Lin gave a thumbs up to the bartender as she caught his eye. She frequented the bar so much that the man knew her from the rest of the patrons, and by the time that she sat down at her usual spot in the bar, one that allowed her to see the entire bar with only the wall to her back, he had her drink waiting. It wasn't much, just a glass of sake, but if she nursed it all night she could leave for home with a little bit of a buzz and nothing else. Tonight though, she wanted to get a bit more than buzzed.

Taking a swig and feeling the alcohol burn down her throat and warm her stomach, she looked out to the crowd, seeing if she could see any familiar faces in the dancing throng. Her eyes watered a bit when the liquid finally did hit her stomach and she shuddered with the taste of alcohol that lingered on the back of her tongue, giving the very sweet taste of sake a bitter aftertaste. Drinking to forget the failed mission that she had done alone, and a pitiful one at that. It was a failed mission of D rank. She might as well throw in the towel as a shinobi if she couldn't even get a D ranked mission done on her own.

She was dressed in her "going out" clothes, a grey sweater dress with room for her bust to show. She tried to accentuate them with a push-up bra that was unseen because of the dress' make and had put on some make-up. She needed to dance for a while with some strangers to forget the failed mission. If only Dameon wasn't so busy lately, she would have taken him out for a night at the bar. Sighing, she drummed her fingers on the bar. She had a golden clip that held her bangs out of her eyes, and let the rest of her hair flow over her shoulders. The dress was form-fitting and she hoped that someone would ask her to dance soon.

The lights and bodies moving helped her ease into a buzz shortly after the swig, and she decided that she would nurse the buzz a little while longer. There were lazers, one of the things that her generation liked, that danced across the room and lights that flashed in an eclectic manner over the many grinding and swaying bodies that intermingled on the dance floor. There were other activities that were in other sequesters of the bar, such as games for the children and elderly, but this was the place to come and get drunk and have a good time.



WC: 472

In the midst of an area which could turn into a volatile battlefield at any moment, Kashizudoto had to keep the attention away from himself. After all, his village, Konoha, had clearly aligned itself with Kiri and against Kumo in all but name; his village had even sent his sensei to garrison Kiri while their own men went off to war. Kashizudoto desired to play a role of the spectator in this affair, only wanting to watch the travesty of war from afar so that he could learn more about what conflict really is from a firsthand account; after all, as a member of the Order of the White Lotus, a secret society which had global peace as its singular objective, he had an inclination to learn about the truth of that kind of violent state of man that he had dedicated himself to fighting against along with the other members of the Order.

Therefore, the boy had disguised himself with the Transformation Technique as a Kumo native, a dark-skinned, tall man with black hair and a chiseled chin. In retrospect, the attractiveness of this handsome devil that he had morphed into would probably garner more attention than he had previously; however, this disguise made it much harder for anyone to track Kashizudoto down or discover his identity as a Konoha ninja, as he could change his appearance drastically within seconds. The disguised Kashizudoto had decided to name himself "Chad", sporting a dress shirt and jeans; he wasn't very used to modern clothing as a shinobi, but he figured it out and made it look reasonable, although the right shoe would be tied in a weird fashion that no human would be able to perform (this would be the one flaw in his disguise, although he doubted anyone would catch it and figure out his bluff).

He had been heading over to the Sky Bar, as he had wanted to unwind after the task that he'd done in the Land of Lightning for the Order. He had sent Hawky off a while ago to Professor Ivan's in order to report on what had transpired in the manor of Lord Buma; however, the hawk would probably return soon. This left Kashizudoto to go and have some time to relax, maybe getting in more training soon; he had the intention of returning to Konoha with a lot more maturity, physically and mentally, than he had before.

He would walk in assertively to the bar, up high in the air with flashing lights and all sorts of people. He would come over to the counter and sit next to a young woman without paying much attention to her.

"Water," he would tell the bartender, who would have a look of confusion upon his face before going back and pouring in some water into a glass. People normally ordered alcohol, but Kashizudoto, as a growing boy and a sane person, didn't want to take in those damn toxins. While the bartender would fill up his glass, he would take a good look at the young woman sitting next to him, who was probably a non-native judging from her skin as pale as cumulus clouds. She had beautiful, long grey hair. with a golden clip keeping her bangs out of her eyes, that flowed down to her shoulders, sitting upon it a grey sweater dress that had plentiful room for her giant bust to show. Oh goodness, she looked gorgeous. People would be dancing out in the Sky Bar, and the disguised Kashizudoto decided that he might at least try to get a dance with her, considering that he had nothing to lose, not even a reputation.

"Hey you," the disguised Kashizudoto would tell the young woman in his "Chad" form, "Wanna dance?" He didn't know much about this whole romance thing, but his pubertal urges would be soaring at this point. He would just want to get in a quick dance with this woman to unwind and have the time of his life. After all, it'd be nice to get one more step in the direction of getting over Ashlee, who had already fallen hopelessly in love with his enemy.

Kashizudoto Chakra:

WC: 704

The Sky Bar. A unique attraction within Kumogakure no Sato. A high altitude bar that towered over the land of lightning. It was a place many of the villages residents came to unwind. Amongst them was the young beat freak Satoshi Kazuhiko.

The bar was a particularly favorite haunt of his. It was one of the few places where he felt he truly belonged. Where he felt that he was an active participant, a part of the environment, rather than simply an observer. The boy was dressed in his most comfortable clothing. People said the sky bar was many things. For relaxing. For drinking. But for Satoshi. It was made for dancing!

His body swayed perfectly to the music. His feet slid along the glass dance floor as if he were flying and the translucent foundation upon which he stood didn't help the metaphor any. Clouds and the village itself served as the backdrop for his perfect movements might be misconstrued as sensual if you didn't know the naive and innocent child that was Toshi. Lights pulsed, permeating through artificial fog and smoke that did just enough to make his space feel private. It strangely enough, served to amplify the feeling of intimacy that some of the burgeoning couples who clung to each other on the self-same floor. A curious duality of the dance floor.

