Chou had long since fallen asleep; the girl must have not slept much during her journey to the village. Izumi sat in the dark, quiet bar waiting for some sort of sign that the fighting had begun; something to let her know that the battle of the sand had started. The young Karisuma woman was quite anxious and her lack of company was not helping. After witnessing the man’s menacing aura, his parting words had a much stronger effect on her. The teen simply sat in silence not daring to bother the man who she knew as Jackal, afraid he might teach her another painful lesson for disturbing him. While Izumi had long since healed the wounds from the short sparring contest that had caused the man to leave in such a storm, she didn’t necessarily want to get any new injuries. Lost in contemplation, Izumi began to think of those who had a meaning in her life right now, firstly, her mother. She thought of Syekren and even of the girl Chou, hoping that the people she knew would be okay. She thought of the monstrous man she once saved in an alleyway not far from here, Zu.  She even thought of the man who had left her to sit in the dark until the battle starter. Her only thoughts were to hope that no one else got hurt in the attempt on the council.

Having waited several hours at this point, it was almost a relief when Izumi heard what sounded like a loud explosion outside. Izumi quickly rose to her feet, her mind racing, This must be it. I wonder if that means it’s already over, one explosion could take them out if they were all in the same place. Another loud bang, shook the bar, this time Izumi could see flames flaring up through the windows of the bar. That can’t be. The administration building is nowhere near here, why would there be explosions so close to the slums. A third explosion rocked the bar, Izumi was getting worried now. The young Karisuma woman ran up the stairs, to see if she could find a better view of what was going on from the second story. To her frustration the windows on the second level of the building offered no assistance in her desire to get a better view of the destruction unfolding in the village. She was terrified, hoping that everyone would be okay and that no innocent lives would be lost.

The fourth explosion of the night rang in Izumi’s ears, again she saw flames illuminate the view out of the window she was struggling to find a good view through. Fed up with her inability to see the commotion unfolding in the village she’s grown up in; the village which her mother still was living. Izumi began searching for some way on to the rooftop of the building, however her search was met with only further frustration. Not allowing herself to be defeated by something as silly as a window Izumi opened her previous observation portal and climbed out of it. The young woman’s feet glowed blue with chakra, allowing her to stand on the wall as if gravity had special rules just for Izumi to follow. Ascending up the wall of the building she headed for the rooftop, the bar she was currently climbing being the tallest building on the block.

As Izumi approached the top edge of the rooftop another explosion sounded through the night, briefly lighting up the wall she was currently attached to by her supernatural walking technique. Upon going up and over the edge of the wall, Izumi was surprised to see two things: first, there was in fact after all another way up to the rooftop that she had not found. Second, Ryu was on the rooftop already surely for the same reason as Izumi was, to find out what the fate of the village would be. His presence was strangely calming, reassuring her that she wasn’t alone on this night. After regarding the man for a moment she spoke, ”I know you probably didn’t see my note. That’s the business Syekren was talking about; he’s here to kill the village council. But I had no idea that he had to burn down half of the Sand to do it.” Izumi looked out over the village, she could hear screams and see fires blazing all over. It appears the fighting wasn’t the only cause of chaos, she could see various groups fighting, people looting stores, general mayhem that would be expected in a battle for the fate of a nation. Izumi was scared but tried her best not to show it, now was not the time to let emotion run her actions.

[807]

Ryu had been standing up there for some time. Since a couple of fires had started in the main village. He could see them in the distance still from his roof. The night was cold but he was still in his black jeans with the torn up knee's tucked over black boots. His top however had changed into a black T shirt and a kunai and a knife were clearly present in the small of his back tucked into his belt. A black leather long coat was set off to the side on one of the three chairs around a glass table that were present. Folded over the top of it. In case he grew cold. However it was far from his mind at the moment. Trouble in the village had a way of pouring down into the slums. He knew it was bad news. There would be panic and refugee's. Resources would be limited and he wasn't going to be the only person who knew it. He was going to need to protect what was his. There would be opportunity there however. People would flee either the entire village or to the slums. Most likely the ones who knew enough to survive would be looking for shelter in his territory. He just needed to keep it whole.

