Kumogakure, this was Ryo’s new home. He was of the Knetegawa clan, and it wasn’t unusual for him to be in Kumogakure. In fact, he had visited once or twice when he was a child, he had met the head of the Kumogakure branch of the Knetegawa clan. Now that his home in Sunagakure was gone, along with the whole of the village he and his family had gone to Kumogakure. There was nothing left of his home, the memorial to his father, the workshop with all of the stuff he and his clan used to make their own puppets. All of it was gone and now the main branch of the Knetegawa clan was split between Kirigakure, and Kumogakure. Thankfully, he didn’t lose any of his family, but Reina lost an arm during the chaos which was only just replaced with a puppets’ arm.

Now that he was here, and now that this was his new home he decided that he would go out in order to explore his new home and get himself acquainted with the land. He also decided that there was no longer any point in wearing the Knetegawa coat that was the common look in Sunagakure. So instead, he was wearing a Knetegawa Lab coat. This was a white long-sleeved coat that looked to be a lab coat except the material was a bit thicker than the traditional lab coat. On the back of the coat was the purple blood drop of the Knetegawa to mark the user as one of the clan, and the coat as belonging to a member of the Knetegawa clan.

He walked through the streets of Kumogakure without any real destination in mind, and no real plan for what he was doing. He just needed to get out into the streets of his new home, he needed to think about where he was in life, where he wanted to go, and more importantly how he was going to make those who took his home, his father’s home, and everything he had there from him. He would get stronger, he would become the greatest puppet master that the world had ever seen and when he did all of this he would slaughter those who had destroyed, had a hand in destroying, or stepped aside to allow the destruction of Sunagakure. These were his thoughts as he walked through Sunagakure and he didn’t notice if he was being watched by anyone, or if someone he passed was a friend to him.

WC:425

The boy awoke with a scream to find himself alone in the dark room drenched in sweat, it had happened again. The nightmare had plagued the boy every night since that fateful night that the village hidden in the sand had become nothing more than just a stain of glass on the sand where it stood. Raphael wiped the sweat from his face looking around the room, a lot had changed for the boy in the past couple of weeks. He had gone from being a proud shinobi of the Hidden Sand Village to a refugee survivor of its destruction, and now yet again his role was changed. Raphael had awoken in a small village on the edge of the land of wind to be told he was brought there by an older man, with no where to return to as well as not knowing if those he cared for perished that night as he should had he left the land of wind and sought out a new place in which he could devote his services. The young Shinobi soon found himself in the presence of the great Raikage of the Village Hidden in the Clouds, the honorable Raikage took pity on the boy and granted him a place in his village as one of the Shinobi of the Hidden Cloud. Over the course of the past few weeks Raphael has all but assimilated to the life of a Shinobi of the Hidden Cloud, and yet every night he is reminded of the life he had left behind. Raphael still could not remember all the details of that night short of the flashes that haunt his dreams, the fire that raged through the village, and then the sight of the giant eight headed snake that tore the village apart as though there was nothing that could stand in its path. Raphael stood from his bed and walked into the bathroom, doing his best to push the nightmare from his mind. After taking a shower and dressing he headed out, choosing to take the day off as he waited for word from the Raikage regarding his request.

The boy walked somberly through the village streets with no real destination or agenda, Raphael's appearance had not changed hardly at all since his time in Sunagakure he still work the same sleeveless black formal shirt and white pants. The only real change was that he no longer had the Kozai coat he had worn, having given it to Eishi as a sign of their friendship a few days prior. Raphael was lost in his own thoughts unsure of how long he had been walking when he saw someone he thought he knew, 'is that? No it can't be' he thought to himself as he did a double take. He thought he saw Ryo his former teammate from Sunagakure, he had only met the boy once when the team had first been created and even then they did not speak much. Due to other priorities the team never really took off, most of his time in Suna Raphael had worked alone but he never forgot a face. Raphael would move to walk in an intercepting path towards the boy, once he reached him he would say, "Ryo is that you?" Of course if Ryo did not remember him he would try to refresh the boys memory by speaking of when they had met and the spar Raphael had with Kisei the other member of their team and how he had lost to the boy due to not having any ranged attacks and not being able to get close enough to the other boy, a weakness he was currently working on fixing.