He hummed to the music and was lost in his own world, shuffling and dancing through the crowd with a haunting awareness of his environment despite his closed eyes. He truly felt as if he was a part of the music. It was ethereal and simple and perfect. And while there were others present, he had come here alone. To get lost in sound, a sensation that he experienced more uniquely than any other ninja of the village.

[WC| 306]

Lin looked the stranger up and down. He must have belonged to Kumogakure to have been the skin and hair tone that he was. Perhaps she would dance with this man, as she had nothing else to do and she needed a good thing to take her mind off of her failed mission. Though she bristled at the "hey you." it was better than some other things that people had called her. She raised an eyebrow, "Sure?"

She didn't know this person, but it would be good to get off of the barstool that she was on. She tipped back most of her drink and gave the bartender the rest "Hold this for me." She nodded to him as he came by to grab what he assumed to be an empty bottle. He grumbled something about laziness to her and she offered Kashi her hand. She would let him lead her out to the dance floor. She knew how to dance, but she didn't know if he was a blues dancer, a dirty dancer, or some kind of unorthodox dancer. It wasn't really much a concern to her, she could always return to her drink later on that night.

She scanned the crowd and wasn't really able to tell through the fog and lights as to what or who awaited on the dance floor. If Kashi managed to swing past Toshi, she was probably oblivious to it, though she was wearing the perfume that she normally wore, so he might be able to pick up on that.

WC: 739

OOC: You two can go ahead and chase Kashi down to right outside the Sky Bar. :)

"Sure?" the young woman replied, probably a little offput by the suddenness of this whole thing; the only reason that Kashizudoto had been able to make a request like this with such forwardness was the disguise that he had with the Transformation Technique, as his reputation wouldn't be affected in any way (or so he thought, at least).

"Hold this for me," the woman told the bartender as she went to grab the hand of "Chad". He led her onto the dance floor only to have a sudden realization: he remembered that he couldn't dance!

Almost as if he had heard Kashizudoto's silent plea to get out of the situation, his messenger hawk, who he had dubbed "Hawky", would appear on the scene from thousands of meters overhead, letting out a loud "RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH" screech that would be so loud that everyone at the Sky Bar would be able to hear it, including Satoshi and Lin.

He would proceed to lead the young woman into an underarm 360 degrees twirl, after which Kashizudoto would immediately release his hand to leave Lin behind while he would backflip away as if he were still dancing. He would continue performing backflips under the pretext of dancing until he would reach a good distance away from the young woman, after which he would proceed to scram.

Meanwhile, his messenger hawk would still be following his scent and trying to track him down in order to deliver Professor Ivan's reply. Kashizudoto couldn't let the people at the Sky Bar see that he had a messenger hawk, as it could give away his cover, so he needed to find a safe place away from the attention to see Hawky. Besides, if Hawky found Kashizudoto in his current "Chad" form, he would probably look at "Chad" as an enemy masquerading his scent as Kashizudoto and would attack. The tokubetsu jonin wouldn't want that, so he would run through the dance floor out of the Sky Bar.

Any genin, such as Lin and Satoshi, would easily be able to use tracking skills to follow him throughout, as wherever he would run through the dance floor, he would have to push through people, objects, etc. to get through, displacing them and providing the most likely direction which he went to whomever was tracking him. One of the people who he would push out of his way while on the run would be Satoshi, who he wouldn't pay any special attention to or have any reason for it.

Soon, he would have ran out of the Sky Bar, hiding behind a boulder in order to release his disguise. The hawk would soon reach that location as well, following the tokubetsu jonin's scent. It would perch on his shoulder with a letter from Professor Ivan attached to its back. He would read it only to find what basically amounted to "Good job!", something that he was too used to hearing to care. If either one of the two genin or both decided to follow him, they would be able to catch up by now and find Kashizudoto without his disguise.

In reality, he was a thirteen year old boy, almost fourteen and definitely appearing to be a little older than he truly was, wearing a black swordsman's robe embroidered with golden patterns on the edges, a gift from Master Piandao after finishing his apprenticeship. On the left hip was a bamboo sheath containing the Tentetsutou or the "Sword of Heaven", a katana which he had forged out of a four billion year old meteorite under his apprenticeship under Master Piandao. Next to it, he had on a coil of wire that served a variety of purposes: grappling onto an object or surface, rappelling up surfaces without the aid of the Supernatural Walking Practice, pulling oneself towards a surface, extending the range of the Dragon Fire Jutsu, setting up traps, restraining enemies, etc. Directly below  the coil of wire, on his upper left thigh, he had a holster containing one kunai knife and three shuriken, just some basic projectiles that came in handy every now and then for combat situations. He would not have his Konoha forehead protector on his head as usual though; he had taken the liberty of hiding this within his robe so that if he ever blew his disguise, as he would have done now if at least one of the genin had decided to follow, he could not immediately be identified as a shinobi from Konoha.

WC: 1461

Satoshi had become lost in the music. His eyes closed and his heart sunk in song. If Lin passed him by he likely wouldn't have noticed. At this level, his pursuit of sound was incredibly useful when it came to feeling the beats of those around him... What it wasn't good at was figuring out the identity of those whom he was feeling. Satoshi needed to utilize all of his senses, like any other human, to know -who- someone was rather than -what-. So the bodies that passed him, some appealing, some not were only so in silhouette. With time, as he got stronger he'd be able to feel heart beats and flaws in their body... But for now it was like a particularly clear static.

He didn't need the Pursuit of Sound to identify the screech of a hawk as it tore through the sky though. The bird of prey's high pitched scream penetrated his ears, slicing through the fog and lights of the dance floor causing Satoshi to momentarily stop and look for the source. It was a problem of his... The boy was very easily distracted. Any new stimuli was instantly the most interesting.

