Well, that would be something to decide later. The exchange between the two made one thing clear above all else: a fight was impossible to avoid. If that was the case, then so be it. Gin would fight so that this kid would get his chance. This was Reika’s kid… Funny how that worked. This world was small indeed. Really, what were the odds that this would be the one person she ran into? Well, if a former Kage saw something in him, then this kid must have been something special, one way or another. Gin placed her hand on Soul Cutter’s hilt.

If this man, this Bokuden, had the audacity to ignore her, she would take advantage of that. There was no turning back now. With the sharingan activated beneath her see-through eye patch, she would be able to see the man’s actions far more clearly. She couldn’t gauge his exact speed and strength, but for now, she would work with the assumption that they were both on the same level. Though she didn’t know this at the time, she was faster than he was. As Ayane turned himself into several different sheets of paper, Gin rushed at Bokuden. She was cautious, looking at his every move just in case she found it best to dodge in place of continuing her attack. Of course, she was also attentive to the boy’s jutsu as well as what he was doing. The kid would likely have trouble following the fight between Bokuden and Gin should the two use their speed and strength without holding back.

Gin knew virtually nothing about this man except for an estimate of his rank, but he knew even less about the woman covered in bandages that would by now be in front of him. She had drawn Soul Cutter from its sheath in its incorporeal form as she began running. She held it in her left hand and now aimed to slash the man multiple times: Twice diagonally across the chest, one running straight down each shoulder and three horizontal slashes across his torso. Curiously enough, none of the slashes would draw blood not would they cause any pain. Quite the contrary. It was likely that he wouldn’t even feel them as they came into contact with his skin. After all, the sword hadn't been seen in action in several decades, save for the select few times that Gin had chosen to use it against certain enemies, none of which lived to tell of the sword's exact abilities, save for the Mizukage, of course.

But Gin, being the overly cautious person that she was wouldn’t leave herself unprotected at a close range by wielding only Soul Cutter in a form that was unable to block any form of chakra or pure melee attack. So as she aimed the first diagonal slice towards the chest, Gin concentrated a heavy stream of chakra in her right hand. Yajirushi appeared in her previously empty palm in all of its glory. She would use Yajirushi to follow up on the attacks performed by the other blade, now attacking simultaneously with both weapons: one that would damage his physical body and the other one that would slice his chakra pathways and leave them inaccessible for the duration of the fight.

All the while, Gin would be overly cautious. The sharingan and her natural abilities in speed and timing would help her react to whatever the other man chose to attack her with, even at such a close range.

Chakra: 300/355:

She could see it in his eyes: overconfidence. Good, she preferred being underestimated. It gave her an advantage, making her opponent react far more slowly to the hidden tricks and abilities that she always kept up her sleeve. Furthermore, it was that look on his face that told her that he knew little about the blades that she wielded. Even better for her. Soul Cutter, with its versatile abilities and deadly nature was still a weapon that – despite its legendary nature – was unknown to most. Gin had done a good job at keeping it that way over the years. She supposed that deserved a drink later, of course, if she managed to get out of this in one piece. She knew better than to underestimate her opponents. Throwing caution to the wind was the worst she could do.

And what an idiot he really was to underestimate her. He had decided to be so cocky as to react to the fuuma shuriken first. More so when Ayane stood two meters and slightly to the left behind her, with Bokuden about eight meters away from Gin herself. How could someone decide to react to the throwing weapon of a mere chuunin rather than the charge of a woman who's speed matched that of a Kage? The shuriken lagged behind her, its speed being only a fraction of Gin's. The woman was next to him even before he managed to parry and send the paper weapon flying back towards Ayane. Her attack hit. She felt her sword slicing through his chest, the SS rank blade bypassing his armor as if it were nothing at all. She repeated the routine multiple times, severing his chakra completely from his body, destroying the network altogether. All this, of course, linked to the strikes from Yajirushi: a physical blade of the sharpest kind. It tore what little armor he had to shreds. Not only that, but his muscles, his limbs, his torso, all cut down to pieces.

