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4 days was all that was given for the entire nation of Kirigakure to prepare for war. It was during this time that the nation was as busy is Hachiko had honestly ever seen it. Food was being moved around the nation like a mad house, mostly going to the port to load the armed ships. Blacksmiths were working to points of near exhausting smithing weapons and armour for those who would set sail, and even though Ayakashi had only stated that she would be taking a mere two thousand men and women to the land of Kumogakure, to Hachiko's homeland to fight a head on invasion. There was still so much supplies being moved. That said, this could mainly be attributed to the small time frame which Ayakashi had set. 4 days to be prepared for a full scale invasion of another land. Sure the country would be assisted by neighboring nations, but 4 days was still a very small window. However that didn't mean Kirigakure was disheartened at all. After Ayakashi's moving and empowering speech and Akira's speech that followed. The nation was more than ever willing and able to get ready for battle as this nation had done many, many times before. Arguably more so than the other nations. And it was because of this that Kirigakure had become the power house that it was today.

Hachiko herself was just as busy as everyone else preparing for this war, as she would be one of the 2000 people moving out with the nation to invade Kumogakure. Her own home. It felt odd for her to think about that. She was going to be actively assisting in an assault on the place she loved so much. The reason why she had come to Kirigakure in the first place. But, she also wasn't a child. She knew that Sanosuke's actions weren't something that could simply be swept under the rug and were actions of war, and Kirigakure was simply responding to that. In their eyes, she, or at least the person she used to be was dead, and killed in order to protect the safety of all of those citizens of Kirigakure. But Sanosuke didn't care. In fact he would have only known 'Kaekio' had left, by the time he issued the command, and didn't even care to hear whether she had been kept dead or live. or even what had happened to her. In fact, he simply assumed that she had gone to Kirigakure. Although he had fair reason too, it still couldn't have been an action of certainty. At least not until the report of her death had come back. But none of that really mattered now. After the assault on the Ryuzoji compound he had pulled under her nose, and the complete and outright betrayal of her trust, and then to go off and pull something as bone headed as this? he had this coming miles away. Hachiko simply wished she had time to get stronger before all of this came to a head, so she could have faced Sanosuke herself. Get the personal closure she sought. But ultimately, that would not be the case and she understood this. Though to her, it still felt weird and odd gearing up for battle against her own home land. A place she loved so much that she would completely discard her own identity and life and become a martyr in order to protect it. She was now going to aid in it's, at the very least, partial, destruction. And even though she had mixed feelings about this. She was committed to the idea. She knew what it entailed. She knew it meant causing havoc and fear for those she loved. She knew it meant, killing and betraying some of her own comrades. But she also knew that it was for the good of Kumogakure no Sato. She knew that she had to do her part to make sure that Sanosuke no longer caused harm to Kumogakure or her people, even if that meant a few had to be sacrificed in the process. She wished there was another way about this. A way that didn't involve the killing of people who are simply there doing their jobs and protecting the nation she loved. But because of Sanosuke's Actions, and because of the way he played this out. Hachiko's Father figured has brought upon pain and suffering to his own nation. Not that he hadn't already done that, with the direct assault on the Ryuzoji compound, but now he was going to bring more. More pain and suffering than any Kage should ever put on their own people. Was the Kage not there to protect their people? make sure that they we all well and happy? and to provide a military force for the good of the nation, and the world if needed? These are the traits she had seen in Ayakashi. A woman so devoted to her country that Hachiko wanted to follow her words to any extent. She loved her own country, and in return her country loved her. She was a fantastic leader, and had even chosen to spare Hachiko in her time of need. Provide her a place to live, and to stay, and to train, and a place she could put her blade to use, for the good of the nation as a whole. A place she was trusted, even if she shouldn't have been. And, that's something that Hachiko always felt put off about. She had no right to be trusted, Every other sane person would have booted her out, or beheaded her on the spot if she had shown up seeking refuge, like she had for Kiri. But Ayakashi sympathized with her, She understand the nature of Hachiko's actions, and provided a way for her to express them, and even though she had no reason too. She trusted Hachiko. At least that's the way that Hachiko felt.

And so, even though it meant a number of horrible things Hachiko never wanted to think she might be committing too. Hachiko was gearing up for war against her own home. And she felt right doing it. Though that didn't mean that she didn't feel sad and empathetic for the lives that would be lost doing this battle. In fact quiet the opposite. Hachiko would probably have to mask on the entire time simply so she couldn't possibly show any emotions during the altercation. She knew this was going to be an emotion process for her, but that was also going to be a part of the gearing up for this war that she had intended to do. She would need to be at her very best in order to fight in this war. Her above anyone else. She also felt like she had the most to prove during this.

The moment after Hachiko finished her conversation with Ayakashi, she took off, having gotten leave from her current ANBU captain to go and get prepped for the coming invasion. And she would gladly use all of the spare time she could possibly get. There were some many things she needed to do, but one among them stood out in her mind. After all this time, the girl hadn't completed her sage mode training, even though she had started it almost a year ago now, she had gotten up to her sage mode and then stopped, choosing to focus on other things and get back to her country for the Chunin exams. But now that she was about to face one of the worlds few master sages, and the country with the most Senjutsu users, her as a proclaimed Sage simply couldn't just have Sage mode. She needed to be a master at it, much like everyone else who would be in that fight. Given this knowledge, Hachiko decided she would spend as much time as she could with the wolf clan of Kirigakure attempting to master Senjutsu in the short amount of time she had before the war party was departing. But before she could do that, she had a few things she needed to clean up in Kirigakure. The first of which was Nozomi. She was almost certain that the girl would be heading on the expedition as well. She really had no reason not too. In fact, the more Hachiko thought about it, She was really the only one in all of Kirigakure who had any sort of reason to not go to Kumogakure. But, that only solidified her resolve to take the fight to Sanosuke even more than she already had. As for Nozomi, sure she had been to Kumogakure, and Hachiko had shown her around, but the only real attachment that Nozomi had to Kumogakure was Hachiko herself. So she expected the girl to commit for force to her Kage and her village. Something she herself would do the the best of her ability. Because even though she felt Ayakashi trusted her, she still felt that she needed to earn that trust, and this was probably the best way to do it. Along with accomplishing her goal of removing Sanosuke from the Kage seat.

However, Hachiko had 4 days before she set off to Kumogakure no Sato, and she fully intended to utilize all four days before she set out to get herself ready, and able for combat. The biggest thing on her mind being her sage training. She would definitely go and see Ares before she left, and hopefully she could finally unlock the secrets that she needed in order to finally master her sage training, though because she had a few minor things to finish up here in Kiri, that only left her with about 2 days in total that she could spend focusing on sage training, which wasn't a lot, so she wasn't going to be terribly disappointed if she only came out without it being mastered, although she would try her best.