As he had expected however he noted some looting beginning. None of his people of course but it was still a trigger being snapped. As soon as one shop was broken into the desperate knew fear. Fighting began to break out between those with and those without. A couple of Molotov cocktails were thrown here and there. Lighting up the streets with their red glare. Flickering with life. Ryu would let out a sharp piercing whistle as soon as it began. Two things responded to it. Some of the people more familiar with him stopped trying to loot and ran for it. However the true purpose of it was his own followers. People dressed in dark cloaks that blended it swarmed the streets with bats and sticks. Smashing through the people looting the shops and fighting them back. Aiding the shop keepers but refraining from doing anyone serious harm. The tide was already being pushed back. However amidst the confusion two more flamiing projectiles flew through the air. Bouncing off the wall of the bar and exploding. Shaking the entire bar at the force. The two responsible were not of this location though. They were standing on a far away roof top that made the throw impossible for the normal folk. Aside from that they were grinning at him. Watching him a moment before turning and fleeing west. A statement from one of the kings. This would be their moment.

He stepped forward and began to tie his black hair back in a pony tail. A plain black eye patch over his sharingan now. There were flames too close to the bar and in the streets too close to the shops. He would pause however as one of the girls from downstairs cleared the roof. His shining blue eye seeming to glow in the night as it looked back to her. She would have arrived just after his whistle. Just after the explosions. He wondered if she could feel the katon chakra below. Threatening them even now. Still she would look to him and he could tell she was frightened. She spoke of what was truly going on and he understood as he glanced back at the village where it had all started. All this chaos and he was to baby sit...It benefited him but he wondered just how well that man would do. Had he grown so much since Ryu bested him in the streets? Still the fires there were no joke. He could tell from where he was he wouldn't have been much of a moving part in that game of pawns. He was sure of one thing though. People were dying there. Still he needed to distract her. Give her a reason to think of anything but what was going on. He supposed keeping them alive would do just that.

"Whatever they are doing we have larger problems of our own. I will put out the fires in the streets but you need to put out the one against the bar. Focus your katon energy and feel the heat below. Command the heat upwards and smother the flames. You need to do this to protect the bar and your friend below."

757

From the rooftop Izumi could see that the scene was much worse than she had initially thought, the looting was widespread at this point and people were panicking. The fires nearest the bar weren’t normal flames Izumi could tell that much, but she couldn’t exactly tell why. The young woman could feel the heat from the rooftop, Ryu had looked as if he was going to join the fray; to what purpose Izumi had no idea. However her presence appeared to stall his departure. He spoke to the teen, giving her instruction of what she could do to help, "Whatever they are doing we have larger problems of our own. I will put out the fires in the streets but you need to put out the one against the bar. Focus your katon energy and feel the heat below. Command the heat upwards and smother the flames. You need to do this to protect the bar and your friend below." She appreciated having a task at a time like this, wanting to be able to have something to get her mind off what might be happening. ”Yes, Senpai.” Izumi’s previous bad attitude had been completely replaced by the focus her training up to this point had conditioned her for. This was not a drill; this was an actual emergency not a time for snide comments and japes. Izumi was terrified somewhere deep down but on the surface she was collected, ready to do what she must. Defending the bar was not just a benefit for the Jackal, because of the still in the building. Should the fire reach it, the results could be catastrophic. Not to mention the fact that Chou was still asleep within the restaurant portion of the building. Regardless of what Izumi had originally expected would happen on this night, this is what she was doing: protecting the bar and what was inside.

