Morning had crested over the desolate landscapes that was Tsuchi no Kuni. The new day's sun brought with it the familiar frigid temperatures that had set in over the mountainous country side, per the usual on the cold December day. Something had possessed him to leave the hotel early in the morning to beat the hustle and bustle of sunrise, but now that he was standing out amidst the gelid frigidity, any semblance of memory as to what that reason was had long since departed. His slate tinged gaze had settled on the distant as it shone just beyond the mountains far off in the distance, illuminating both the earthy country and the vibrantly coloured sky in a heavenly orange glow. Perhaps it was absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous to some, but for others...

"...s'place sucks." His disdainfully muttered words escaped with a frustrated tone as he let his eyes fall earthward. From his pocket he retrieved a new looking rectangular package, which he held with a firm gloved grasp. The seal was broken and the package was opened, and from the package a single thin stick was retrieved. Placed betwixt his index and middle fingers, he lifted the end to his mouth and exhaled. Amidst the smoke of his warm breath, a bright wisp of red flames caught the end of the smoke and lit it ablaze. The scent of burning tobacco quickly filled the fresh mountain air as the stick was placed in the corner of his mouth. Plumes of white smoke left his mouth as he inhaled and exhaled, reveling in the sensation of his lungs filling with the nauseating smog. It was about as close as he could get to filling his lungs with fire without... well, actually exhausting himself to do so. Iwagakure was unfamiliar and well nigh hostile territory, so being any less prepared for a fight was bound to have an adverse effect on his well being.
He couldn't wait to return home. Truly he couldn't. Even if Hi no Kuni's temperatures had fallen in the cold season just as Tsuchi no Kuni's had, there was still the unmistakable warmth of being in a familiar place that made it so much more bearable. Everything about the Earth Country made him so uncomfortable that it was a near constant effort to suppress the shivers that wanted to run down his spine. Takao inhaled to take a long drag from the cigarette as his gloved hand reached up and tugged at the white scarf around his neck.

As he wandered the mostly empty streets of the village hidden in the stones, he found his mind wandering. Perhaps it was only a result of his personal bias for his village of origin, but everything seemed so bleak and uninteresting when he compared. Some buildings and shops were open to the public, yet none of them seemed particularly interesting to him. He passed a restaurant, then a book store, a public library after that... At some point after what felt like a lifetime of wandering, he found himself standing before a large lake. His gaze had settled upon a building in the center, connected to the mainland by a single bridge. The destructive voice in his head told him how easy it would be to destroy the bridge and strand the civilians on the other side, but the voice of reason inquired as to what he would gain from doing that. A constant battle raged in his head, with one devil telling him to blow this up, or attack this person, or to do something generally destructive, and the other constantly trying to reason with him. He truly feared the day when the former won.

"Guess that's what those uniforms from earlier were about." He said in his dull monotone, caring very little for whomever heard him. He briefly recalled the small group of school children that had apparently found something amusing about his appearance as he entered the administration building. The voice in his head had told him, yet again, to simply reduce their mocking smiles and annoying laughter into ash, but the desire was suppressed by reason. Probably wouldn't be good to cause an international issue whilst visiting the country that was foreign to him for a favour. There was a very valid reason that his rational thinking won more than his destructive urges.

He took another drag from the cigarette and let the remaining butt fall to the ground. The sole of his boot crushed the paper into the stone pathway and he continued on his way.

"I wonder if there's someplace around here that's got a decent meal..?"

Word Count:	[774]
Total Word Count:	[774]

Suutei stood in the middle of the shifting masses of the busy streets of the posh district of Iwagakure, but he had to admit this was the least active area of the village.  In fact it was the most heavily guarded being patrolled by many top rank shinobi.  Suutei wanted to think of himself this way, but he was in fact a low class shinobi.  He was very mannerable and respectable like many of the nobles he protected, but in their eyes he was nothing.  Just muscle for hire so they can talk there big fancy talk without any regard for consequence.  Suutei disregarded such ignorance as he finally met up with his contact a rich noble of the village in need of a baggage monkey.  Sometimes being a shinobi wasn't all killing and dangerous recon missions sometimes people like this poor slob were in need too.  Though they requested shinobi for the wrong needs, shinobi have an obligation to help all citizens of their village.