After having chat with her ANBU captain, Hachiko put all of her gear into a bag, and got dressed in street clothes, doing her best to suppress her Aura, though she knew it wouldn't be to much effect though she would try. Her first stop was the Iron banner of Kirigakure no Sato, the legendary smiths of the land, and those whom were basically providing the entire armory for the army of Kiri. She would head there simply to get all of her weapons and tools sharpened and repaired with the exception of her Blade of the crimson moon, as she had recently found out that the weapon repaired and sharpened it'self. As long as it had blood to feast on that was, but that wasn't really an issue. If Hachiko needed to get the cracks and dents in it repaired she could simply go out into the wilds of Kirigakure no Sato and find a boar or some other small creature and simply was the blade in it's blood. This was another reason Hachiko was fond of the blade was that she never had to clean it. The blade simply soaked in the blood of her fallen enemies, even if it didn't need it. In a way it was sort of creepy, but Hachiko had simply come to accept that.

So with her gear in her bag, Hachiko swiftly made her way a crossed Kiri, moving swiftly from street to street, sometimes at a walking pace but others times dashing quickly through the abandoned alley ways, roads, and rooftops. With this method she simply didn't seem the slight bit suspicious, aside from the aura she permuted a crossed the entire street, but she still made good time in getting to the section of the city dedicated to the Iron Banner. The place was packed busy, that's for sure. With the recently proclamation of war, Hachiko had never seen the market place so busy. Black smiths and carts moving every which way, people shouting and yelling at each other as well as just the hum of movement and activity in the area. with all of the blacksmiths hard at work. In fact the whole nation was terribly hard at work. Hachiko had to give credit to Ayakashi for being such an amazing leader. Never in her life had she seen an entire group of people so motivated. So dedicated to a cause that they all put in there best effort. Or at least most of them. And this wasn't even a small group. It was an entire village that had gathered around for this cause. A place that had already seen so much blood, and so much violence, and at the very least more war than Hachiko had seen in her life, and yet instead of making them broken and afraid of any sort of conflict, it only made them stronger, and more ready and able to defend their home and their families, and that's what this had all come down to. A big family defending it's family members, and Hachiko honestly might have found a little beauty in it, if that fact that Ayakashi could assemble an entire invasion force in just under four days wasn't so utterly terrifying. It kind of made Hachiko wonder what the other villages thought of this. Surely how quickly Ayakashi could rally support and mobilize troops had to at the very least be a little bit intimidating. Hachiko was just kind of glad that she wasn't at the other end of this, but for that reason she felt bad for her home. Her friends and her comrades in Kumogakure. Because while she might not have to be at the receiving end of this, they did, and they would have to deal with the destruction and loss while Kirigakure celebrated victory, which was almost guaranteed not only by the size and skill of Ayakashi's army, but the fact that she also had the support of two other of the 5 grand nations. Kumogakure couldn't make a counter attack before Kirigakure could react, because Konoha was stationed here, and from what Hachiko would tell, Iwagakure was going to be pinching Kumogakure in like Cattle Herders and cutting off routes of escape, and to top it all off, Ayakashi her self was going to head straight into the fray. The woman Hachiko felt could take on an army of at least a thousand Jounin and barely come out scratched, if at all. If these factors couldn't overtake Kumogakure, Well then Kumogakure might simply be the strongest nation that existed. However, Hachiko was born and raised in Kumogakure. She had been there in times of strife, and been a shinobi of Kumogakure no Sato. While she hadn't been an ANBU member, she had seen a few bit of things in Kumogakure to roughly gauge the strength of nation, and she was almost certain that this would end in Kirigakure's favor. Which lead to her next thought. If Sanosuke was no longer in the picture of Kumogakure whether dead or imprisoned or forced into exile. Hachiko would no longer have a reason to seek refuge in Kirigakure. Maybe. Just maybe. She could convince Ayakashi to let her return to her home and help pick up the pieces that were left after this invasion would happen. After all, she did come to Ayakashi to help protect the nation she loved, So if she simply destroyed it, then she would be directly going against everything she came here for, and might as well have not come, but it was also for this reason that she must go. She had to go with Ayakashi to help take down Sanosuke. Arguably, Hachiko knew Kumogakure the best. She knew the in's and out's, and thanks to her sensory she could even sense the ANBU. She had been in the village long enough to know what were the best routes to take, and which routes were a basic death trap. She had been taught what to do in case of an emergency, and while that might have changed since her departure, she doubted it would have changed much. It was she whom could have a real and direct impact on the course of this battle. Though she didn't really think Kirigakure needed her. As stated before Kirigakure had enough strength without her, and she was really nothing more than a simple jounin. But she felt like she could do so much more. However none of this would happen until after four days, and for now she needed to focus on preparing for the war.

"Is there anything i could do for you young lady?" the blacksmith asked Hachiko. She had spent a good portion of the last half hour attempting to find a blacksmith that wasn't completely swamped with work already from any other shinobi every, or just simply trying to make weapons to send with the war band to Kumogakure. Not that she could blame any of them, four days wasn't a whole lot of time, but it was still frustrating to say the least. As someone who may be deep into the territory than most other shinobi heading aboard the boats, she really had to make sure her gear was in tip top shape, because if it wasn't, she would most likely be dead. But, through thorough searching, she eventually found one who wasn't terribly swamped, and had time for a few touch up and sharpening jobs which is all she really needed.

"Yeah..." she replied swinging her bag full of gear around, pulling out all the kunai and the shuriken, as well as her Osada cloak. and handing them all tot he blacksmith. She chose to keep her ANBU gear in her bag. This man didn't need to know she was ANBU, nor what her mask looked like, and so she simply kept that stuff hidden. "I simply need all of these sharpened and what not. Nothing too demanding." the man simply chuckled, and nodded his head, and set himself to work on Hachiko's items. From the tone Hachiko had used in her voice he could tell that she simply wasn't in a chatty mood, and he could probably tell by the sword on her waist and the items that she had given him that she was a ninja heading into the war. But with that said, she really couldn't go anywhere or had anything she needed to do right at that very moment, so instead of leaving her stuff to just some random stranger Hachiko simply posted herself up, leaning on a wall, near the black smith where she could keep a cold and trained eye on him, as he slowly and methodically went through each of her kunai, and Shuriken, even polishing up her headband and making minor mends to her robe. During this time Hachiko thought about the coming war. She had actually been given very little on the battle plans thus far. Though she could probably just assume that she would be informed on the boat. That way was much safer as it limited the chance that their plans would get out to Kumogakure in time for them to set up a direct counter-attack. Which is also probably why Ayakashi only gave the entire nation 4 days to prepare for the assault. That way in case someone did warn Sanosuke ahead of time, by the time the information got there, Kirigakure would already be on Kumogakure's front door. Thinking it over that seemed to be the most logical reason as to why Ayakashi would simply leave out so many details thus far.