Wasting no more time for idle thoughts of destruction and fire, the young lady would go to the edge of the building, armed with the knowledge that the fires were in fact extraordinary. The fires had been set by shinobi of some kind it would seem, seeing as the strange quality Izumi noticed before could be attributed to the very power she held. The Jackal had told her to reach out into her element and feel the power behind the flames the chakra that fueled its brilliant flashes and kept it burning hot and wild. Izumi would reach out attempting to gather katon chakra in her hand, grasping out for the power held within the flames, beckoning it upwards towards her and away from the direction it was originally willed: towards the bar that the young woman was tasked to defend. At first, she struggled at her task, the young Karisuma not being used to moulding chakra in this way. For brief instants she thought she could feel something almost like a heat in her hand that came from without rather than from the usual heat she was accustomed to feeling within herself when she used Katon techniques. While the fires hadn’t begun to subside yet Izumi was pleased to notice that they at least weren’t spreading towards the bar at this point. Determined to complete her task, she focused on the heat that was filling her hands with strange warmth. The night’s air was actually quite cold so it was nice to feel the warmth spread through her body as she absorbed the foreign katon chakra, the flames subsiding to mere embers mere seconds after she had found the proper way to focus her efforts. Izumi let a smile pass her lips for a moment before returning to her businesslike focus and turning back to Ryu. ”The fires have been dealt with, what else can I do to help? I can’t stand waiting around anymore. We are supposed to join Syekren in the desert once we get out of the village, but from the look of things that doesn’t look to be a feasible option for the time being.” In the the moons pale silver light, Izumi would get another look at the man who had nearly broken her wrist just hours earlier. Although she'd never admit it to him, he actually looked quite dashing. She calmly awaited further instruction, looking the man in his single blue eye.

[743]

Ryu would cross his arms and watch. His blue eye studying her as she struggled with her task. The fires were no longer being fed chakra. It was the initial blow meant to either distract or simply be a warning. However they had struck first. For him it was just an insult. He knew they had eyes watching for his reaction. He might be one of the smaller issues of the night but he was one that couldn't be ignored. He had chosen to let her deal with those for that reason. He was having a genin undo their warning. The child standing at the edge of the roof was his answer to them. Their threat was being belittled. He didn't need to raise a hand because all they had accomplished was child's play. He wondered though for a moment if she would manage. She was no longer throwing around sarcasm. She was serious and collected now. Something that was to be aspired to for those panicking below. He would observe as the flames seemed to at first back away from her and then slowly wither until they were nothing but embers. The bar was saved and she had succeeded.

She would turn to him looking a little worn from the exercise she wasn't accustomed to. Perhaps a growing moment for her. To put out her flames was as important as being able to create them. Still he would watch her as she spoke. ”The fires have been dealt with, what else can I do to help? I can’t stand waiting around anymore. We are supposed to join Syekren in the desert once we get out of the village, but from the look of things that doesn’t look to be a feasible option for the time being.” He would frown before raising his right hand to scratch at the stubble on his chin a bit. Idly he would reach out and turn the chair the coat was on towards her. Picking up the coat itself and tossing it to her. It was designed to go down to his knee's so for her it would be much to large. Still he would toss it to her. She would likely realize the inside was lined with a fur lining. Likely some huge rabbit he had fought at some point by the feel since it was all one piece. Still it was warm inside of it. He would reply with a stern voice all the same.

"You can help by not getting caught in this. You just smothered a large fire. Right now your adrenaline is pumping but your chakra should be heavily expended. For now take a seat and recover in that coat to stay warm. Keep an eye up the way towards the main village. Once the sounds of battle stop that should be your cue to meet up with him. Now let me concentrate."