---

619

Ryo’s mind was wandering, and the first more important thing it wandered to was the fact that he needed to bring his daughter into the world. He already knew the type of wood that he would use for her, and she would not be a strictly offensive puppet like Shiro and Kuro were. However, she would still have some kind of offensive capability, yet, she would mostly be used as a shield for him. She would not only provide a chakra shield for him, but she would be upgraded with a thicker, and more impressive display of armor, this armor would be made of metal worn under her fur as thick plates of metal. This would be the best for her, but the strength the joints would require in order to make that a possibility was going to be substantial all things considered. He did not dare to calculate just how strong of a daughter that he would have, but at the same time the amount of damage she could absorb would be extraordinary and would likely mean all the difference between victory and defeat. Yet, the most important thing would be to partner her up with a sibling that would be strong. He had just the idea in mind, and with the pair of them working on concert with one another then he would have both a great defense and a very strong offense which would keep him safe and balance his power.

He was soon distracted by the thoughts of his soon to be children when a voice and a familiar face stepped in front of his path. This face was familiar, but Ryo struggled to recall it. He stopped dead and his mouth slowly hung open “You…Raphael…Raphael Kozai. You…when did you come to Kumogakure? Were you there when our home got destroyed? Do you know who did it? How many were there? What can you remember?!” he asked surging forward to grab his former teammate by the shoulders “How did you survive? Do you know what happened to Kisei?” he seemed frantic and rightly so, he had assumed that everyone he had known outside of his clan was gone, that no one survived, and he had to avenge their deaths. His eyes began to fill with his own tears and he shook himself slightly “I am sorry, I didn’t ever expect to see you alive, nor did I expect to see anyone from our village again.” He carefully let go of Raphael and took a step backward wiping his eyes on his long white sleeves “It is really good to see you again, and yes it is me. I am glad that you remember my name. We didn’t really get to do many missions or training exercises as a team did we?” he recalled that he had just asked a lot of questions in a row, and he quickly shut up in order to allow Raphael to answer. He really wanted answers to all of his questions, but he wasn’t going to get them if he interrupted Raphael, so he was going to be silent.

WC: 525 / 950

Raphael resisted the urge to push Ryo off of him when the boy grabbed him by his shoulders, he understood that he simply wanted answers and he would do his best to respond in kind. The boy was frantic tears filled his eyes as he ask Raphael a list of questions, Raphael simply gave the boy an understanding soft smile as if to say it's good to see your alive as well. "Calm down my friend I know you have a lot of questions as I do of you, but perhaps we could take this to a more quiet setting." Raphael replied to the boy trying to remain composed despite the fact that he was glad his former teammate was alive and well. Raphael motioned over to the nearby diner as the boy released his shoulders and wiped tears from his eyes. Raphael walked towards the diner assuming the boy would follow him, once inside and seated Raphael would order them both a glass of water before returning his attention to the questions the boy had asked. "Alright now lets start at the beginning. I arrived here about three weeks ago, maybe more I'm not really sure everything has been blurring together since I woke up a couple of weeks ago. Yes I was in Sunagakure when it was attacked, however I am afraid I won't be much help in determining who did it or why. What I do remember is hearing the destruction, the alarms blaring all over the village, there was fire everywhere burning its way across the village." Raphael paused briefly taking a sip of the water the waiter had brought them, "what I remember most is this gigantic beast I have never seen before in my life, a huge eight-headed white snake tore through the village destroying everything that the fire had not already destroyed. After that though I am afraid is where my information on the matter goes dark, a nearby building collapsed on me and the next thing I know I am in a hospital on the edge of the Wind Country. When I woke the nurse told me I had been out for weeks and that a man had brought me there to her care, I have no idea who the man was or why he pulled me from the wreckage or how I even survived for that matter." At this point Raphael would pause again to let his words sink in, as he took another drink before he answered the boys final question concerning their other teammate Kisei. "As far as Kisei I have not seen him, however I did heard he was in the Chuunin exams, so I know he made it out but I haven't been able to talk to him as they have kept the competitors away from the outside world while they are competing." Raphael hoped his words would bring some comfort to the boy, though Raphael did wish he had more information about the attack on the village or those who died/survived in the destruction. "That terrible night has haunted me every night as I slept," Raphael stated as tears slowly started running down his face, "I had feared everyone I knew was gone, at least until I heard word of Kisei being in the Exams. I had hope that since he had made it out you had as well, but until now it was just speculation." Raphael stated wiping the tears from his face before smiling at the boy who sat across from him, "I have tried to move on since I arrived in Kumogakure, I will never forget that night but I try not to dwell on it or the fact that there was nothing I could do to stop it from happening. Instead I have had my ears out searching for survivors and information they might have as to who attacked us, I have even gone so far as to join the ranks of the Kumo Nin hoping that I might be able to gather some Intel on that night from them but so far I have had no luck. Yet joining their ranks have improved my skills beyond that of when we were together in Suna." Despite them not knowing each other all that well Raphael still viewed the boy as a friend and was extremely glad to find that he was safe as well. Raphael looked down at the table realizing that he was rambling on and on, before looking back up to the boy, he had questions of his own but it was obvious from the boy's line of questioning that he did not have any information about the attack. "So tell me what about you? How did you escape? What brought you to the Hidden Cloud?"