This particular person was the worst of the bunch; he was one of the most wealthy nobles and bestfriends with the Daimyo in the Land of Fire.  Aiden Kintaro a man who's family own most of the gold mining industry hell their family name meant gold.  Only to be expected of course, but Suutei left Konoha for stingy pigs like him.  He approached the small caravan that Aiden brought in and bowed to him as he stepped out of his carriage.  It took almost all of his strength not to set this man and his entire caravan ablaze, but he watched a group of kids running past.  A kid yelled out 'HEADS UP' and Aiden took a blue dodgeball right to the face falling over into the ground in a daze.  The kids soon appeared looking for the ball, but they too shared no concern for the status of the man they harmed.  Even if he did deserve it and he regained conscious shortly after with his face bloodshot red as he shouted at the children.

"Lord Aiden that's enough they are only children give them a break they didn't mean it."

"You are the help and I don't take orders from the help boy!  Now do something about these children or I'll report you to your kage as insubordinate."

Suutei gave the children their ball and sent them on their way and turned to Aiden, and knew he was beyond pissed.  The man was insane as he announced allowed to the general public that there would be a reward for anyone who could beat me down to my knees.  Suutei laughed as the man yelled aloud thinking that nobody in there right mind would challenge him, and even if they did it would be them who'd be brought to their knees.  But when he was done chuckling he was surprised at how hoards of people began to circle around him, and he began to levitate they all charged him and with a boom he ascended above the pile up of people.  Floating above the pile up of others as if he were a god among men, and his eyes went ablaze and Aiden cowered back into his carriage.  Suutei looked around at the other citizens who ran in fear, but was taken by surprise when he was grounded by four other men.

"Oh we are going to enjoy pummeling you pretty boy."

A masculine male appeared and delivered a blow to Suutei's face and it caused him to spit blood.  It just goes to show no matter where you are, you can always expect trouble.  The local guards were nowhere to be found and Suutei found this rather odd in fact.  He struggled to break free but his head was forced downward into the man's knee.  His left eye became swollen shut and his vision blurry it wasn't like Suutei to be injured so easily.  Yet he'd never been taken down from the sky before, and this was becoming difficult.  Akira would surely hear word of this incident for sure due to the panic in the surrounding area.  Suutei held his head low as the man grabbed him by his hair roughly and took a knife and began to dig it into his forehead.  Suutei yelled in pain as the knife pierced through the skin, and spit out an ember into the man's eyes.

"Oh yeah I am going to make you pay for that kid!  Bring him along."

Word Count: 758
Total Word Count: 758

Well, wasn't this an interesting turn of events? By some strange chance, Takao's incessant and mindless wandering had brought him to one of the more wealthy districts of residential Iwagakure. The teen would be lying if he said that the buildings weren't nice, at least to some degree, but as with all things that were comparable, his preferences still laid with Konohagakure. His attention wasn't on the village of stone's architecture, but rather on the small commotion that had very quickly elevated to violence. He hadn't seen what transpired barely seconds before his arrival, and had only heard the proclamation of a reward to be given to whoever could "beat him down to his knees".

Normally, mindless violence did not interest Takao, even in the slightest. Even the inclusion of a reward, monetary or otherwise, did nothing to sway his interest. What did pique him was how the populace's newest quarry began floating in the air. Flight had been an ability unique to some of the earliest Tsuchikage, and was certainly not an ability in circulation as of modern times. His brief stint into the world of politics had afforded him the opportunity to learn of such foreign histories, even mundane and irrelevant factoids such as a nation's leader's interest in human aeronautics. But just how far would his interest take him? He really had no inclination to intervene solely for the purpose of receiving a reward... He certainly didn't care for crowds enough for him to receive some kind of enjoyment out of it either. So, really, there wasn't much motivating his actions aside from simple, morbid curiousity.

Grey eyes observed the fortune fueled furor with disinterest and severe contemplation. Something supernatural and well beyond his control was keeping him around, and had it not been, he surely would've wandered along.

Finally, after what felt like hours of mental back and forth but in reality had been less than a minute, he decided to act.

Takao's right arm grappled the knife wielding civilian's own extremity and wrapped around the limb at the elbow. He pulled the blade away and opened the man's defenses in the same swift motion by towing his arm aside, who was rightfully confused by the sudden force. Despite not being at his full strength, Takao had little issue with manhandling his unknown clansmen's assailant -- both physically and mentally. It almost brought a smile to his face as he listened to the subtle sounds of the man's shoulder joint crackling and crunching against its socket as a result of being bent in a rather uncomfortable way, but he wasn't done yet.