"Lady Mizukage... I.. I know it's really my place to make requests when you and your country have done so much for me. But, please don't kill anymore than is necessary. Most of the citizens of Kumogakure have nothing to do with this i'm sure, and haven't done anything wrong... I also have another request... I'd like to go and confront Sanosuke with you if possible." Hachiko thought back on the words she had spoke to the Mizukage at that time. She had seemed really desperate, but in all honesty she had felt really desperate. The more she thought about it, the more and more she realized how much destruction this was going to bring to thousands of innocent people, all because their Kage made a mistake, and it pained Hachiko to know that it was her comrades that were going to suffer for this. People she knew and loved. Hachiko let out a small sigh, encouraging a questioning side glance from the man that was currently finishing up Hachiko's items. She figured it was best to probably stop thinking about it. Maybe then she might actually get through this. She looked up at the man who was working on her items and was still giving her a confused glance. But, Hachiko simply said nothing as she walked over to him, and claimed her items. She then pulled some Ryo out of her pocket to pay the man for his services, but he simply raised his hand. "There's no need for that..." the man said. "You're heading over to the land of lighting correct?"" he asked, and Hachiko simply nodded in respond still semi-confused as to why he didn't want to her to pay, but it was as he began his next sentence that Hachiko began to understand. "Well then there is no need for you to pay." he laughed, but his laugh filled with sorrow. and then his eyes shot to the ground, and a look of grief took his face. "Just... just promise to bring her home... Just promise to bring my daughter home." he said, slightly beginning to choke up, and Hachiko felt a pang of guilt shoot through her. She was worried about nothing but her own country, and she had already forgotten how much these people were in pain too. They were missing their loved ones, their mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, brothers, fathers, sons. These people were already in pain for their loved ones, and Hachiko had been worried about the 'maybes' of her own people. These people, whom have seen war a few times in their life time and already lost so much, still hadn't grown accustom to it. It still hurt, and they don't want to lose another. That's why they were so motivated. That's why they wanted to fight. Not for the sake of war, but so they didn't have to deal with the pain of it. A fire ignited in the young Kunoichi's heart. She had been a fool to think that Ayakashi would go in there blood thirsty. She was a mother to her country, and so she of all people knew loss the most. There is no way she would inflict that upon others more than necessary. This invasion wasn't for the sole purpose of taking Sanosuke like it was for Hachiko. It was for the people whom Sanosuke locked up inside a cell for no real reason, and inflict grief on so many people. With an anger inside her that was built up by that sole blacksmith, Hachiko picked up her bag, and said the words "You have my word." and then she simply vanished from the site.

---

WC: 3954
Total WC: 3954

---

Kaekio had finally had a break from the near non-stop missions that had been assigned ever since she hit Chunin. The missions weren't necessarily rough, but she was sometimes doing up to three to four long missions a day and it was getting relatively exhausting. So she finally said enough is enough and decided to take a short break. Of course getting permission to do so before hand. These breaks weren't uncommon, she'd typically get a day or two off every month or so, and so it wasn't all bad. Though with the Chunin exams having just ended she was having a few issues getting back into the swing of things, so this day was much needed, and even though her girlfriend was still around, she just needed a day to do personal things. She was almost sure that Nozomi would understand. And so, her day began.... As usual... Nozomi and Kaekio simply made breakfast and ate together. just the usual eggs and sausage the two had been having basically since Nozomi came to visit. Kaekio was sure that Nozomi was getting sick of it, but it's what Kaekio had always had. It was quick and easy and really didn't make that much of a mess so clean up was easy, and easy was very much welcome when Kaekio was always so busy. After the two did the dishes together, and took a shower together. Something that had kind of become common between the two of them as it was one of the few times of day the two got to be intimate with one another in more ways than just being "close". Kaekio kissed her girlfriend goodbye as she walked out the door and set off for her day of rest. In all honesty, she wasn't terribly sure where she wanted to go, but she figured that she would figure it out at some point.

She took a deep breath as she stepped out the door, and looked around the street that was in front of her house. It was still early in the morning, or at least fairly. So there wasn't a lot of people out and about, but there was still at least a little life. A few houses with some notable activity in the them. there was a few pairs of kids already running about playing with each other. As far as Kaekio could tell, they were playing 'Ninja'. Though with a few different rules than she remembered. Though to be fair, she didn't have a lot of friends when she was kid, so she couldn't be sure she accurately knew the rules, and plus as times change, so did the rules of little kid games. But still, those aspiring Shinobi put a small smile on Kaekio's face. It was good to see people whom were aspiring to join Kumogakure's ranks. Though she could only hope they were prepared to handle the responsibilities and hardships that came with being a shinobi. For instance, could they handle killing someone if they were asked? It didn't matter if the person was innocent or guilty, or simply trying to make their way through life. If they were told to kill for their country. Could they? Kaekio could vividly remember her first mission which was to clear a group of bandits, it was a small mission, arguably one that should have been done with a squad, but she did it by herself, and she did it without mercy, quickly and effectively killing them without hesitation. Though she had arguably been among the few Genin whom would commit to such a task. But could they. If war were to break out, and they were Chunin. Surely they had made friends from other nations with the Chunin Exams being a national event. Could they commit to killing them for the sake of their country? Kaekio knew most Genin and some Chunin couldn't. But most if not all higher ranking shinobi had seen horrors that couldn't be forgotten. Kaekio didn't even know what awaited her if she was accepted into the ANBU black ops. However she simply shook her head. She was here for a break, and didn't need to be thinking about all of that for the moment. So with that, she turned her attention up the road.

Up the road a few more kids were running around, and there were a few people heading off to work for today, and a few early risers just simply going about their own business, Kaekio really wasn't all that hungry given that she had just eaten... in more ways than one... and so the small food stand ahead that she saw didn't really seem all the appealing to her, but she trusted her gut and that was the direct she felt she should go and check out, and so she did. Setting off up the road, she didn't really see much else that interested her, she saw a few stands here and there, a small clothing stand was one, a mask store was another, and while they all had some interesting items, and Kaekio grazed over them for a moment or two, nothing really felt right. And for so for a moment, so contemplated going and training. It seemed like a really shitty day off to most people. But these were people whom had other people to be around and socialize with. Kaekio really hadn't made much friends in Kumogakure, and nor did she care too, and so, she often spent what little time off she had training, as she really didn't get much time off to train in the first place, and she knew that she needed to be strong if she wanted to have any chance what so ever of defending Kumogakure from future invasions if that sort of thing were to occur. So a majority of her breaks from the massive amounts of missions she would do, was to break in order to get stronger, so she could not only protect her village, but also the one's she loved from danger. Sanosuke, and Nozomi being the first, and really only two people that came to mind when she thought of people she cared about, but as she begin to think more and more about the subject as she continued up the street, getting closer and closer to the market place, Kaekio realized that there was one more thing. One more place, that she would lay her life down on the line for, that wasn't her village, her girlfriend, or her Sensei. And that one thing was her clan. Even though Kaekio kept in very little touch with her clan members, she was very much still a very proud Ryuzoji, and she knew that her clan supported her even if they didn't reach out to her all that much. Evidence of this was given when they gave her her twin swords and helped in the parade as she returned from Kumogakure after being crowned the victor of her Chunin exams. She saw them gathered, and they cheered for her, and afterwards they expressed how proud of her they all were and presented her with the items, and so she still felt a very strong connection to her clan, even though she primarily served the village and didn't talk to them much. But it was for this reason that Kaekio decided, as she reached the edge of the market place. That after she browsed the Market place a little bit, simply to see what was there. That she would then spend the day going and catching up with her Clan, and it's members. She basically hadn't visited them at all since she moved out of the compound and hadn't really talked to them at all, aside from the few interactions she had had with individual Ryuzoji members in public, and those few she talked to right after she won the Chunin exams. So today would be a perfect day for her to visit her clan, and catch up on what was going on.