He would turn from her as he would focus on his own task. Fires were spreading in his streets and that he could not allow. He would move to the edge of the roof and place his feet shoulder width apart. His own hands would clap together as if in a prayer. As he did the sand on the roof would slowly begin to swirl. Slowly at first but picking up in speed until a small storm swirled around him. As he pulled his hands apart he would stretch them forward. As he did his hair would blow wildly around him from the sheer power he was throwing out of himself. The sands flew forward over the street and began to gather into massive arms that mimicked his own outstretched hands. Once it was fully formed he would Shake as his arms slowly lowered as if under a great weight. Holding it up. As he did the hands would smash down into the ground before shifting into twin earth dragons. Dancing around the street as they swiped through the people attacking his men and the fires alike. Pinning people to the ground with nearly concrete restraints and smothering the fires in an instant before they burst into sand clouds and blew away in the wind. Finally his arms dropped and he stood there. His breath labored but every bit of him appearing capable of doing it again. Only one thing seemed oddly different. A single white line would show now in his otherwise midnight black hair.

1504

To Izumi's surprise, instead of feeling energized from putting out the fire it would appear that the act of absorbing chakra like she had done drains her own reserves rather than boosting them. It appeared that what she had was satisfactory to the man, having softened his manner towards her immensely. Going so far as to lend her his coat, which she would put on gratefully, wrapping herself in it. The jacket was very warm and soft, lined with some sort of fur. Izumi was caught off guard slightly by the change in manner, quite a gentlemanly action for such a thuggish man. The gesture actually reddened Izumi's cheeks a bit, the young woman hoped he wouldn't notice it in the pale silver light of the moon above. Izumi managed to stammer an awkward thanks for the gift of warmth shared with her by the man. She looked away for a moment, pretending to be interested in some far off incident within her view in hopes of hiding her embarrassment. From behind her she could hear Jackal begin speaking his response, so she turned to look at him. Having completely abandoned her previous rudeness, she made it clear she was listening by once again making eye contact with the man. "You can help by not getting caught in this. You just smothered a large fire. Right now your adrenaline is pumping but your chakra should be heavily expended. For now take a seat and recover in that coat to stay warm. Keep an eye up the way towards the main village. Once the sounds of battle stop that should be your cue to meet up with him. Now let me concentrate." Izumi was both relieved and disappointed that she wasn't given a new task other than resting. On the one hand, Jackal had been right, Izumi had noticed a slight drain on herself and would appreciate the rest. On the other, she wanted to keep her mind busy on a night like this. A thought occurred to her, that would allow her to get the best compromise of both benefits: the Karisuma would pull out her uncle's journal and her pen.

Before she could start writing however, the young woman would be interrupted by the sound of a clap. Her cornflower blue eyes snapped up from the journal to look at the Jackal. His long black hair was blowing in the wind, and the sand on the ground around his feet began to swirl around him. Izumi had never seen such a display of power before, she was not sure what to expect. The whirlwind of sand and power grew into something of a small tornado of energy about the man. The sand itself extended outwards to the streets forming into giant versions of the Jackal's long arms. The Jackal began to tremble and shake, power coursing threw him it appeared that he was struggling to keep his arms up from the weight of the awesome might he was wielding. Suddenly, he dropped towards the ground loudly slamming his hands into the rooftop. Izumi's eyes widened as the visages of his arms transformed to those of dragons made of the earth itself. They flew out from their station and began gracefully meandering through the streets, smothering fires and pinning aggressors. It was truly a sight to behold, Izumi had never seen anything of its like in her life. There was one last surprise in store for the teen; the pure, snowy white, streak that had newly appeared in the hair of the Jackal. After a few moments of a awestruck silence and inaction, Izumi began writing in the journal, cataloging what she had seen so far. After all, if Izumi wanted to be the most famous Kunoichi author, her book would need to be as complete as possible. A second thought occurred to her as she finished inscribing her information thus far. Izumi had decided to ask Jackal some questions, maybe she could even get some new information to add to the journal. If nothing else, Izumi thought she could at the very least, get him to tell her his name.

