"Damn it Navi come on!"

"I told you I'll be done in a minute!"

The two have been walking around Kumogakure trying to find the gate of Kumogakure that would lead the two to the pathway of the harbor. The morning Sanosuke and Navi woke up from his apartment, they got a message from a carrier pigeon. It was from the administration building of the Raikage. When Sanosuke looked at the note it was in a scroll and written very carefully. It also seemed to be addressed to him specifically. On it was a message that wanted him, a respected member of the village hidden in the cloud's military as a shinobi to join in the fight against an evil tycoon by the name of Seven Bells. There was a front in Kiri to stop this mad man from attacking Kiri and burning it down. If Kiri burnt down, like it did several years ago, other villages would be next. Makes sense, so Sanosuke made sure that he packed enough materials for the trip.

He had enough ryo for the trip to Kiri, and just that. But he would have no immediate money on him when he got there. Either two things would happen: A, there would be accomendations for the shinobi who were lending Kiri aid in their time of crisis; B, use his talent with the flute to get some scratch so that he can buy himself some food and camp out in a cave or; C, find an old friend to stay with that lives in Kiri while he stays there.

They would have gotten to the docks sooner if Navi wouldn't be stopping everywhere and ask him what this was and what that was. It was cute at first but it was taking forever to get to the dock. Water lasped over the dock as the two purchased their tickets. The blue ball of light that was his partner looked at the ticket that Sanosuke was holding. "Does it have my name?" Sanosuke showed it to Navi with a smile on his face.

"Yup, check it out!" Sanosuke chuckled at his partner.

"Hooray! Village Masked in the Mist here we come!" Navi squealed happily as she spun in circles rapidly to show how happy she was. He sighed as she was still using terminology that was out of date to the present activity.

400/600

Running down the list of items he was bringing, Skye picked each of them out and put them in a bag. He had gotten quite used to travelling considering he had to run around doing the Raikage's business. Being an ANBU had its perks when it came to travelling, but the overall cons greatly outweighed the pros. The strictness of the rules are what mainly ticked him off. Not that he would disobey them or anything. Finally packing the last of his gear, he strapped his bag over his shoulder, tucked his boat ticket into his pocket, and headed out into the streets of Kumo.

While he was walking towards the docks, he began to think of what he would be doing when heading to Kiri. Knowing full well what Kiri's current status was, he could only guess he would be assisting the shinobi of the village in defense. They would need all the people they could get, and Kumo was more than willing to lend them aid. He had already gotten a taste of the issue due to his access to secret files provided by the ANBU, so he couldn't help but be excited to see what kind of challenges awaited him.

Eventually making it to the docks, Skye got a glance at a man with a small blue orb floating around him. He shook his head at first, but then got a better look at the man. "Sano?" A friend he hadn't seen in quite some time. Well, Skye hadn't seen many of his friends and comrades due to ANBU business. Quickly sneaking up behind Sano, he hopped next to him and wrapped his right arm around Sano's shoulder. "Flak Jacket Bro!" Tightening his arm and lightly forcing Sano's head down, Skye began to laugh at the sight of his old friend. Something seemed a bit different about him, but he could only guess it was age.

Word Count: 325/600

An arm was slung around Sanosuk's shoulder. He had no idea who it was but he was pulled into it. "Flak Jacket Bro!" The person said. The whole time, Sanosuke had no idea who pulled him but when he did he knew of the face of the person whom pulled him almost immediately. A smile came on his face when he saw him. It was his old friend from so long ago. He had met with Hiromasa the other night to talk and catch up. Hiromasa was now the instructor of the ninja academy since he was knowledgable about the life of a shinobi. It was good that he was back to the ninja military. But that was the only person he met from the good old days. Now Skye was here. He had to say he looked older yes, and also seemed to have grown his hair longer. But the markings on his face was still the same.

"Skye! It's been a while hasn't it?" Sanosuke exclaimed putting his own arm over Skye's shoulder laughing out loud. He was surprised that Skye still recognized him. After all the exposure of senjutsu chakra changed his appearance so that he looked way more different than he did 5 years ago. Instead of short shaggy silver hair, Sanosuke had long frizzy black hair that was in dreadlocks and down the center of his back. Also his eyes were silver and was no longer sapphire colored.

Navi flew around Sanosuke's back and looked at Skye as though he was something out of this world. After searching for a while Navi retreated by darting back to her partner. "Ok I'll bite: who is this guy? You seem to know him" Navi asked curious as she was floating behind Sanosuke's shoulder.