Kaekio took a step forward, stepping into the market, which this early in the morning Kaekio was surprised had this many people roaming around it in. As she had seen walking up the road to the market, there wasn't many people out and about this early in the morning, but here in the market there seemed to be quiet a few. Obviously not as much as mid-day on a weekend, but there was still a fair more than Kaekio expected. Although Kaekio can't say she's terribly surprised. it's not like she was here the second the market had opened up, which would have been a few hours ago. But she had taken her time getting out of bed, and eating this morning, so she had gotten here a little more into the day, and as such there was simply a few more people here than she had expected. Not that it really mattered, in fact having a few people here was a bit more comforting than her being the only one in the entire market, so she simply looked weird as she browsed the market. Though she couldn't even really say that she would have been the only one here when the market opened up, as she was sure that there were people who liked to browse the market as early as possible simply to get all of the best stuff they could find, maybe to resell or simply just for personal gains. But the point still stood, she'd rather people be here, then not. So with that in mind, she entered into the market. The stalls where laid out in large almost bricks, with and entire ring around the outside, and another brick in the center. This made the market very easy for customers to browse the market with ease, as the paths were clearly laid out, and even though the market was a decent size it still made it simple, and easy to navigate, and members of the market could easily have larger sized stalls than normal. Kaekio rather liked the way the market was laid, and it was laid out in a fairly large square, not so much in the center of town, but it was around that area. But another thing that was nice, was that with a market of this size in one of the five great nation's Ninja village is that there was a lot of variety too it. You could find wares and things from places as far away as Sunagakure if you wanted too, and there was stuff from every nation, Kirigakure, Konohagakure, Iwagakure, and as well, of course, some local things Kumogakure. Things like crafts, and wears, and even foods and delicacies could be found. Kaekio found the setting rather relaxing and enjoyable to just walk through and see what was there, even if she didn't plan on buying something. Although, as Kaekio was sure it was with most markets, they had a way of drawing the customer in and Kaekio almost always walked out with something, even if it was just a bowl of ramen made from one of the food stalls. Still even though Kaekio knew she would probably be dragging into one thing or another, she still liked to relax here and just see what was available and what was around, and she always found it interesting, and relaxing, and so she figured what better way to start off her day off than by simply relaxing.

Kaekio walked around the market place for what felt like several hours but in reality was only but maybe an hour and a half. She had browsed rather maliciously walking up and down each aisle, looking carefully over each and every stall, and even stopping every now and again when something of interest caught her eye. She would pause and stop and look it over and maybe ask if she could pick it up. Unfortunately, even though she had spent a fair amount of time in the market just calming browsing over the items, she didn't really find anything worth spending money on. At least for the time being. There had been a few items that had caught her eye sure. But they were either way too pricey for her own tastes or simply wasn't as appealing as she thought it was at first glance. However didn't come out empty handed. Like the market always does it brought in her just enough for her to spend some money on a small bowl of rice, which smelt delicious as she was nearing the end of her time in the market. And she got it even though she had had a rather filling breakfast fairly recently. Which is probably why she only got a small bowl instead of the large bowls the rice stand offered. But it's not like she didn't expect this when she set foot into the market. The market having this odd appeal that just draws you and and some how always manages to get a little bit of money out of you, even if you didn't intent to spend money on it in the first place. Kaekio has realized this and come to accept it for what it is. With that mind, and her having looked around most of the market, she finished up her small bowl of rice, having sat in the food section of the market, and throw her paper bowl away along with the chop sticks it came with. Though as she was sitting down and eating her rice, she noticed that a few more people had entered into the market since she had arrived, which really only made sense given that it was getting a bit closer to mid-day, which is when she figured that the market would probably be it's fullest for the day. Either way, she had finished up her business in the market and she could honestly say she felt really good about it. getting to look over swords and knives and odd bits of jewelry and treasures and thing of that nature, Kaekio didn't know what it was about it, but she did know that it was certainly relaxing, and she was glad that she had taken the time out of her day to come and visit the market place. And if she expected to visit her clan, or at the very least train today, then a bit of relaxation in the morning was probably more than needed. She honestly didn't know what to expect when she would visit her clan. They were all trained in discipline and patience, because of their samurai heritage, even though Kaekio had become a shinobi before she had really finished training. That however by no means meant that she didn't utilize her training underneath her clan, it just meant that she began to focus more on her Ninjutsu that her Bukijutsu practices. But even if they did have that training which Kaekio didn't finish, she vaguely remembered her clan being one that was rather a bit more rowdy.... well maybe rowdy wasn't the word she was looking for, but it was similar enough. And she half expected them to make her train with them, as both a form of punishment, but also for old times sake. And she honestly couldn't say she was opposed to the idea of training with her clan once more. In fact, she probably rather that than going off and training on her own after she visited them, which had probably been her plan in the first place. And the more she thought about the idea, the more she thought it was a good one, and she could definitely hope that they would follow through. And if not, her visit would probably just be a short one, and she'd have to figure out what to do then.