Izumi looked at the man whom she had an entirely new opinion of, contemplating the best way to approach him. The man she knew as the Jackal was a true lesson in not judging a book by its cover. This dashing, ruffian of a man wasn't all he first appeared to be. Izumi had thought him nothing but another Shinobi turned thug. A man who took the gifts and training given to him to help the village to hurt it instead. She had thought wrong, the man had showed compassion on this night. He had extinguished the flames on this street at the same time he stopped all the infighting. Finally gathering the courage to speak, Izumi rose and approached the man to stand next to him, looking up towards him she spoke in a soft tone, ”J-Jackal, I was wondering if you'd tell me your name. Thank you again for letting me use your coat. I was actually getting quite cold.” The young woman would continue looking up at the man, hoping that her request was not asking too much. After all, there must have been some reason that the man would choose to use such an odd moniker and given his rough manner, Izumi could only assume it involved criminal activity. Criminals didn't really bother Izumi, she had known plenty in her time having grown up in the slums.

[933]

The fires in the immediate area were smothered. The riots pinned down. Had that been all his concerns that would be too easy. However the slums were much larger than the range of his personal capabilities. If anything he had only broken down a centered part of the madness. He hoped bandits wouldn't join in on the madness while the village was under attack but he couldn't let that stop him. If they came he would deal with them then. The area around his bar held the most wealth so they would come here. He would remain centered. However as the current situation was handled he let out an ear splitting whistle by putting his thumb and index finger up to his lips. His men in the streets catching their breath would look up to him there. The girl spoke a question but he would hold up one finger to bring up to wait a minute. He had to attend to this first. He would gather the chakra he could feel around him as fear and anger filled the hearts of his comrades. People looking to him for guidance. He had never revealed this to anyone but now he needed to inspire them all.

The slums were his kingdom. A king of scavengers and thugs. He bared his teeth when needed but for now he had gained a new power. His clothing changed as a green line rose up from the ground. Lightning arcing around the blue line as the small rocks around the building began to lift. The sheer power of it was nearly enough to force someone to their knee's. As the line rose his boots turned to bare feet and pale skin. His dark jeans shifted into pure white robes. Hanging loosely around him and draped over his pale shoulders. A pair of white coyote ears could be seen popping out of his hair. Hair that turned completely white. His tatoo's gone and so were his scars. He stood there a new being with his arms crossed and not a hint of the exhaustion from before. One might have thought him a different person if not for the eye patch still concealing the sharingan. He stood there with his arms cross and planted one foot on top of the raised edge of the roof. He took in a breath and called out to the men and women below him.

"Is this all it takes to scare you? Bunch of pups and house broken dogs is all I see! I thought only wolves had come to join the Jackal! Show some pride for **** sake. This is our home. Our turf. Some punk as bitch mother **** want to take what they see fit because the village is burning? C'mon. The village hasn't sent shit to help us more than a couple of times in years. Ain't nothin changed with them distracted. Go out there and do what we always do. Tear apart the enemy and let them know...let them know this is our KINGDOM!"

With that a roar could be heard from below as they scattered into groups in every direction to go an engage the looters. Thieves and thugs outnumbering them by dozens. Yet they moved with heart and conviction. With that he grinned before glancing back at the girl that had taken the seat as he had suggested. He grinned at her with his personality seemingly having a massive shift all the sudden. He was...mischievous? Compared to the serious man before his smile was so different. In a second he had stepped and was now next to her faster than her eyes could follow. Settling down in a cross legged sitting position as he plucked the notebook from her hand and held it up out of her reach. Grinning as he let it sway back and forth.

"Eh Syekeren knows that crap. Borrring. More interesting, what oh what might the coyote ask was the little red headed girl writing? A diary maybe? All about cute boys and what not I bet."