And through the glass of the dance floor he spotted the hawk soaring beneath the high altitude establishment. How curious. Not that there was a hawk, necessarily. Birds of prey often came up here to nest. It was safe from all of their natural predators save man. Among the clouds, they were kings. But that screech didn't seem to indicate anything.

He continued to ponder, and truth be told Toshi knew very little about Hawks. He'd only learned about them in passing at the academy and a new Wyvern tape had dropped that day. He had spent more time in class enjoying the new mix tape rather than the lectures of his teacher... This was a common theme that would likely permeate the majority of the boys life and would surely contribute to his end times.

The crowd had broken only momentarily for the hawks screech. Like a heart skipping a beat, they went right back to what they were doing. All except for one. He didn't know the full extent of his actions, but as he got closer and entered his field, he could feel something breaking the harmony of the dance floor. Like a stone skipping across the surface of the pond, it would go unnoticed by all the fist save the one who would be struck by it.

He moved as Kashi's push was incoming, but unlike everyone else who had rolled off of his back like water off a duck's, Kashi collided with him. He spun briefly but easily righted himself and narrowed his eyes. Whoever that was seemed to be making a break for it. Damnit. With all the rumors going around town about an invasion he had been on edge... Heck everyone had. But this man was in his rhythm now... And Satoshi took off.

He followed the man through the crowd, gliding through them with ease, like a ghost. As soon as the man broke out of the crowd though, he outpaced him. He was fast! Far faster than Toshi and he practically vanished.

The boy skid to a halt just outside of the sky bar... The man had broken away from his Pursuit of Sound's humble range long ago. He frowned deeply... Ugh. What good was a sensory ninja if he couldn't follow a possible threat to the village out of a simple bar.  His shoulders slumped as he looked to the sky in disappointment... It was then that he saw the hawk as it descended behind a boulder.

Yosh! He balled a fist at his side... The thumb of his right hand pressing into his middle finger. His wrist shook with tension as he began to get a bit nervous... The combat shakes. A real pro...

"I know you're there! Come on out and announce yourself or prepare to hear the song of justice!" He declared with a voice far less shakey than his hand. He sounded composed. Aware. Like a real idiot!

[WC: 1,008]

Lin followed the ninja, moving between the people that he pushed until he pushed into Toshi. She was momentarily caught by surprise, especially when the person that she was supposed to be dancing with pushed Toshi. She knew that his sound sonar should have worked better than that, and she knew for a fact that Toshi should have better reaction time than that. Lin couldn't place why it bothered her that Toshi had been tossed aside like that, but she was a bit irate at the individual now. Grumbling, she followed behind Toshi, who had gotten to be faster than her, and she caught up right as he called out "I know you're there. Come on out and announce yourself or prepare to hear the song of justice!"

Lin face palmed with an audible smack. She knew that if the person was there and trying to hide now he would be gone. Perhaps she could catch him before he ran off. "He went that way." Lin pointed to an alley and would follow Toshi if he went. She knew that this ninja that she was going to have a dance with was probably from another village, since she didn't know anyone with a hawk from her village, especially one that would be willing to dance with her. She suspected that he was some sort of spy, but she didn't want to let Toshi in on that.

"Was sort of rude when he pushed you aside though." She admitted. She wanted to at least get an apology from the man for that. She knew that if she and Toshi were on a team, they could probably secure an apology from this man, whether he liked it or not. Reaching into where she usually kept her senbon, she found that she was missing them. Feeling more naked than before she sighed. It would just need to be something that she relied on her jutsu for. She wanted to learn the new technique that her mother had told her that she would teach her, but she didn't know if she was up for it when she had been asked to do it with her mother. Now she was alone and needed the training. Why hadn't she taken her up on that offer?

Grumbling she readied her hands for the signals necessary for jutsu. She would not be caught off guard by this man that dared push Toshi aside.

WC: 1156

OOC:

"I know you're there! Come on out and announce yourself or prepare to hear the song of justice!" the tokubetsu jonin heard a boy scream from the other side of the boulder. What the fuck was the song of justice? Did this guy ever hear of a frickin' cliche?

"Was sort of rude when he pushed you aside though," the young woman that he danced with admitted. Kashizudoto didn't want to cause too much trouble, being on foreign soil and all that could potentially turn into a battlefield.

The thirteen year old boy, probably almost fourteen at this point, would walk out from behind the boulder with the hawk perched on his shoulder and the letter still in his left hand, explaining, "Sorry 'bout any confusion. I'd have left by now if I wanted to, 'cus boy you guys are slow at tracking down people, but I think you guys deserve some kind of explanation before I take off."

"To put it short, I'm a traveler; that's really about it. Messenger hawks aren't really the norm around here, so I wanted to get over somewhere quiet to open this letter I got," he would admit, which had no lies but did not reveal the entire truth either.

He would watch the girl in the preliminary steps of forming a hand seal; obviously, she was a shinobi of some kind attempting to perform a jutsu. He didn't really want to start a fight, trying to keep a low profile and all; however, he had utmost confidence that he could beat the crap out of these two, considering how damn long they took just to track him and his hawk down here.

"Put down the hand seals," the boy would request calmly, "Trust me, you don't want to mess with me. I'm trying to be a little quiet around here, but if you guys offer me a fight, I'd be willing to make you regret it." In the meantime, he would cause the scroll in his left hand to burn to ashes; he no longer needed it as he had already read its contents. If either of the two clearly weaker shinobi tried to attack him, he would quickly react.

WC: 1839

Satoshi watched as the young boy walked out from behind th boulder, the hawk perched with him. He searched him over, doing a quick analysis of the kid who wasn't too much younger than himself. Perhaps, to a man grown a child was disarming... But to one who was a child himself, he didn't seem any less threatening than anyone else. He was sure Lin felt the same way, after all Satoshi and her had been sparring regularly. She'd seen some of what he could do and he had a kind heart, clean of killing intent.