Footsteps could be heard as Kaekio walked out of the market, again throwing away her rice and chop sticks, and began heading towards the direction which lead to the village gate. A few hours had past, not only since Kaekio had gotten up, but since she had even left her her house, and so noticeably the sun a tab bit higher in the sky then the last time she had noticed it, not having really payed attention to it while she was in the market, but as she walked towards it it was directly more glaring than it had been when she left the house, and as she began looking around she noticed what she had noticed in the market place as well. The fact that there were now simply more people out and about. Mostly being kids and elderly as most of the adults and young adults were busy working or at the academy, and as Kaekio heightened her sensory range just a little bit, there she could tell there was even more life simply around the village. in the back alley ways and in parks and on balconies. In fact, Kaekio couldn't hardly feel anyone at all in their homes. If she was a worse person than she was she might have even taken advantage of this fact, but she didn't. But she did let her mind wonder as she walked down the street of Kumogakure and looked at simply how beautiful the world was. The green grass and the crystal clear blue sky. As she let her mind wonder, eventually it came to rest on Nozomi. Kaekio was slightly curious to know what the girl was going since Kaekio had decided to take the day to herself, Simply to just clear her head and do her own thing. As Kaekio passed her own house, Kaekio couldn't detect an electrical current of anyone at all in her house, and so it was apparent that the girl had gone off and done something. Kaekio probably figured she was exploring Kumogakure for herself. Or maybe she was meeting a fellow Kirigakure shinobi. Kaekio didn't know, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't at all in the slight bit curious. But she figured she'd better not just go running around looking for the girl, and as she request privacy, she should give Nozomi her own. Though she half wanted to go looking through-out Kumogakure for her, simply to see what she was up too. A sort of large scale hide and seek. But she ultimately decided against it, in favor of seeing her clan, and getting to spend as much time with them as possible before she headed home. That didn't mean however she couldn't let her mind wonder about where Nozomi had gone, and oh did she let it. Did she go out with a fellow Kirigakure Ninja? if she did then if left the question of which one. Was it gin? Gin was Nozomi's old squad leader, much like Sanosuke was to Kaekio, Gin had taught Nozomi the basics of how to be a ninja, and trained her up. Even bringing the young Nozomi to the Chunin exams where Kaekio had met her for the first time, and from what Kaekio knew, Gin was currently in Kumogakure, so it was by all means it was Gin. Then again it could also be Sero. Kaekio knew for a fact Sero was in Kumogakure as the two had down a rather interesting mission together where the two had gone out and slew what seemed like werewolves. Both the two developing an odd rivalry for the lust to kill, and it ending in Sero threatening Kaekio that if she ever took his kill again, she'd have to face his wrath directly. From what Kaekio knew, not only were both Sero and Nozomi both Kirigakure ninja, so the was a little bit of comradery, but the two were in the same squad together, and not just that, but from what Kaekio knew, at least from what Nozomi had told her. Nozomi was one of the few people Sero considered a friend, and she actually felt comfortable in Sero's creepy aura. Kaekio on the other hand did not. It brought out of a side of her she didn't like, one the hungered for blood. She couldn't stand to be in it, and she didn't even want  to think about how awful it would be to actually be releasing that aura. Luckily though, she wasn't Sero and so she wouldn't ever have too. Although now that Kaekio thought about, it really didn't need to be one or the other, it could very well in fact be both of them together, but if it was one of the two of them, then that still left the question of what were they doing. Kaekio knew Nozomi really liked to have a dedicated training schedule and if it was all three together than it almost made sense for them to be training. sort of a squad get together of sorts, but they could also be simply running a mission whilst they were here in Kumogakure. Sero was obviously running missions, and he had Kaekio had done one together. And Missions was how Ninja made money in this shinobi world, so i'd make sense for them to want to grab a bit of extra cash. Or maybe, it was just her and gin going out to get something to eat, and catching. Not something Kaekio pictured Sero being too open too. Alternatively, Kaekio had recently came out to Sanosuke about her relationship with Nozomi, so maybe she was out and about with the Raikage discussing the two's relationship. Sanosuke was after all much like a father figure or a brother to Kaekio and so it would make sense for Nozomi to want his approval of her as well. Alternatively the Kirigakure konuichi could simply be and about exploring Kumogakure. Hachiko really hadn't shown her around much. Mainly the tourist spots, and Kaekio's favorite places, and there was still plenty to explore. And even again, Kaekio knew how much Nozomi liked to be on a regular training schedule so it was completely and totally possible that the girl was simply just at the thunder grounds training already and working up her skills as a shinobi, and as Kaekio went through more and more possibilities she realized more and more so that it would be impossible for her to figure it out, without tracking the girl down, and she had already committed to not doing so, and so she simply gave up trying to figure it out.

However in her train of thought, Kaekio had walked past the gate to the village, out the village and unto a dusty path straight towards her clan compound. It didn't take but a few more moments for Kaekio to reach her clan's compound, however as she slowly began to get closer and closer she began to realize more and more that something was wrong, until she reached a full sprint, stopping at the crumpled gate to the clan compound, and inside was empty. Of people at least. The place was in ruins. There was crumpled buildings, and dried blood. It looked like this battle had occurred awhile ago, and she was horrified. It looked like a war had gone on in this place. Or at the very least a large battle. Kaekio collapsed. What had she missed? There was one good sign. There was no bodies, which meant two things. Either the entire clan had been wiped out, which she doubted was the case. or neither side had really won and her clan had simply packed up and moved which was the more likely of the two scenarios. And so with that in mind Kaekio actived sage mode, and while imperfect she was still able to detect long lingering chakra, and she searched around, and there was a lot of signatures she didn't recognize. mostly due to how new she was at sensing actual chakra, there was one thing that confused her... she sensed.. her own sage chakra... and eventually the realization dawned on her.... Sanosuke.