He inhaled deeply, flooding his lungs with oxygen that was to be mixed with chakra. All it took was a small spark within the confines of his lungs to light the chakra infused fumes aflame, and in the seconds that followed Takao was exhaling. Long wisps of bright fire escaped his lungs, cascading over the confused and unsuspecting man's face. At first, shock froze him in place. He was being burned alive, and that fact took a hot minute to register. When it finally did, screams of agony filled the air, bringing the gathered crowd to silence. All except for the sounds of crackling fire, drowned out by the man's screaming.

And then it stopped.

"That was a warning. Now," said Takao, white smoke bellowing from the corners of his mouth. "The boy and the reward are mine. I have absolutely no problem with burning anybody who says otherwise." The flames disappeared, as was the nature of fire without nourishing fuel. As they died away and faded into oblivion, the man Takao had been holding reappeared, seemingly completely fine, but unconscious. Takao released his hold and dropped the lifeless, yet still breathing body to the ground.

Dreary onyx eyes cast a wandering glance around the crowd. The slight frown he wore, which was just barely bordering on a scowl, was challenging somebody to step forward. He was daring them to stand up to him. But having shown enough skill with his own technique to not only use it without hand seals, but split it down the middle and spare his target's life simply for the sake of making a show of it and demonstrating that he wouldn't have any problems with doing it again.

"If you value your lives, start walking away. 'else I can't promise you all won't be burned alive in the process." His typical monotone carried an atypical yet clearly recognizable threatening undertone. It didn't appear as though he was kidding.

Word Count:	[760]
Total Word Count:	[1534]

Chakra 380/400:

Suutei was pulled onto his feet until a man appeared out of thin air almost, but this may have been due to him being completely oblivious to his surrounding.  To be brought down so easily was despicable on his part, and in front of so many people what an embarrassment.  The knife punctured through the skin on his forehead and caused the blood to trickle down the left side of his nose.  It felt really weird and he'd never actually bled from his head before; mainly due to the fact he'd never taken a blow to the head.  Suutei looked at the the two men behind him and knew the fourth was behind him because he was the one who held a grip of his hair, but he never got a glimpse of him.  This was rather unfortunate as the mysterious male grabbed the arm of his assailant, but the male was challenging his attackers for the reward.  He'd seen him take the arm of the knife wielder and twist it around the joint in an uncomfortable fashion.  Suutei winced at the sound of the cracking of the man's joints grinding against the socket, and it served him right.

Suutei saw his savior inhale and he could sense the chakra build up, and found it impressive he was capable of doing so without hand seals.  The only person he knew had the ability was himself, and watched as he expelled medium size wisps of scorching fire.  Spreading across his captors face he saw him fall backwards and scream cries of agonizing pain.  Suutei spit embers in the faces of his restrainers, and as they staggered backwards losing their grip the brute of the group tried to squeeze him from behind.  Suutei quickly struck the man in his lower abdomen, and the brute staggered shortly and charged again.  Striking him three times in his torso: the middle of the torso, his upper left pectoral, and the right shoulder.  The brute stumbled backwards and Suutei instantly vanished and reappeared high above.  Suutei lifted his leg upwards and connected with the top of the brutes head upon his descent.  Sending him into the ground just below his knees, but he knew he didn't kill the brute just wounded him enough to immobilize him.  Suutei took a stance ready to combat his sudden 'hero' in case he indeed planned on capturing for Aiden.

"I don't know who you are but I appreciate the help.  You must be a member of the Kimura clan because I don't know anyone who can use that technique, or utilize chakra without hand seals so effectively."

The wound from the knife started to burn and Suutei winced at the pain as he complained.  It still was embarassing that he was actually grounded by regular civilians.  He looked for the other two men that snagged him earlier but they were nowhere in sight.  The other Kimura must have scared them off after seeing their leader crying in agoizing pain, and seeing their giant taken down as if he was nothing.  It would be an upsetting shot at anyones confidence, but Suutei owed the assistance to this man.  Though he wondered what happened to Aiden did he end up running off like the man child he was.  Suutei looked around and the brute was struggling to push himself out of the ground, and it was kind of funny to see.

Aiden suddenly bursted from the carriage furious and Suutei honestly was getting sick of the pig.  With Aiden holding open the carriage door screaming at the unknown Kimura to bring Suutei to him.  Aiden beginning to rave and rant at Suutei practically monologuing him, about what it felt like to meet someone more powerful than him.  Though that was foolish to believe he was by far the strongest ever, and that was what displayed the man's ignorance.  There were numerous people in the world who were incredibly strong, and Suutei only dreamed of meeting these said people.  Growing tired of the man's ignorance he channeled his chakra to the palms of his hands, and clapped them together.  Thrusting both his palms forward sending Aiden back into his carriage and overturning it on it's side.  Aiden whining as loud as he possibly could was heard throughout the streets.  Suutei rolled his eyes at the nuisance that was Aiden, and proceeded to hold his conversation with the unknown Kimura.