---

803/1422

Ryo nodded his head slowly rubbing his eyes again before he cleared his throat “I do apologize. You can always ask me questions, I shall answer them to the best of my ability.” He thought about this quiet setting and nodded his head once more following after Raphael. The diner that was close was a very nice place all in all, and Ryo didn’t mind it in the least. He looked and asked the waiter for a bowl of miso soup as well as the water. Now his attention was once again focused on his fellow shinobi. He listened very closely to what was being said by Raphael, and he wanted to make sure that he committed as much of it to memory as was humanly possible. The part about him being a few weeks made sense, Ryo himself wasn’t here much longer than that, but it was still a very concerning thing to notice. The part about a gigantic beast was new to him. He couldn’t remember seeing a snake like that, but it was highly likely that it happened. His own memory of that night didn’t involve a snake, just the fire, and destruction.

Ryo breathed a deep sigh of relief when he heard about Kisei. It was wonderful to hear about it. His former teammate was in the Chuunin exams, and that was hopeful. He really did like Kisei, and the weapon master was very talented who deserved his chance to be a chuunin. After all, Ryo wasn’t much better than Kisei, but still, it was wonderful to see that he was getting a leg up in life. Then the questions that he had to answer, and he shook his head slowly “I am afraid that mine isn’t nearly as interesting as yours.” He shook his head again “I didn’t really escape. When the fire started the clan’s evacuation protocols began. As you know I am of the Knetegawa clan, and we had a family compound, as we do here. As soon as the fire broke out my mother forced me to guide my younger siblings Ryuke, and Yuko. I forced them to come with me kicking and screaming, but I managed to get them away. The Oasis was our first stop, and then we made our way here. It was said that if Sunagakure was ever attacked or had a devastating incident we were to come to Kumogakure. This is where my father’s younger sister is. My mother’s older brother is in Kirigakure.” He started to eat some of his miso soup trying to reinforce himself before he cleared his throat to speak again “In the Chaos, my sister and mother nearly died. Several of my family in Suna did die. When the family home workshop collapsed my older sister, Reina lost her left arm. They only just made it here two weeks ago. Unfortunately, Suna is gone and there is nothing that I can do about it.” He sighed shaking his head again finishing his soup up “So now, I am of the hidden cloud Shinobi. Thankfully the Raikage was kind enough to allow me to keep my rank, and now I am focused on much the same goal as you. I will find whoever attacked our former village, I will find out who took my home, my father’s memorial, my sister’s arm, and everything else from me and the people of Sunagakure. When I do find them, I will destroy them!” he said slamming his fist down a little harder than he should have. His eyes blazed with the fire of hatred, and he wanted to destroy them, and he couldn’t suppress it any longer.

He realized what he had done and looked around quickly to make sure that no one saw that. He cleared his throat and looked down at his lap “Sorry about that. I don’t mean to react like that.” He was properly embarrassed now, but he cleared his throat finding that he had nothing more to say.