He listened to him as he talked, rolled over his words in his ears and frowned. "I don't like the sound of your beat... It's syncopated. This is a pretty bad time to be a traveler, I'm sure you've heard, yeah?" He took a step forward, his hand still shaking somewhat with the uneasy tension of the situation and the friction caused by his fingers being forced together.

He told Lin to stop with the hand seals and that caused Satoshi's expression to darken a bit further. The boy was further away than he liked... Twenty yards. Maybe more. It was outside of Satoshi's comfort zone. It felt like he was having a conversation with him while keeping his own eyes closed. He couldn't grasp the full breadth of the situation and it was incredibly frustrating. As the boy cleared the ash from his fingers, the remnants of his message, Toshi's frown deepened further.

"This is our home. You have to dance to our song, not the other way around. Where are you from?" It was a bit of a gaff. He had mentioned Lin's hand seals... That and his movement was enough to conclude that this boy may be of the shinobi world... If that was the case he wasn't wearing his headband. Satoshi unconsciously slid his thumb over the front of his own. It was tied about his waist, the metal hanging like an over large belt buckle.

He searched the immediate area... He'd managed to have them track him towards the outskirts of the village, to the more mountainous region. If a fight broke out they wouldn't have to worry so much about doing damage to the village... But that also meant that it would take a fair amount of time for reinforcements to come. "I'm sure if you surrender yourself now, the authorities can sort this all out. If you're being honest you have nothing to worry about right?"

His eyes slid briefly to Lin... He took another step forward, this time placing himself between Lin and the stranger. They were in formation now... He'd see to it that she stay protected.

Lin did not put her hands down. She wasn't going to listen to someone that was obviously younger than her and probably less experienced. She growled at him, "Who are you? Why did you push Toshi? I don't take slights to my friends very well." Her hands were close together, waiting for the young man to make the first move. it would be her strongest jutsu, the lightning spear. Something that even Dameon had a hard time dodging.

Her eyebrows furrowed as he burned the letter. It was a bad thing that he was there and sending secret notes, "Who're you talking to? We're almost at war and there have been spies. Are you a Kirigakure spy?" She took a defensive stance, seeming like a cat ready to pounce. I'll just use that jutsu and then he'll be incapacitated and tell me all about that letter. Perhaps I can even take his hawk hostage. It would be a good thing to solve this without anyone getting wounded. I'll just capture his hawk. Or should I use the lightning spear? I'll let him make the first move.

Her resolve was absolute, it was perhaps the alcohol she had before or perhaps it was her instincts but she knew that she would only have time for one jutsu before he made it to her. She wouldn't hit Toshi, but she would hit him. Just enough to stop him and get the truth out of him, "What was in that letter? I should report you to the Raikage."

WC: 1431

"I don't like the sound of your beat... It's syncopated," the boy would speak in some funny tune, "This is a pretty bad time to be a traveler, I'm sure you've heard, yeah? Of course, the boy would be referring to the war between Kumo and Kiri right now, with Kiri obviously overpowering the other and Kumo being a place that could turn into a battlefield any second now. However, that was exactly the reason that Kashizudoto intended to go to Kumo in the first place (before he had gotten the request from the Order of the White Lotus, of course).

"The war is precisely why I'm here," the tokubetsu jonin would admit, "I want to see that battlefield for myself and make a determination on what conflict really is. Any war is a terrible thing, but I figured that I'd at least make the most of this by using it as a learning opportunity, if only to prevent wars in the future." He would be speaking the truth and nothing but the truth; however, he would still not reveal his identity.

"This is our home. You have to dance to our song, not the other way around," the boy continued in his funny melody, "Where are you from?" Of course he wanted his identity...

"It matters not, he would reply briefly, "I prefer to keep my identity private so that I don't get caught up in this conflict as a participant, you see? If nobody knows where I'm from, they'll have no incentive to attack me. I'm just trying to be a neutral spectator in this and for that, I'll need some amount of privacy." That was the truth, again. Hiding one's identity didn't necessarily mean outright lying.

"I'm sure if you surrender yourself now, the authorities can sort this all out," the boy continued arrogantly as if there was anything particularly incriminating in picking up a message from a hawk, "If you're being honest you have nothing to worry about right?"

"As I said before," the tokubetsu jonin would repeat, "I'm a neutral spectator. I don't want to get caught up with either of your village authorities unless I absolutely have to."

"Who are you?" the young woman repeated like a broken record, "Why did you push Toshi? I don't take slights to my friends very well." Obviously, this young woman didn't notice that Kashizudoto had indiscriminately pushed through everyone in his way to get over here.

"As I said, concealing my identity is the only way to make sure that I don't get caught up in this conflict," he would reiterate before adding, "You act as if I wanted to push what's his name, oh right - Toshi, nice to meet you. As you can see, I pushed through quite a lot of people to get over here to meet with Hawky." The hawk would let out a screech upon hearing his name.

"Who're you talking to?" she would question the one who clearly had much more skill than her based on the chase that had ensued previously, "We're almost at war and there have been spies. Are you a Kirigakure spy? What was in that letter? I should report you to the Raikage." The thought of him being a spy for Kiri would make Kashizudoto chuckle a little bit.

"It's cute that you think I'm a spy, the tokubetsu jonin would respond calmly, with katon chakra being stored up in his throat in case he ever would need to defend himself, "But I have much better things to do with my life than serve as some kind of intelligence agent. I was simply sending over news to a correspondent that I have in Iwa, and he responded with a generic "Congrats" letter. I was done reading it, so I threw it away." He had quick reaction time; if they ever sprung anything on him, he could quickly defend himself if need be.

WC: 2519

Satoshi raised his right arm, his fingers pressed tightly together and pointed towards the interloper. His left hand came up to grip the wrist of his right hand in a brace. He wasn't sure that he'd need it, but he'd never used this technique... Well that wasn't entirely true. He'd never correctly used this technique. He'd been practicing a number of basic elemental techniques, but this was a home brew. It was unique to him and his signature was all over it... If it worked. The last time he tried he received multiple perforations by way of kunai as thanks for his optimism. Perhaps it was for the best, he would have hated to have accidentally hurt Lin, even if it had been a spar.