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WC: 4092
Total WC: 8046

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A blur of rooftops soared underneath Hachiko's feet as she bounced from rooftop to rooftop. Shaking her head as the girl snapped back to reality. She honestly wasn't sure why she was having flashbacks to that very day at this time. Maybe it was because it was a reminder of what she was doing, and why she was in Kirigakure no sato, and why she was risking her life. That was the very moment Hachiko realized the Sanosuke, the person she viewed as a brother, and a father figure, and one of her best friends, and the person the she absolutely trusted the most in the entire world. Had been playing her for a foul. There was a reason, she had been assigned to his squad. There was a reason that all of the Ryuzoji that had become shinobi for Kumogakure no sato had been assigned to his squad. It wasn't just some odd coincidence. It had been intentional. Bokuden, whom had deserted Kumogakure, when Kumo needed him most. Had been Sanosuke's biggest rival, and everyone knew this. Leaving when he should have become Raikage of the murder of Reika, because he didn't want to be Kage, and instead of being constantly pressured into he it he left. Or at least this is what Hachiko assumed about the situation. Sanosuke view this as an act of ultimate betrayal from his rival, and felt that because of Bokuden's Actions, that the rest of the Ryuzoji was at fault, if not just as guilty and untrustworthy. So he put them under his watch.  Under his close eye, and even trained the Ryuzoji that wished to become Shinobi so they developed an attachment to him so that way they would never leave. They would never betray him. While in actuality that was bullshit. Sanosuke probably viewed Kaekio as a way into the Ryuzoji Compound, as his source of information. However Hachiko knew better. The Ryuzoji Kekkei Genkai was a close guarded secret, and She knew that. So she didn't even tell the Raikage their Secret. No matter much she trusted him. In fact, the only person that probably knew about the Ryuzoji Kekkei Genkai was Nozomi, and that was because the two girls had spent so much time around one another, and honestly. Hachiko didn't feel like hiding it from her. She was her lover, and someone she trusted, and loved more than any other person or thing or entity in this entire universe, even if she didn't deserve the girl's love in return. However, those reasons were the reason that Hachiko had left Kumogakure. Sanosuke was doing his best to make sure he could infiltrate the Ryuzoji, and she didn't feel like she could trust her own Kage anymore. The claims about her constantly being sent on missions so she rarely had time to train was neither here nor there. Sure she made them, but for all she knew multiple ninja outside of her were constantly sent on missions. Maybe it was because she was so eager to always accept missions from her Sensei, even if she didn't need too. Or maybe it was simply because of the fact, that Kumogakure had seen a sharp decline in Shinobi available lately, and so she was one of the few ninja constantly available for the missions that didn't take several months or even years, and it was good to have to continually go on those, because she got them done as she was expected too. She honestly didn't know the reasoning behind it, and so she couldn't really get that far into the claim it was intentional to slow her training progress. Did it slow her progress in training? almost certainly. Was it for that specific goal, and done out of malicious intent? Hachiko couldn't say for sure. For all she knew, that was just the way it's always been for the Raikage's student. No that, that really mattered all the much, as she was probably now heavily wanted but Kumogakure and her, if not just simply wanted dead. However, back to the flash back, she was still curious as to why she was experiencing it now. It's not like the day had been all bad. Not long after she had found her clan had moved over to a new compound, one more remotely out of Kumogakure than the previous so that way the would have more forewarning if the Raikage tried something similar again. Once Hachiko had arrived she sat down with the acting clan head, and they told her all about the events that had transpired and what had occurred, and knew that Hachiko had had nothing to do with the attack what so ever and so she was glad that they hadn't blamed her for it. After that discussion they informed Hachiko that since she'd expressed interest in spending the day at the compound that they would resume her swords men ship training, or at least what they could accomplish during the day. Surprisingly Hachiko had almost finished her training when she left. There was only three challenges she had to complete before they considered her to be a master in the Ryuzoji Sword style, and fortunately for her, they had played off of things that she had picked up whilst she became a shinobi. All three challenges involved spars with other members, which in the first place was difficult. Hachiko wasn't really used to sparing against someone with the same Kekkei genkai as her, and as such very few people could not only keep up with her, but also take advantage of it. As such the first challenge was actually the one that caused her the most trouble for this reason. They had gotten a clan member good at stealth techniques and knowing of the Ryuzoji sensory, he also knew how to hide himself from it, and so he completely hid himself from Hachiko's current perception  and made her fight someone who still had it active. Putting her on the same end that all of her opponents had been for the Chunin exams. However to make it worse he'd toy with her. Her sparing opponent would briefly go invisible and create an electrical clone behind her, knowing she relayed on her sensory she feel for the ruse a few times, and lost the spar several times. However eventually she began to get used to not being able to sense her opponent through current perception, and overcame just through peer sword play. The second challenge was rather easy for Hachiko given the challenge was not to depend so much on the sword. Basically they got someone whom not only would electrocute Hachiko if the swords clashed, but also was merely better at swordsmanship than her. However, she only the spar once, and after that she realized her mistake and just as she imagined, her opponent was weak in hand to hand combat. The third challenge however was arguably as difficult as the first. But this time it was no ruse. no gimmicks. Neither was allowed to use chakra, as where only Hachiko had had that restriction before, of course excluding current perception as the two can't really shut that off. But Hachiko had to spar against the clan head, and force a submit. The two were fairly evenly matched, but Hachiko was slightly more chakra reliant than her opponent, and so she lost the spar several time, sparing until the sun went down for Hachiko to finally force a submit. And That was it. She had completed all three challenges, and then she met up with her few friends from the compound, and went home to Nozomi that night, telling her all about her day.

However, aside from what happened in the past and her own personal reasons for fighting in this war. Hachiko had dragged thousands of innocent lives into her distrust for Sanosuke. And even if it was Sanosuke's actions that were causing this invasion to occur. Those actions were a direct result of her own actions. Sanosuke imprisoned thousands of Kirigakure Civilians and shinobi as a result of her defecting to what he believed to be Kirigakure. Though he wasn't wrong, she had gone to Kirigakure. But Ayakashi had done a fantastic job of faking the death of the Konuichi. She had even made it so that the shadow organizations that followed the Mizukage around, and were waging a silent war with Kirigakure its self were convinced the Konuichi had died. It was only due to the fantastic medical work of Another Aisu that Hachiko was here today. But still the fact remains that the fact that Hachiko came to this country in the first place, this war now has happened. And not only has endangered the lives of several Kirigakure shinobi and civilians. Hachiko's mind went back to the blacksmith that had sharpened and refined her weapons for her. She had dragged his daughter into this entire mess. And he trusted her, the one that started this huge issue, to bring her home. Granted he didn't know that this entire situation was her fault, and some people might not even consider it as such, and more so Sanosuke's fault. But she felt directly responsible, and she was sure that several other people, if they knew she was alive, would blame her for their loved ones being stuck in a prison cell in Kirigakure no Sato, and she couldn't really blame them. Had she not left Kumogakure, and worked on taking down Sanosuke from the inside, this whole thing could have been avoided. Even when she got here, and Ayakashi accepted Hachiko she said her actions had been foolish at best, and those words seemed to follow Hachiko's actions as a shinobi in general. foolish. That was how she felt right now, especially with the sounds of war drums ringing ever so loudly in her ear. War drums that wanted to march down her home country and tear it apart. All because she felt it would be better to not remain under Sanosuke. As her foot landed on the rooftop of another house, which was noticeably busy on the inside preparing to head the soldiers invade Kumogakure, this of which Hachiko could tell due to her passive current perception. Though the soft padding of her feet as she lept from rooftop to rooftop, on the rather foggy and misty day, which was common in Kumogakure, wouldn't be heard by the residence below. Now would she be spotted by the civilians on the streets below. Firstly because she was moving much too quickly for them to pick up on it in the mist, if they could even see that far through the mist. Secondly, because she was used to moving like this. From rooftop, to rooftop, silently and near invisible. Ever since that odd Aura Sero gave her has polluted the air around her, she has had to move in the shadows and out sight, and out of range like this so that way she didn't scare the civilians simply by being in their presence. Her aura wasn't near as potent as Sero's but it wasn't something that wouldn't scare some one whom had never come a crossed either of the two shinobi before. It was almost as if death sat on the Konuichi's shoulder, and he was there making his presence known, and everyone around her could feel that presence. The damp, and dark feeling that hung in the air around Hachiko was nothing to balk at. It was something real, and it for this reason she couldn't live in the city of Kirigakure like most people, but she instead had to live in the mess of horror that was the Osada mansion, though for the most part she had avoided that place as much as she could, for as experienced as a shinobi as she was, the place gave her the creeps. Especially since the giant spider moved in. In fact that the girl had been spending a rather large amount of time at the house of Girlfriend. Although she tended to shy away from the edges of the the house, so that way in case Nozomi's neighbors happened to also be on the edge of the house it didn't cause them to raise alarm or anything like that, and when she wasn't doing that. The girl was off doing a few missions here or there, nothing too crazy like she used to do whilst she was a Kumogakure ninja, or she was of doing a little bit of training. But, with that in mind she hadn't even been in kiriagkure very long. Sanosuke's actions to Hachiko leaving was fairly rapid, and as was the Mizukage's response to that, which was this invasion force. Although she had called upon Konohagakure, and Iwagkaure for assistance first, and waiting until Akira had arrived in Kirigakure to discuss what Hachiko would assume to be war plans, with one another before unveiling the plans to the public. Which Hachiko thought was relatively smart, due to the fact that Sanosuke wouldn't have much time to prepare to defend, much less set up a counterattack, and that was even if he caught word of it, which would have required an informant in Kirigakure, which Hachiko wasn't sure if she had. Either way this was the invasion that she needed to get ready for, and her next stop for that was going to be her Girlfriend Nozomi's house.