WC:681 / 1,631

The young shinobi listened as the other boy told his story, Raphael was glad to hear that the boy was able to get his younger siblings to safety before the destruction had reached them. It made since that they would come here, the Kozai had known of the different branches of the Knetegawa and now as the boy spoke about it Raphael remembered reading that they had multiple compounds outside of Suna. When the boy mentioned that his mother and sister nearly died, only barely making it out and his sister losing her arm Raphael did not know what to say. Despite the fact that he was glad that his friend and his family had made it out, Raphael could not help but think of his own family. The Kozai were servants of the sand village, there was no doubt in his mind that any of them that were in the village went to its defense meeting their end along with the village. His only peace of mind came from the fact that his own clans compound was outside of the village meaning that most of his clan, at least the younger and elder ones and those at the compound to protect them was safe. It meant that his mother and sister were safe, he was not sure about his uncle however considering the fact that like Raphael he was a servant of the sand village as well so it was impossible for him to know whether or not his uncle was in the village at the time of the destruction. Raphael turned his attention away from his thoughts and back to the boy, he too had gone before the Raikage and sought shelter and a place to serve like he had done. 'Seems like fate has kept us on the same side' he thought to himself as the boy finished speaking. The boy slammed his fist on the table out of anger, and the look on his face instantly said that he did not mean to do it so loudly as the other customers looked around to see what was going on Raphael simply waved at them before turning back to the boy who apologized for the outburst. "There is no need for you to apologize Ryo, I understand what you are going through. Despite the fact that the Kozai compound is outside of the village and was safe from the destruction of it, many of my clan served the hidden sand." Raphael paused for a moment trying his best to maintain his composer so he did not have an outburst himself, "I do not know officially, but there is little doubt in my mind that those who were in the village that night died trying to save it. We may be a secluded clan but we fight to the death to protect that which we care for, and the Kozai have always cared for the Hidden Sand Village and it's people and that includes you and the Knetegawa clan." Raphael had to stop speaking as a tear began to roll down his face again as he thought about all of the members of his clan as well as all the other shinobi that more than likely gave their life in the defense of the village. "I promise you this much though I will do whatever I can to find out who did it as well, maybe we can work together to find justice for those who gave their life to try and by time for others to escape from the carnage." Raphael cleared his throat as he wiped the tear away, "ok enough with that, let us move on to more pleasant matters shall we." Raphael said placing some money on the table to cover the boy's food, he himself did not eat as he was not much of a morning eater. "Meals on me, for old time sakes," he said as he stood, "perhaps now we can walk around, I was think of heading out to check out the exams and see how Kisei was doing, care to join me? Who knows maybe we will be able to cheer him on from the stands."

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699/2121

Ryo nodded his head with a bit of blush still on his face as he cleared his throat to speak again “Thank you Raphael. Yes, you understand perfectly. The Knetegawa though we have homes in several of the great ninja villages we are loyal to those homes and to our family. Many of my clan lost their lives that night…I am only thankful that it seems my clan and I were all desperate to protect the head of the family. My mother tells me that they had to knock her and my sister out before they would go away.” He gave a soft chuckle as he nodded his head “Yes, my family are all stubborn to the bitter end. I am glad that some of our clan fought side by side to do whatever they might to defend the village, and the people of Sunagakure.” He looked up at the sky “I miss the village hidden in the sand. It was my home, it was the home of my father, the home he lived and died for. I lost his memorial when Sunagakure was taken. That is the greatest sin against me, and I shall avenge it tenfold.”

He smiled at Raphael and nodded his head with his final approval “Yes, we shall fight side by side to avenge our home, those who were slain, and restore the honor of Sunagakure.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Sunagakure forehead protector “I will not get rid of this, I will never let it go, and when I find those responsible I shall be wearing it when I take my vengeance.” He looked to Raphael smiling “I would be honored to have you right next to me when I do just that.” He said before he cleared his throat. Watching as Raphael placed the money on the table Ryo bowed his head in thanks “Thank you for the meal Raphael. I am very grateful.” The prospect of walking to the exams so they could check out how Kisei was doing made Ryo sit up at take notice. “I would love to! I hope we do get there in time so we can see him and cheer him on. He is a good comrade and we should be there to support him. After all, he was on our squad back home.” He smiled as he stood up “I bet the two of you have come a long way from back then. I am almost a quiver with curiosity about just how strong the two of you have gotten. I was forced to play tutor to my younger siblings much like my sister Reina was forced to tutor me so I didn’t have all that much time to spend with you guys. I am sorry about that. Well, let’s get going. I know where the exams are going to be held the same as you.” He started to walk off in the direction of the arena with a bit of a spring in his step and his hands inside his outer coat pockets. He didn’t want to bring either of his puppets out to play, but he would be happy to bring them out when the time was right or it was necessary.