He spoke then in a hushed whisper. His melodic voice meant only for Lin's ears. Given how far away the boy was it would take a feat of sensory jutsu to hear him, but it wouldn't be impossible. "We have to play by the rules, right? Go ahead and get some help, I'll keep him here or keep him from chasing after you."

His expression had shifted considerably. The shaking hadn't stopped so much as it had become less intense. His face became more grave. Determined. It was rare to see Toshi with anything but a smile, but this guy was really frustrating. Their were people's lives at risk. A storm was coming and it would surely sweep away some of his peers. Comrades who he was fond of today may lay unmoving in the streets tomorrow. Civilians like dango-obachan could get caught in the collateral. No, he couldn't allow to be his normal easy-going self, not if it could cause harm to the place that he loved.

"I hope that's all true. You keep a steady beat and stay right where you are and we'll get this all settled okay? There's no need for this miscommunication to come to any sort of violence." He did his best to sound reassuring as he spoke to the kid with the hawk. It had become a bit of a Mexican stand off... Unfortunately, Satoshi wasn't really clear on the rules of engagement. He wasn't sure who this person was either. He'd hate to attack a visiting diplomat or something like that...

He couldn't stop him from running away from the village. They were already at the border and he knew that he was outpaced as far as speed. But if he made a move to stop Lin from leaving he'd easily be able to intercept him. It didn't matter how fast he was, it was simple mathematics... But he hoped it didn't come to that.

Lin nodded at Toshi's resolve. She would have to go get the guards as this was something that escalated past their current level. She hoped that they would get there before Toshi died, but the boy hadn't said anything about killing them so she hoped that it wasn't on his mind. He was faster than Toshi, yes, but he would have to go through toshi to get to her, and she would use that to her advantage.

"Hold him off as long as possible please Toshi." She gave him a thumbs up that she was sure that he could feel with his Persuit of sound. She had grown close to him and they were on the brink of being able to make a combination jutsu. Their bond had grown as fighters so that they were almost able to meld their attacks into one full-on force. She hoped that meant that Toshi could hold his own even for a few seconds while she escaped.

She just had to get to the outskirts of town and yell for the guards for them to come after her and help them apprehend the man that claimed to be a neutral bystander. He was anything but with the burning of that letter, or else he would have showed it to them. What a nuisance. She hoped that he would get the picture that he couldn't just invade the village without some sort of repercussion. She knew that if she didn't get to the village soon, she would be too late to save Toshi from a beating at least, or from death at worst. She didn't know what else to do though.

When she was in sight of the guards she screamed, "Help! Spy!" She knew that these guards particularly were a bit lower in rank than the ones that guarded the Kage, but she didn't care. At least there would be some sort of backup for them.

WC: 1767

The boy would point at Kashizudoto with his right arm as if to lay guilt upon him; the tokubetsu jonin would know that he couldn't blame the man for being suspicious with the war and all. The strange, melodic boy would being conferring privately with the young woman; from twenty meters away, Kashizudoto wouldn't bother picking up the details of what they were talking about, though from the words that he could hear without much effort, it had to do with Lin running and getting help. The tokubetsu jonin would sigh as he would ready for a combat situation that would clearly be breaking out.

"I hope that's all true. You keep a steady beat and stay right where you are and we'll get this all settled okay? There's no need for this miscommunication to come to any sort of violence," the boy would speak in his strange melody which Kashizudoto would find it a bit annoying at this point. He couldn't get involved with the authorities for the precise reason that he had told them earlier, but it would be impossible at this point to get them to trust him. He needed to stop them from raising suspicion though by calling over the guards.

"Hold him off as long as possible please Toshi," the young woman would tell the boy. The tokubetsu jonin and his hawk had trained in the Land of Earth's Valley of Mountains for weeks and had gone on numerous adventures together in the Land of Lightning by now. At this point, they acted in extreme coordination with one another. Both of them knew that Kashizudoto would go for the melodious boy to stop him from running while the hawk would go for the young woman, as it would be the best allocation of their unique skills.

As soon as the woman would begin to turn away in order to run, the hawk would fly off Kashizudoto's shoulder in a sudden burst of 18 m/s; as there were 20 meters between the two, the hawk would be able to nail the young woman right in the head with its beak in a little bit more than a second. With the hawk's incredible reaction time compared to hers, she wouldn't be able to dodge either or much less let out more than a squeal before getting hit down to the ground with great force, after which the hawk would then cover up her mouth with its talons while still allowing her enough room to breath well.

Meanwhile, Kashizudoto would have his mind set on taking care of the melodious kid; he decided that the best thing to do would be to quickly form a hand seal to immediately create two shadow clones of him that would all at run at the boy at 10 m/s, his normal speed, while unsheathing their katanas, black as an onyx due to the Tentetsutou's origin from a meteorite. All of this would take a little more than 2 seconds considering that they were 20 meters away. He would not actually hit the boy with the swords, as he did not want to hurt him at all; instead, the shadow clone on the far left would jump at him and restrain him to the ground just as the hawk would be doing with the young woman.

All the while, the original Kashizudoto would be rushing to the hawk's aid in restraining the young woman at 10 m/s, which would take about 2 seconds. He would not want to keep them in this position forever; all he would want to do would be to talk to them in peace without getting into some standoff. He would need to show that he was in charge so that they wouldn't go running off again. Obviously, he meant no malice towards either of the two; this had just been a misunderstanding that he'd need to clear up with them: on his terms.

Kashizudoto Chakra:

Kashizudoto Shadow Clone 1 Chakra:

Kashizudoto Shadow Clone 2 Chakra:

Hawky Chakra:

WC: 3192

Satoshi grinned at Lin's thumbs up. He hadn't seen it with his eyes, but he'd felt it. The time for talk had come to an end. He knew it, and so did the strange spy boy. It was the reason that the beat-freak had spoken to Lin without turning his attention away from her. He was waiting to see if the stranger from a strange land would sit by idly and resolve things peacefully, or if he'd force them to defend themselves. It was true, this whole thing could be a misunderstanding, but he'd already noted the weapon that he was carrying... And it wasn't made for chopping broccoli. Though... It was likely pretty good at that too!