"Sorry about that he just really annoys the hell out of me.  Anyway, if you are a Kimura that means you are from Konoha.  Haha it's pretty neat meeting another native from Konoha.  My name is Suutei and you are?"

Word Count: 787
Total Word Count: 1545

The white smoke that bellowed from the corners of Takao's mouth slowly faded away as he exhaled, and the soothing heat within his chest that came from the formation of fire died soon thereafter. The feeling of his body heat returning to normal levels aggravated him in an odd way, yet he didn't dwell on his irritations for long. His attention refocused, albeit not for very long, on the carriage. More specifically, he was staring at the man who yelled from within it, though his menacing gaze was cut short. A powerful burst of wind had tossed it onto its side; watching the shouting man fall and whine had almost brought a smile to his otherwise expressionless face. Hair and clothes were cause in the breeze, and settled down just as quickly.

'Yeesh..." Takao mumbled as he ran a hand over his face and through his hair. "What a shit show."

His onyx gaze settled back onto Suutei, the teenager whom he had 'rescued', if one could attribute his contribution as saving him. Surely somebody who had the means to fly on command as well as produce such destructive force from performing such a simple action as clapping his hands has never in any real danger - not from civilians, at least. The fact that he had been apparently bested to some degree piqued Takao's curiosity, as well as his suspicion. One of Takao's eyebrows quirked upward, though the rest of his face stayed more or less unchanged in expression.

"Plenty of people can." said Takao matter-of-factly. His eyes wandered away, breaking contact with Suutei and refocusing on the overturned carriage. The Kimura's ability wasn't widely known or broadly advertised; even as the Hokage, Takao managed to keep most of his skills and abilities hidden from the masses. However, he had known plenty of his family to have been spared the same kind of cautious nature, and plenty that would speak openly about it as well. If Suutei wasn't somebody who had witnessed the abilities first hand, then he would certainly have to be a blood relative of some capacity. "It's not a rare skill to have."

Further listening to Suutei nearly brought a grimace to his face. It had very quickly become apparent to Takao that the boy was indeed of the same blood, which meant that a blood relative of his had nearly been bested by the hands of civilians. He wanted to comment on the fact, but managed to curb his tongue by some miracle.

From what Takao could tell, his newly discovered relative had been on some mission of sorts. He hadn't taken notice of a headband being worn, nor had he seen anything that necessarily denoted village affiliation, but such an escort couldn't have been long distance. He was lead to believe that Suutei must have been performing mission duties in the village hidden in the stones, which had again piqued both his curiousity and his suspicion. He was just a ball of suspicious curiousity lately.

"You shouldn't attack your mission clients with such ease of mind." said Takao, his monotone not breaking despite the borderline chastising words that left his mouth. He reached into his pocket and procured a small carton. A single cigarette was removed from the carton. He exhaled a single wisp of fire, which licked the end of the cigarette alight. Placing it in the corner of his mouth gave him some solace, replacing the lost heat from the earlier fire with some soothing, and vastly unhealthy smoke. "It'll give you a bad reputation."

As introductions rolled around, he chose to set his eyes elsewhere. His onyx gaze contemplated whether or not saying his name aloud to somebody who knew of his inherent abilities would be a good idea. He had no reason to believe the person whom he had saved - to whatever degree - would have any intentions of harming him, yet at the same time he didn't have any intentions on providing anybody else with any unnecessary information either.

He inhaled, taking a long drag off the cigarette to fill his lungs with as much of its smoke as he could. Takao sighed and watched the plume of smoke cloud the air in front of him before quickly disappearing into oblivion.

"... probably shouldn't jump to conclusions either. You're opening yourself up rather easily to be fooled... but, yeah. I'm from Konoha." He had momentarily forgotten how solemnly he actually wore his forehead protector with the accompanied identifying mark engraved on the steel. A short pause followed as he inhaled more smoke, and spoke his next words through the smoke as he exhaled.

"Takao."

Word Count:	[771]
Total Word Count:	[2305]

Exit Thread

Strength B to B-2 for 375 Ryo and 1500 Words