So with her sharingan activated, she could see what was happening around her as clearly as possible. The slight movements of Bokuden’s arms and shoulders, the twitches in his muscles and his current posture all gave her enough to work with, enough to have a clear idea as to what kind of tremendous pain he was going through. She was at point blank range now, thanks to her superior speed. As she was about to slice him using both Yajirushi and Soul Cutter, she noticed another set of movements – the slight turn of his wrists, she shifting angle of his blade. He was going to sheath his sword before his arm fell to the ground with a loud thud. There must have been a reason for that, one that Gin wasn’t willing to find out. Being as close as she was to him, she had the advantage. There was no such thing as overkill, in her experience.  

The fact that he was sheathing his sword made it so that drawing his blade once again to fend off Gin’s attacks would delay him - not that he could, seeing as he would no longer had an arm. The former Kazekage stood in front of him, only inches apart. Should she decide to dodge the attack, she could likely get out of its range. Worst case scenario, she estimated the range would be 10 meters, and that was if some sort of god-given miracle put his pieces back together before Gin, at such a close range, was able to counterattack. That time left her a decent window of opportunity to act before he actually managed to release the stream of chakra that he was now likely concentrating into the attack.

Yajirushi had already been moving through the air at this point. Gin decided she might as well use that to her advantage. She solidified the projectiles that Yajirushi could make from its afterimage. The new chakra-made projectile could move at an astounding speed and was able to pierce through almost anything. Assuming that Bokuden had some sort of hidden armor underneath his clothing, still standing despite his irredeemably damaged torso, he would still receive a decent amount of damage from the projectile that was now aimed at his heart. While creating the new projectile, Gin was finishing the initial movement of her sword: a last cut across his torso.

Bokuden would now have limited options, assuming that he was still miraculously able to move: He could dodge Gin’s onslaught and avoid both losing an arm and being impaled, but at the same time stop his jutsu or at least move it out of Gin’s range. He could continue with the jutsu, in which case, if Gin saw his arm somehow continuing the movement, she would leap back eight meters and get out of its range. Following that, Gin would take advantage of the brief opening right after he finished casting his jutsu, that is, if he somehow managed to dodge the projectile at point-blank range. Concentrating chakra in her mouth at that very instant, releasing a great flame in the shape of a dragon that would head towards Bokuden, once again aiming for his chest in order to set him on fire and cause severe burns around the affected area.

Of course, there was the other option: Bokuden could dodge the projectile that Gin sent after him. Though she couldn't see how, seeing as he now had no legs. It was more so of a long shot, seeing as the projectile had been launched at him at only inches away. Gin would abstain from launching the Fire Style: Great Dragon Flame jutsu in that case, preferring to go for something else. The projectile would still follow Bokuden and would still aim at his chest. Gin could control it with the simple power of thought. And seeing as the Sharingnan gave her superb reaction timing, she would be able to know where to send it effectively. Of course, if Bokuden decided to move, Gin would be able to tell by the tension in his muscles. In that case, she would stay in place and instantly prepare another wave of jutsu. He would be distracted by the projectile, considering that avoiding it took a great deal of speed.

It was the perfect moment for Gin to prepare another technique – Heaven Style: Holy Seven. Its rapid nature was a perfect way to deal with this man. After his jutsu dissipated, assuming that he went through with it, Gin would close the distance between them in a very short time, running at her top speed. If he didn’t use it, she would pursue him instantly in the same fashion. She would initiate the jutsu once she was close enough to him that her blades could touch his skin. Gin would use both Soul Cutter and Yajirushi for this attack. Two strikes with Soul Cutter would be aimed at his torso, in order to cut through the main source of his chakra pathways. With Yajirushi, she would aim to slice the tendons and bones in both of his arms, particularly those in his shoulders so that he would be unable to lift them anymore. Two more strikes with the same blade were aimed at disabling his legs, cutting through the tendons and bones in his knees to make him collapse under his own weight. The final strike would once again be with Soul Cutter and it would be aimed at slicing diagonally across his entire torso, from shoulder to hip.

All the while, her sharingan would be active, allowing her to notice any attempt at a counterattack. That way, Gin would be able to dodge his movements effectively.

But there was no way that he could survive. In the aftermath of the ANBU's mutilated, burnt and severed body, Gin would grab the Chuunin as quickly as possible and reach Kirigakure's border, closing the short distance left between them and their final leap to safety.

Chakra:

This topic has been Voided. You still keep all Ryo you gained from posting, though.