Lin took off, he felt her break from his field and he was confident in her speed. She was as fast as he was... She'd been faster than him a few weeks ago, but their consistent training seemed to have been beneficial for both of them. She had improved greatly and he had caught up. His eyes narrowed as the hawk prepared to take off. He flapped his great wings once, twice, and then was airborne. Hmph.

Much like Kashi hadn't considered that his right arm wasn't merely pointing at him, but rather had been preparing a trump card. Satoshi hadn't considered that the kid would send his pet bird after her... He had expected him to give chase on his own. Fine... He had prepared for a similar situation... Albeit it wouldn't have split his attention the way that his initial plan had.

The tension in Satoshi's fingers gave way as he stated "Fuwa". He then drew in a deep breath, and snapped his fingers. "Zofuku Ju!" If Lin heard the name of the technique she might recognize it as the one he'd attempted to use in their first spar. The one that had failed miserably and caused him to become a human pin-cushion. Satoshi had practiced since then. He'd perfected it.. Well, if you can call what was about to happen perfection.

His fingers snapped. But what emerged from the release of friction and pressure wasn't a soft pop. Instead it was a savage sonic boom! A deafening crack like thunder split the air as the force of his action kicked his wrist up in a sort of recoil. This was his Discord style, Amplification Gun. When he had used it on Lin she had been struck with embarrassing silence. This time though, it generated a completely invisible bullet of concussive sound. The rather impressive result of amplifying the sound of a snap into a sonic boom! The distance and the strange nature of the technique would likely make it unpredictable to his opponent, but it traveled slightly faster than his hawk. And in fact, it was intended for the bird.

The shot was aimed directly in the hawk's path and while it was only a meter in radius, the two meter diameter of the attack was darn near the size of the avian predator. It wouldn't be able to outpace it, and they were headed for a collision course. If it struck the bird it would surely scramble it momentarily and buy time for Lin. Likewise, if the bird did somehow detect it through some sort of passive sensory technique, it would be forced to divert it's course in a meaningful way. Theoretically buying Lin time to create a more sizeable lead. While it was true the hawk was faster, it was also already 20 meters behind.

Unfortunately for Satoshi, the diaphragm he was able to create to amplify sound in such a destructive manner could not take more than a single use. He wouldn't be able to reuse the Zofuku Ju technique again right away and at the moment, the spy had created some clones. Lin had tried a similar technique on him... At the time she didn't know that he'd be able to see right through it! Lucky!

But as the clones neared, the boy and his duplicates and broke into his pursuit of sound field he felt a brief moment of dizziness* wash over him... These clones weren't like Lin's clones. They had mass. He could feel their beat! He had been arrogant in assuming he had this well in hand and he was ignorant to all the mysteries of the ninja world. He'd not seen clones like this before... Though he'd heard it was possible. He was after all, a rather inexperienced Genin. And while the bird may have been taken care of, he now had three spies on his hands. Further, he hadn't bothered to try to keep track of which one had been the original.

He'd bought Lin some space, thrown a bit of a monkey wrench in the strangers plan, but she would have to deal with at least one of the forms... He had two coming his way as it was. Both had their weapons drawn. Satoshi drew back, leaping away from them as they closed to buy himself some more time as he brought his fists up in a boxing stance. Only one of them moved on him now though. It was the one on the left. And it was rather fast!

The clone (though he didn't know it) leapt at him! It didn't swing it's sword down, which was curious, but Satoshi could feel all of it's movements. It granted him a greater understanding of what it was attempting to do as it rippled and disrupted his Pursuit of Sound field. It was going to grab onto him... and realistically there was nothing he could do to get out of the way, it was simply too fast! Satoshi turned towards it, putting his back to the other clone as he lashed out with a potentially devastating (at least by genin standards!) left body blow as the clone came into him.

He'd hoped that his forward force and the force of the tackle would counter-act eachother's momentum and leave them in a standing grapple... While this wasn't great, especially with another person with a sword behind him, at least it would put him in a semi-advantageous position against this one... Kenjutsu was difficult to use in a phone booth fight... And that was precisely the sort of fight Satoshi preferred. Furthermore, he was hoping that the punch would drive the air out of him... Maybe make him hesitate a second on his next attack... Satoshi could feel that he was no match for him in a match of raw physical ability...

Onkyō no Tsuiseki:

Fuwa:

*:

Rolling..

Intervening..

The member 'Syn' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

'Thread Intervention' :

When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, dont adjust the goals, adjust the steps involved.

Like one without life he lay still on his couch. His eyes wide open and looking straight at the wooden ceiling. The thoughts of what he had done to Zen back at the border of the land of stone flashed. He held no regrets, all that was left was revenge and it would all be over soon once Ichido had suffered the same fate that Zen had suffered in the hands of this senju. He had been back in Kumogakure few days ago but he had yet to report to the Raikage having visited his office and not meeting him on seat. Very much seemed to have changed in kumogakure and lots of mouths had been moving since he returned. He noticed the doubled guards at the village gates and even the ones on patrol in the village. It all came down to the conflict between Kirigakure and Kumogakure which Syn did not know about. Lost in his thoughts, he weighed the events of war and the aftermath if the two nations were to clash. It never ended well he knew but then how could it be stopped.

A loud ping brought him back from wherever he was as his eyes watered having stared endlessly into the void. He got up and walked towards the window as the cool night breeze slapped against his bare chest and coursed through his teal green hair. He had been home all day but now he felt the urge to take a walk. The young man made his way to his room upstairs and changed into a black knee length coat, dark pants and black boots to match. He was not putting on his googles this time but right after tying his head band firmly round his waist, he plugged in his head phones as he felt his ninja pouch resting by his side and attached to the waist bag holding his scrolls.