WC: 546 / 2,177

Genbu the legendary ancient island turtle, normally constantly in motion and location only known to high ranking shinobi of the hidden clouds. For the purposes of the chuunin exams the Raikage somehow managed to keep it in its current location, just a few miles outside of the village itself so that everyone could easily travel there to watch the exams.

It did not take the boys long to reach the gates of the village, once outside the village they opened up their speed to get there as fast as they could. Raphael was not sure about Ryo, but he was anxious to make it there and cheer on his former teammate, one of the few people in his like that was able to best him in a spar. The Raphael did not talk much on the way to Genbu, however if Ryo were to talk to him he would respond accordingly. However he would mostly seemed to be in a hurry to reach their destination and did not really want to waste time with a conversation as they when from branch to branch along the path to the tournament arena. Upon reaching the giant turtle, they would be greeted by one of the proctors. "Ah, welcome. Did you guys come to enjoy the Semi-Finals." The woman that ran the make shift information center next to the Exam arena asked in the most polite tone, "Actually we were wondering about a certain competitor ma'am, Kisei Ushinatta?" Raphael asked the woman, hoping that Ryo did not mind him speaking first. The woman looked at her files and after what seemed like forever to Raphael, though in reality it only took her a few minutes the young shinobi was simply impatient, the woman had found the answer. "I am sorry, Kisei Ushinatta was unfortunately eliminated during the quarter finals last night." Raphael would look to Ryo, "Well so much for my idea of cheering him on looks like we are too late." The boy would look down and kick the ground in disappointment, he had been looking forward to cheering his former teammate on in the finals but he had taken to long and now missed his chance. "You can still go on up and watch, the semi-finals are almost over but you can watch the final match before the finals begin tomorrow." The woman behind the desk said as though she was trying to cheer him up, Raphael did not know how Ryo would feel about it all considering the whole reason they had come was to see Kisei. "Well there is always the chance we could bump into him in the stands," Raphael said trying to turn it into a positive. Raphael headed for the stairs assuming that Ryo was following him, "you know I was kinda looking forward to cheering Kisei on in th e tournament, it sucks that he got eliminated but I am sure he put up a good fight till the end." Raphael stated as they climbed the stairs, he had no doubt in his mind that Kisei must have gone up against a formidable opponent for him to have lost. Having fought Kisei himself, albeit only once, Raphael knew exactly what his former teammate was capable of. As the reached the stands Raphael heard the cheering of the crowd, and heard the announcement of the winner of the the last fight in the semi-finals. "Damnit still late" he swore under his breath standing at the railing of the stands looking down at the arena. "Seems like we rushed here for nothing," he said as he turned around to face Ryo. Suddenly an ANBU appeared next to the two boys, "Ryo Knetegawa, Raphael Kozai I am lucky I found you two together. I have a request from the Raikage, due to the fact that no Kumo Genin participated in the Exams he would like the two of you as Chuunin of Kumo to take part in an exhibition match between the two of you. To display the prowess of our shinobi." Raphael was shocked by the question, it was odd to be asked to fight by the Raikage. Raphael would look to Ryo, "I am up for it if you are," he said with a shrug. He wouldn't admit it but he had wanted to spar against Ryo since they met back in Suna, unfortunately they never found the time to do so. Now here in the hidden cloud they would be presented with the opportunity to do just that, of course Raphael would jump at that chance to face a member of the legendary puppet clan, though he would try not to act as excited as he felt.