There was quite a few things Hachiko needed to do at Nozomi's house. First things first, she needed to store a few things, as she was going to be away from a day or two, and didn't feel like going all of the way to Sero's house to store, especially because she was on a time schedule, and wanted to get to where she was going as fast as possible. The next reason was she didn't want to have cause for her girlfriend to fear for her, without her knowing where she was, so she was going to a letter detailing what she intended to do during the few days that she had to prepare for war. Now the girl had only really just left the busy market place, which was absolutely filled with people, brimming to go back and forth, both bringing in supplies for the black smiths to use in making weapons, and armour, and whatever else needed to be made for the soldiers. As well as some bringing food and coffee and tea in for the blacksmiths and market people working as hard as they were, so that way they could continue working. Hachiko found it almost frightening how quickly this country could begin acting on the word of it's Kage, and began preparing for a full fledged invasion in a mere four days. There was no way there were many other countries that could mobilize this quickly, much less for a full scale invasion, and be this efficient at it. IT seemed like everyone knew what they were doing, and where they were supposed to be and how they could help, and what areas needed to most help the quickest. the sight was truly frightening from a foreigner standpoint, but also immensely impressive, and it made Hachiko proud as a member of Kirigakure it's self. With that said, she had her own preparations to make, and that first involved getting to Nozomi house. As mentioned before the girl was taking the roof tops to avoid any unnecessary frightening of the people below, especially as they all worked so hard, to help her and many other shinobi like her whom were gearing up for war as well. Going from roof to roof, had some benefits to it like not having to deal with traffic, but Hachiko also had to take back roads and such when she ran out of roves to run along, or when she would have been spotted along the roves which took up more time than one would imagine, although with the combination of the two, Hachiko made it to Nozomi's house about the same pace as it would have taken someone normally to reach her house, from the market place. Which she supposed is faster than most people can traverse currently due to the large amount of traffic moving back fourth along the road.

Once she reached Nozomi's house, the girl opened up her black bag currently carrying all of her gear, minus her sword which was strapped to her hip, and she was also wearing her usual outfit that she wore when she wasn't wearing her ANBU her. In her bag she grabbed the spare key to Nozomi's house, and unlocked it, pushing the door open as she did so, and stepping inside. She walked into the kitchen and set down her bag full of gear at the table. She then searched around the kitchen for a something to write with, which took her a little bit to find, and then a blank scroll to write with, which took a tad lees time to find than the writing utensil had. She then sat down at the dinning room table, which was visible as one would walk in the door, so if Nozomi entered her house at all during the time she was preparing for the invasion as well, which she undoubtedly would given she figured that Nozomi would spend most of her time during the four days training, as Hachiko intended to do, and even though Nozomi had been known to fall asleep at the training grounds on a few occasions, she at the very least expected her to stop off at the house, before going off and training her life away. Hachiko could only hope she didn't train herself to exhaustion, as they were going to need all of her strength during the war. Hachiko would just need to remind herself of the same things. With that said, she opened up the scroll and began writing. "Heya cutie..." with this intro and handwriting Nozomi was sure to recognize it as Hachiko's letter. "I'm going off to see Ares and the rest of the wolf time in hopes that maybe I can unlock a bit more secrets about Senjutsu before I have to face off against Sanosuke. So don't worry if you can't find me. I'll definitely be back in time for the invasion. In fact I'll probably be here the day before we take off, so let's meet up here? I'd love to here all about what you did you prepare for the invasion, and i can tell you about my adventure with Ares, if I actually managed to learn anything. In the bag below this scroll is my ANBU gear, and equipment. Feel free to move it to a safer spot if you feel it necessary, just let me know where you stashed it, as i'll need it for the war." she would then sign the letter "XOXO, Mitsu" and below put "P.S. Love ya." After writing the scroll, she would roll it up, and seal it with a tiny bit of chakra, so that way only Nozomi or those that really really wanted to open it could open it up, and even then she had written the entire scroll in code that only Nozomi and Hachiko shared between the two of them. She honestly didn't need to go through the trouble, but did so anyways. The scroll didn't really contain much information. Hachiko doubted anyone outside of Sano, and Nozomi knew whom Ares was, and there wasn't even really any classified information in the document it's self. but it's precautions that Hachiko took non the less. It was always better to be safe than sorry, especially when it came to higher ranking couple such as the two of them. Either way, Hachiko would then set the scroll on top of the black bag, and she would stuff her sword inside, as she didn't imagine she'd need it, only bringing a single kunai in case she absolutely needed something to channel her chakra through, as had been the case when she fought sero. After putting the kunai in her kunai holster on her right thigh, she left Nozomi's house, and took to the roves once more, she still had one more stop to make before she head out of Kirigakure.

The one thing that Hachiko had to do before she could go run off into the wilderness to find the would tribe that thought her how to achieve sage mode was informing the village its self she would be in accessible for the next two days. It was important to inform her girlfriend yes, and she had already informed her ANBU captain of her plans to continue her senjutsu training during the training and so she probably wouldn't be available for any missions, or anything of the like. She figured it be in her best interest to let the village know of her whereabouts as well, simply because it wasn't her captains responsibility to report these sort of things, it was hers. especially given that she was a special case among the Kirigakure shinobi. She had absolutely no doubts that she was probably being watched at longer ranges which some certain sensing techniques to make sure that she wasn't some spy for Kumogakure and that this had all been a large plot against Kirigakure, because that possibility was actually fairly likely. It was likely that she was feeding information back to Sanosuke about this whole thing, and all of things she was learning as an ANBU member of Kirigakure no sato. And this outing to go into the first to train Senjutsu would almost surely look suspicious, and so she could imagine if they let her go that she would be tailed. Though she wouldn't be opposed to the idea. She honestly had very little to hide from the Mizukage or Kirigakure it's self. and so if the Mizukage decided that she needed to be followed whilst she went out and trained Senjutsu for two days. As long as her tail didn't interfere with her training in the slightest, she wouldn't have any qualms with it, and even if the tail did she would leave him unharmed. Thought that part seems a bit obvious. She obviously has no qualms with Kirigakure, and she would easily understand being treated like an outsider with secrets, because she kinda was at this point. Either way, she still needed to inform Kirigakure about her whereabouts. And so she took off from Nozomi's house. Once again stepping up and onto the roves, so that they she didn't scare the public, except for maybe a few people here and there that happened to be in the attic when she went past, though it would only be a very very brief feeling of something similar to a rather large and fearsome creature breathing down the back of your neck, while the air around you turned dense and heavy. She could imagine that might inspire some to check behind them or a few to stay out of the attic for at most the rest of the day, but she couldn't imagine it inspiring actual, run and flee terror into someone where she would begin to get in trouble for taking roof tops and more and more began to report odd feelings in their attics. Again, her time getting to the administration office was rather, average, which on a day like today was a rather good thing. She merely dropped off a scroll written in ANBU code, to the area where she knew to deliver those types of letters and things. She didn't really hang around for a yes or no, and the letter was detailed similarly to the one she left Nozomi, merely stating where she was going, this time providing an exact location, and what she was intending to do there, and when the ANBU corps could expect her return. as well as explaining her reasoning for her rather brief leave of absence. After the scroll was delivered and she was sure it had gotten to Ayakashi, she left the administration building, not having to have hung around for very long at all. Now. Now she could be on her way to the Clan of Sage wolves. finally she could head out of Kiri.