He walked out and shut the door behind him. He had no where particular in mind but he just kept walking as his ipod played a cool music at a moderate volume. The moon was full and the streets were mostly silent. Since he got back, the villagers had been hitting the sack pretty early which really showed that something was not right. Syn had wandered off pretty far and he did not even know it until he heard a loud sound like the cracking of thunder or was it lightning. This did not bother him much afterall this was kumogakure and such sounds were common.

He looked forward and knew where this path was leading to, the Sky bar. He had never been there since he had not spent enough time in the village and perhaps now would be a good time to relax with a drink or two.

WC:487

Hawky shot at her like a bullet and narrowly avoided toshi's jutsu as he aimed it right at the bird. If hawky had been flying in a straight line it certainly would have hit him, and it was only due to his reaction time that he was able to change directions fast enough to avoid Toshi's ability by a mere margin. The jutsu was so fast that Lin was sure that it had hit, but she didn't turn around just in case it didn't. She needed every precious second of time. Sprinting at her top speed she charged for the village.

With Satoshi running interference for Lin, she was able to make it within earshot of the guards and shouted, "Help! Spy!" She knew that these guards particularly were a bit lower in rank than the ones that guarded the Kage, but she didn't care. At least there would be some sort of backup for them.

She was running at top speed, so she wasn't able to get very far, but was able to run for 20 seconds at least. Which gave her enough time. it was a good thing that Toshi had aimed at hawky because the bird had to change course before it hit Lin, which gave her just enough time to dodge him at first. It was also a good thing that they weren't that far outside of town. She knew that if they had been the battle would have been decided in an instant. With her opponent's bird and her opponent behind her it was only a matter of time before they caught up to her, the bird aiming for her head hit her shoulder as she dodged out of the way and took most of the blow there. A stinging sensation shot down her left arm as she rolled with the blow and felt the hawk try to grab at her face. It was a good thing that she had Toshi to back her up or else it would have gone as the konoha ninja had wanted.

It was all over now though, She had yelled for the guards, and hoped that they had heard. She was on the ground now, a gash from hawky's beak left a mark that ran across her shoulder and bled profusely, cutting some of the veins in her arm in his desperate attempt to shut the kunoichi up. It was a good thing that Lin was decidedly older than kashizudoto, as it was the only thing that had saved her. Now, though, on the ground, she was all but helpless to his next attacks. That was quite alright though, because she believed that she was in earshot of the guards and they would be coming to her aid soon.

WC: 2239

"Fuwa:" the melodious boy would state as if reciting a technique with his hands pointed in the direction of Hawky and Lin, "Zofuku Ju!" He would then snap, releasing a thunderous sonic boom, visible to the naked ear but not the naked eye, disturbing the flight path of Hawky as he had to dodge it; as a bird of prey, Hawky's ears could pick up the subtle detail of the bullet making its way for him, so he would dodge but not without going off his path quite a bit. As such, his hawk would veer off course but would immediately begin flying towards the girl again, swooping down to hit her with his beak but not before she let out a sharp but short cry for help before the hawk would attempt to shut her mouth with its talons. Holy crap, he was screwed. Guards would be coming any minute now and fighting them would be contrary to his purpose of peace in this land. He'd have to get away and fast.

Meanwhile, the shadow clone on the left would have cornered the melodious boy before the boy would leap back and try and tackle the clone on the left. Not wanting to hurt the boy, the Kashizudoto clones would be determined not to use kenjutsu. As a result, both of them would both jump at the melodious boy; after a little taijutsu, the clones would capture the melodious boy and pin him to the ground unless he would pull off something to stop them.

Now that Kashizudoto's hawk and shadow clones would keep the genin busy, the original Kashizudoto would use this opportunity to make his escape with the infamous Body Flicker Technique, a puff of smoke masking his disappearance. Upon noticing this, the shadow clones would release their hold on Satoshi, leap backwards, and dispel themselves as long as there was no serious interference on the boy's part. After the scent of Kashizudoto would disappear from the scene, the hawk would stop pestering the young woman and would fly off into the skies in order to find his master, who would wait for him far into the Wilderness of the Land of Lightning. This situation would demonstrate to the boy the importance of maintaining a low profile in this warzone; he wouldn't expect any direct consequences from this confrontation though.

Kashizudoto Chakra:

WC: 3590

[Exit]

Hanuman, Lord of Monkeys: 929/6300
Senjutsu: A -> S: 1161/8100
Shielding Wings: 1500/1500

Satoshi was quickly overcome by the pair of shadow clones. He wasn't sure which one was real, if any, but it didn't matter. His sense became scrambled and he was having difficulty reading which attack was coming from which side. His Pursuit of Sound was still young and while it was an excellent tool to use in a one on one confrontation, it quickly became overwhelming against more than one opponent.

He felt his blow sink into the belly of one of the clones. He knew where this one was, but the one he'd lost track of clamored onto his back. He attempted to maintain his balance but his rhythm was off. His right leg gave out and his body toppled to the side. Curses!

He brought his hands up to guard his face and started to try to sort out some sort of plan to get out of this mess. He needed to help Lin, like he promised he'd do! ...But a moment later the weight that was restraining him disappeared in two puffs of smoke and some satisfying pops. Satoshi slowly sat up... Looking about curiously... The static was gone... If they had used some sort of stealth jutsu, he couldn't feel them.

He slowly climbed to his feet and searched his environment once more. And once more he found absolutely nothing. He didn't hear the hawk or see the boy either... Perhaps their plan had work and Lin's decision to call the guards had scared whoever that was off...

"Lin! Hey Lin!" he called out as he started to slowly walk in the direction she had run off for. He winced a bit with each footfall, he'd gotten frazzled and his failure to correct his balance had caused some sort of injury to his left ankle. It didn't feel broken but he might have twisted it... Stupid...