2189

To Izumi’s surprise, rather than an answer or even a listening ear she received a finger in her face. Izumi had never been rejected like this in her life. Izumi was used to everyone, men especially, hanging on every word she said. It was honestly a bit of a shock to the young Karisuma having been shut down by the man so harshly.  After his complete shutdown of the teen, the man began to undergo a change. Izumi was again awestruck at the power being unleashed before her eyes. His clothing and even his skin began to change, his tattoos and scars were gone, his clothing was replaced with white robes that draped over his body and the strangest change yet, was the pair of white ears that grew out his head. The new furry ears, appeared to have the look of a coyote’s. The Jackal had a speech prepared for the men below who it was now apparent were men under his command, "Is this all it takes to scare you? Bunch of pups and house broken dogs is all I see! I thought only wolves had come to join the Jackal! Show some pride for **** sake. This is our home. Our turf. Some punk as bitch mother **** want to take what they see fit because the village is burning? C'mon. The village hasn't sent shit to help us more than a couple of times in years. Ain't nothin changed with them distracted. Go out there and do what we always do. Tear apart the enemy and let them know...let them know this is our KINGDOM!" The men below cheered and the Jackal turned to her a changed man.

It seems that even his personally had changed, he was grinning at her in a playful way. Izumi hadn’t seen the man smile before. In fact she hadn’t even seen him make a neutral expression. Before now she’d only seen him irritated and scowling. In a mere blink of the eye he was upon her, sitting next to her and taking the journal away. The man held it up where she couldn’t reach it and Izumi reacted almost immediately lunging for it but to no avail, the man was too quick and too tall for her to do anything about it. He hadn’t taken it to read it, it seemed but simply to tease her. "Eh Syekeren knows that crap. Borrring. More interesting, what oh what might the coyote ask was the little red headed girl writing? A diary maybe? All about cute boys and what not I bet." This was definitely a much different man than she had grown accustomed to, he was playful and mischievous. A near 180 from what his personality had been before. He even was calling himself a coyote rather than a Jackal. This only confused Izumi further. It also occurred to Izumi that he must have heard what she had to ask earlier. Izumi felt slightly better that the man hadn’t ignored her completely. She didn’t know why she cared, perhaps it was the recent kindness the man had shown her. Izumi composed herself, taking a deep breath and looking him in his much softer face, ”That’s my uncles journal. Well, half of it is my uncle’s journal. The second half is the book I’m writing. I’m trying to write a history of my time. It’s going to be a sort of encyclopedia of the current events of my time and a profile of the people involved in them. That’s part of the reason I want your name, so that I can mention your contribution to tonight, and how you’ve helped so many people. I grew up in these slums and want the world to know who’s responsible for keeping the people who live in them safe. If you don’t believe me, you can take a look at it. Not like I could stop you anyways.” Izumi wrapped herself in the coat a little tighter, welcoming its warmth. The woman looked out over the village and couldn’t help but wonder how much longer this night would be.

[706 | Total Wordcount: 3,189]

[Exit]

---

Training:

”That’s my uncles journal. Well, half of it is my uncle’s journal. The second half is the book I’m writing. I’m trying to write a history of my time. It’s going to be a sort of encyclopedia of the current events of my time and a profile of the people involved in them. That’s part of the reason I want your name, so that I can mention your contribution to tonight, and how you’ve helped so many people. I grew up in these slums and want the world to know who’s responsible for keeping the people who live in them safe. If you don’t believe me, you can take a look at it. Not like I could stop you anyways.”

ahh well a family heirloom it seemed. Though it seemed that she wanted to catalog him more than anything. It was just so drawl. If she had said it was for her future biography he might have at least been impressed by her pride. It wasn't exactly original but it would show she had drive enough to get somewhere. Still he supposed intelligence wasn't to be belittled. Instead he would sigh and toss the book up in the air for it to fall easily into her hands. He was free for the moment. Enjoying himself as power ran through him. Enjoying the sensation of being free. The village could burn but he just wanted to have fun and keep what was his. The desert was his playground. Still he would speak briefly. Wanting to be done with it for now. "Yeah nows not a good time. I got some idiot or another to torment a bit." He would wink and then turn before a white tail would flick slightly around behind him. Bushy and almost as white as the moon. Then as sudden as he was there he was gone again. Off to patrol his kingdom.

Exit thread
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Edurance B-1 ~> B-2, 800
B-2 ~> B-3, 900

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