Assuming Ryo accepted the match as well the two boys would be lead to meet two proctors who would take them inside different buildings, before parting Raphael would turn to Ryo one final time before they met in the ring. "Dont hold back Ryo I want to face you at your best, lets give these people a show." He said before extending his hand out to the boy, after which he would follow the proctor to the dark room and wait to be called. Raphael did not know why he was chosen to fight Ryo, but he could not say he did not wish it himself. But then he thought about the crowd.

{Exit Thread}

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900/3021

3000 words used to Train 2 B-Rank jutsu (Whirlwind & Bomb of the Wind God)
Cost: 380 Ryo
21 words discarded

Ryo smiled as he walked with Raphael only to open up the speed once they were outside of the village. He lagged only just behind Raphael showing him that he needed to keep himself fit and in proper shape. If he didn’t then it was highly likely that Raphael would pose a greater threat to him than he thought. This was just one more piece of evidence that said he was slacking off and should really get a grip on himself. As they arrived he saw Genbu and couldn’t believe that such a wonderful creature could still exist. He was very glad it did, and wanted to keep it alive, but he also couldn’t help but smirk to himself as he thought about the giant undertaking it would be to make a creature this big a puppet. The person using it would have to be one of the ancient tailed beasts to even attempt to use it. Standing next to Raphael he heard the woman ask and his partner give her the information about what they were here looking for. When she said that Kisei had been eliminated during the quarter finals his eyes went wide. He couldn’t allow it, he couldn’t understand it. Kisei was far too strong to be eliminated so quickly, at least he had been strong when last Ryo had seen him. This little bit of realization came as quite the shock to him, and he hated what it meant. He frowned as he looked down at the ground shaking his head in irritation at this intelligence, so he had no idea what they were going to do now.

Ryo looked to his partner nodding his head smiling weakly “Yeah, so much for our grand idea. Still, it must’ve been tough for Kisei to lose like that. I just hope that he is okay. These must have been some of the toughest opponents that could’ve been asked for if he didn’t make it to the semi-finals. I hope he knows that just because he lost doesn’t really mean that he is bad, it just means they are more skilled than he was.” He sighed shaking his head slowly before glancing to the receptionist then back to his friend “Yeah, well, there is that, and I do not see why we couldn’t attend to at least see what kind of competition Kisei was up against, nor could we pass up the chance to study those who could be our enemies in the future.” He said as they started to move with Raphael walking up the stairs as well. When they arrived to the cheering and the loud noises of a match that apparently had ended Ryo only rolled his eyes as he tapped his foot in his impatience “For the love of…Why is it I am always late for the really good stuff?” He waved off the part of them rushing for no reason and just said “The story of my life with two rambunctious twins always faking things to get my attention. Thankfully our Kumo branch has more children their own age so they don’t have to bug me.” Upon the appearance of the ANBU Ryo jumped reaching for his puppet scrolls more of a movement of instinct than any conscious thought. It took him a visible effort to relax, but he did so and nodded his head. He looked to Raphael smiling warmly to him “I would be delighted to spar with you.”

Upon accepting the match, they were led to meet a pair of proctors who were going to separate them for the wait before the event. Ryo glanced at Raphael and bowed his head slightly “I would never dishonor you by holding back my skill, but I will be holding back enough so that I do not seriously injure or kill you. We shall give them a show they will enjoy, but I won’t give them a show that puts your health or life at risk.” Then he turned to follow the proctor that was to escort him to his waiting room. He was not sure what trick of fate was being used to play him against Raphael, but he wasn’t about to pass up the chance to test his mettle against anyone who could actually pose a threat to him. He recalled the fight that Raphael and Kisei had when they had last really engaged as a squad, but he hadn’t been able to be put to the test. Puppetry was a series of techniques and a school of ninja skills that was highly susceptible to those who were trained to close the range and engage in close combat. Ryo well knew this and had been raised to not allow himself to be weak enough to allow it to happen to him. Still, this would be a good test of his abilities and to see if he actually was able to eliminate such weaknesses in himself and his skills. He only hoped that he would embarrass himself and that he wouldn’t serious hurt his friend. He tended to let loose and do things that were stupid for obvious reasons.
[Exit Thread]

WC: 874 / 3,051
Training
2,000 words to take Ninjutsu specialty B rank
1,000 words to train C rank jutsu (Long Leash: Lightning Tether)
Cost: 150 Ryo
51 words Discarded