Syn had come to know kumogakure so well like this was where he was born. Historically, he knew where his roots were but left to him, a home is not where you come from rather it is where you are accepted and welcomed. He was not know by many to be a senju because he hardly utilized his clan techniques but he had the feeling that soon enough, there wouldn't be a need to hide it.
The thoughts of having to face Ichido very soon dawned on him and there was not a hint of fear on his face. The brutality that he would display in the process of killing Ichido would far surpass that of Zen's death. Soon, his enemy would be upon the land of lightening and he would have to sort out personal issues with him. Fist to Fist.

Syn's attention was drawn by loud foot steps in the distance and immediately swinging into motion, he appraoched the source of the sound only to be met by two village guards and two other people who he wasn't sure were shinobis due to no headbands on them at the scene. Upon seeing him, the guards greeted before making their report showing that he was higher ranked than they were.
'Syn sama, we came here as soon as we heard the cry of the young lady for help but upon getting here, we were told that the attacker was gone. We received information on the attacker's appearance from these two victims but upon searching around he was nowhere to be found. What should we do?'

The village was at the verge of war and then some random person was attacking the villagers? He could be a spy but that was very unlikely. If he was actually a trained one, he would not have engaged any opponents in the open but as it was the situation was not to be taken likely in the village's current state. These guards were merely c ranked or b at most and thus they would have a hard time if this person was truly a spy.
'Report the situation to headquarters along with the information you've gotten concerning the attacker's appearance and have them send out ninjas in search of this person. Dismissed.

Syn would then be faced with two inhabitants of his village. One of them was a female with white hair and blue eyes while the other was a male with black hair and red eyes looking much younger than the female and both victims happened to be injured in some way.
It was good of you both to alert the guards but you need to be more careful as i assume that you know the village's current state. I'm Syn, here let me help.

The jounin would reach for his pouch and fetch a roll of bandage and then wrap it round the female's injured shoulder if she'd let him and that should stop the bleeding until the wound would be properly examined. He would reach for two rolls of the bandage this time because judging from the way the male stood, he appeared to have hurt his left ankle. Syn would tell the male to hold still as he would then twist the ankle both left and right before wrapping it tight in bandages. He did not have to be a medic to know how to do that and by doing it, the male would be able to manage to walk for the time being. The pain would come in the morning.

'I should get you both somewhere for proper care. How about my home? If yours aren't too far. Making two more friends wouldn't burden him. Not this night, he felt.
WC:636/1323

Lin ran up to the person that she saw the guards running to and said that she had been attacked by a person that looked like a boy in gold embroidered black robes. She didn't know his name or his nationality, and to be honest it could have been someone from Kumogakure even. It didn't mean that they wouldn't work on finding him, but they probably wouldn't be able to pin him down. And their injuries were superficial at best. She just thought that it must have been a spy, since he was obviously running around the village sending secret notes. No one burned notes that they received unless they didn't want them read.

Sighing she watched as he bandaged her arm and toshi's foot and asked Toshi, "Want me to heal your foot?" before she made a series of handsigns and had teal chakra flow through to her fingertips. Taking off the bandage, she shot her shoulder with the healing bolt. The wound closed up but was still tender to the touch. Taking aim at Toshi's foot she shot another two bolts at his foot for good measure to see if it would help him at all, and felt the chakra flow out of her from using the jutsu. It was a good feeling to keep her friends healed, especially when they were hurt.

"Proper care would be good, though, I don't think we will need medical care. Perhaps we could just talk to you at the nearest coffee-shop or something." She offered, with a smile, "Oh, My name is Lin and this is Satoshi. We are genin here and well, we were in over our heads on this one. Sorry for wandering off." She blushed and brushed her hair in front of her scar, trying to hide it. She felt more self-conscious after being beaten up by a hawk.

WC: 2569

Satoshi winced as he walked on his injured leg. He headed in the direction Lin had been and before long he'd managed to catch sight of her. She'd gotten the attention of the guards and another approached them, flanked on either side by some of the local defense force. He let out a sigh of relief as he dismissed his escort. Not because he didn't like guards, but rather because it meant he belonged here. He had given them an order and they had listened. There was a bit of comfort in that.

Satoshi finally reached Lin and slid backwards onto his butt, eager to get off his ankle. It was awful clumsy of him to get caught up the way he did... It was something that he would need to work on developing a solution for. He couldn't panic every time he was against more than a single individual.

As the man addressed his ankle he pulled the leg of his pants up helpfully before turning his attention to Lin. "Nice job! You really pulled through and saved us." He winced as he spoke as the man wound bandages around his leg. It wasn't that it was broken or that the injury was particularly severe. It was that Satoshi was a class 1 wuss!

Once he was done Toshi slowly clamored onto his feet to test out the ankle. It was a little sore but he was able to step on it gingerly. It took a few modest applications of his weight before he treated with any sort of respect, but first-aid had been properly administered and it seemed like he'd be fine... As if an ankle roll was a life threatening injury.

Further, Lin had given him a bit of advanced care. To be honest, he couldn't really feel the result of the jutsu she had used, but that was likely a good sign. He hadn't suffered any abrasion or laceration and with any luck it meant the headache he was about to develop would be an equivalent exchange for his ankle not being sore tomorrow morning.

"Nice to meet you Syn! No need to thank us, we were just doing our job as resident of our great village!" He beamed stupidly as if the chastisement that Syn had delivered had been all praise rather than advice of caution. Further, Satoshi leaned back and placed both hands on the sides of his headband, showing the Kumogakure symbol proudly. He wore his headband about his waist, like a belt. The red cloth slid through his belt loops while the plate rested over the fastens of his snow white slacks like an overlarge buckle.

"Why don't you guys lead the way, hm?" He put a hand to the back of his head and rubbed at it. "I'm having a bit of trouble thinking at the moment." He then offered a melodic laugh that was unfortunately interrupted by a wince. The headache was already kicking in... Stupid unique shinobi physiology.