The journey out of the walls of Kirigakure no Sato wasn't really a long one. And come to think of it, even though the girl had made a few stops, it really hadn't been that much time since Ayakashi gave the announce, and gave her speak. In fact the whole of the speech was still extremely fresh in Hachiko's mind, and it had only been but maybe and hour or so since the Mizukage had spoken in front of the large gathering, and set the nation into immediate action. As stated before, overall, Hachiko was extremely impression with how quickly this nation got set into work, and how much work they had already accomplished in just the short span since the Mizukage's announcement. The nation it's self was like a well oiled war machine that just needed the Mizukage to flick the factory switch and the nation would start producing. No complaints, No hesitant, just work beginning. And maybe this was because that a lot of Kirigakure had family, friends, and loved ones locked away in Kumogakure that this occurred Hachiko didn't know. She had never been in Kirigakure before during a time of war although many of the country had. Though to be far, the Jounin had never been anywhere during a time of war. All of her shinobi, and general life had existed in peace. She had known of the seven bells war, but she hadn't even been a Genin at the time of it's occurrence. This was the first real time, she had truly been a part of war. Though she couldn't say as to whether or not this would end in bloodshed just yet. But, it was looking more and more towards that direction as the days since the arrests happened, have progressed. And it was good that this country was already getting so prepared for the up and coming invasion. It was now on Hachiko to match that readiness. She needed to start beginning her own preparations for the up and coming invasion, she had just finished up the necessary steps in order to begin her preparations. Covering all her bases if you will. However now she needed to actually start. And, so with that she took off on the roves one more. This time setting out for the wilderness.

Once again, it didn't take very long for Hachiko to move from rooftop to rooftop, and from back alley to back alley, making her way to the village gate. She hadn't been in kirigakure for very long, but she had a fantastic sense of direction, and so when it came to memorizing her way around places, it was almost like it was second nature to her. Plus, Hachiko was a part of the ANBU black ops. Not only did she frequently have to preform patrols all over the city, but it was also in her job description to know her way around the city. Needless to say, after her initial week to adjust to her new life here in kirigakure, even in which she spent some time exploring. After that initial week she dedicated herself hardcore to learning the lay out of the city as best as she possibly could. Consuming most of her free time for a short while there as she learned what nooks and crannies of Kirigakure no sato. Did she know as much as most of the people that had lived here their whole life? Certainly not. But she still knew her away around kirigakure well enough, and so knowing which roves to take, and which back alleys to take to get her to the village gate as quickly as possible from the administration building, which was by all means a relatively easy route. Was little to no issue for her knowing how to navigate almost seamlessly. So it was also really no surprise to her when she reached the village gate in little to no time at all. After she checked out at the village gate, she checked her supplies to make sure she had everything she needed for the trip on her person, including the trip back, and then she took a step into the wilderness taking a deep breath as she did so. Because, here was the hard part. Whilst she had a relatively easy time and access to study the inter layout of the village hidden in the mist. Outside of the village she hadn't explored nearly as much as she would have liked too. However, she did have some semblance of an idea where she was going, as this wasn't her first time off to see the wolves of Kirigakure no sato. But she was still a tad worried about her trip. Although surprisingly, the trek through the forest didn't take the girl near as long as she thought it would have. finding her almost naturally through the forest, as if she had some sort of connection to this den. Which, logically, she did. It was actually her den. Even though she wasn't actually a wolf. In some ways due to her sage training, and becoming a part of nature, she had become a part of the park of sage wolves that were station in Kirigakure no Sato. When she arrived, she was immediately greeted by the pups, whom she had met the last time she had ventured to Kirigakure no sato. Though they weren't really pups anymore, and were slowly growing into adults, however they were far from grown, even though they weren't far from being the same size as Hachiko, and As ares followed up greeting her, she breathed a sign of relief. She was worried that the wolf clan wouldn't recognize her due to the transformations not only on her physical form, but her chakra network was also tainted as well to make it harder to realize that the girl that was referred to as Mitsu, or Hachiko depending on whether she was on duty or not, was actually the defecting Ninja, kaekio, from Kumogakure. However Ares had seen past these little gimmicks almost immediately., though he did inquire as to the changes having noticed them. And that discussion largely took up the majority of the first night, as Hachiko proceeded to fill him in on all of the happenings that had occurred since she last visited the pack, and why she was here now. At first, Ares was shocked and surprised, but he also understood her position and agreed to help her, though he doubted even with her prowess that she could master the art of Senjutsu in the sort time the two had before Hachiko would need to leave to return to kiri, and so instead they merely focused on improving her Senjutsu techniques, to a point where she could absorb more chakra, and utilize higher ranking Senjutsu techniques. Ares also made her preform war rituals so as she would have spirits guidance in the up and coming battle if they were to occur, as well as helped her train in combat.

IT was after two days, that Hachiko decided that it was time to return to Kirigakure, feeling more confident than ever about the up and coming invasion, and feeling more cemented in her own decisions. The world wasn't her fault. This was something that ares had told her, noticing her insecurities. She was not to be held responsible for how a man whom had little to do with her acted. Especially given that she was not in charge of him, and in fact it was the other way around. This invasion was not a cause of her actions, but yet a cause of Sanosuke's actions, and this would only further her goals, and stance that Sanosuke was a man that was not to be trusted with power. Finding her way back into Kirigakure seamlessly easy, Hachiko gathered up her ANBU gear and put it all on. With her mask going on the side of her face to be put on later. She would then pull out her sword only a hair to see the words engraved on the blade. as she gazed into the mirror. Taking a deep breath, she then restored the sword to it's sheathe before pulling up a black face mask similar to that of the the fabled 6th hokage. The one whom is said to have created the legendary technique Chidori, one which she also wielded. The face mask an extension of a new all black, skin tight suit she had tailed specifically for her to go under neath ANBU armour. During her time with Ares at the Pack Den, due to the large amounts of senjutsu, her hair color and eye color had faded slightly, taking on a more violet color than the crimson color they both used to be right after she had been transformed. She also felt a tad less of Sero's chakra residing within her. Not enough to make a noticeable difference in the aura her permuted but, enough that the black room wasn't quiet so black any more. Finally, she pulled her mask over her face. A mask in the depiction of wolf, or a dog. The depiction could go either way. Then hachiko would Go with Nozomi to the boat. She was ready for war.

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WC: 5721
Total WC: 13767
[Close thread]
Training:
Senjutsu (B -> A): 8000/8000
Reaction time (A -> A-3): 3450/3450
A-rank Jutsu (Cloak of Concealment) trained: 2000/2000 words