"This is Skye Nekito, he's an old friend of mine back in the day."

With this new information, Navi smiled and flew around in circles. "Oh I remember you telling him about me. It is a pleasure to meet you" Navi said bowing as she stayed still and began nudging Sanosuke's back impatiently. Buzzing from her rings rang as she was trying to push Sanosuke. "Come on Sano, let's go already!"

"In a minute damn it. I wanna catch up with Skye!" Sanosuke said and turned his attention to Skye. "So what are you doing here?"

802/600

"It's been a LONG while. About... four... five years?" Putting his arms behind his head and grinning, Skye observed Sano a little closer now that he was next to him. Sano looked a bit different than he remembered, but he could easily tell it was him just by looking at his face. The voice was another dead give away. One thing that made him a little curious was the changes in hair and eye color. Whatever it was, he would have to ask what he had been doing, or where he had been, and use the information to determine the changes. Or he might just flat out say what was up. It might've been the ANBU's harsh training to try and change his mind into being inquisitive and strict that caused him to be so critical of the appearance, but lucky for him, he kept some of his goofy and fun loving traits.

Looking over at the glowing orb, Skye tilted his head slightly. With small and nonchalant wave, he gave off a small smile as he exchanged a greeting with the orb. "Nice to meet you too..." It wasn't long after the orb greeted him that it started to try and push Sano along. Whatever it was, it was impatient... and generally annoying.

"So what are you doing here?" Shrugging at the question, Skye took a guess. "I'm assuming the same reason you're here, assisting Kiri." Skye motioned towards Sano's bag to point out that they had rather similar things packed. "Been pretty boring around Kumo lately, so why not take out a few baddies in another village?" It sounded pretty logical in his mind. There really wasn't much going on in Kumo. Hell, if someone came to the village just to see what it was like they might even think it was a ghost town.

Bringing his voice down to a more of a whisper, he moved a little closer to Sano's ear before he spoke. "So, uh... what's with the floating blue thing?" Skye made sure to keep his voice hushed just in case the orb eavesdropped.

Word Count: 690/600 (Complete)[/color][/color]

When Skye had said that, Sanosuke had just realized how long it's been since he's seen his friend. To think so much has changed since he last encountered his friend. The last time they had met was at the prison during the prison break. Now he looked so different and were stronger than before. Even without his sage mode, Sanosuke could tell his friend was on a whole new level now than it was 4 years ago. "Yeah it has been a long time hasn't it?" Sanosuke chuckled as he was scratching his head embarassed. In the years Sanosuke was gone, Skye must have went through some intensive training because Sanosuke could barely pick up the subtle hints Skye was doing to give away that Skye was analyzing his body. Well they would have time to catch up later on the dock ride to Kiri.

"I'm assuming the same reason you're here, assisting Kiri." Skye motioned towards Sano's bag to point out that they had rather similar things packed. "Been pretty boring around Kumo lately, so why not take out a few baddies in another village?" Sanosuke looked at his bag and chuckled. They both were suiting up for war. Even though they both have never been through it, Sanosuke didn't think Skye has been through war, it was a first time for everything. Sanosuke has been to Kiri before on his travels and is familiar with the area, so he still felt like he should protect the beautiful village that is masked in the mist.

Skye came closer and whispered into his ear so that Navi couldn't hear him. "So, uh... what's with the floating blue thing?" Skye whispered. Sanosuke just remembered that Skye has never seen a wasp from the ancient wasp clan. Hell it's been the first time in generations since any human, besides Sanosuke, to have seen a wasp. So it was no surprise that Skye has no idea what Navi was.

"She's my partner, she's a wasp from the ancient wasp clan that taught me senjutsu. We bonded over my time during my training in the art." Sanosuke informed Skye.

Senjutsu! That explained everything. The drastic change of appearance, the slightly modified attitude, the annoying blue thing. Skye had heard about those who trained in Senjutsu, but he could never have guessed Sanosuke was training these past few years to become a sage. "So you're a sage now... huh... Sounds like you've been trying to get stronger." With a grin and a slight laugh, he patted Sano's shoulder to show he was happy for him. It was nice to see how his friend had handled himself over the years. Since he last saw him, Sano was a well rounded shinobi, but seeing him now, he had really went above and beyond his potential. "Myself, I've been dabbling here and there with missions. Thinking about learning some new techniques and styles. Genjutsu can only go so far, you know." Putting a slightly joking tone into the last statement caused Skye to silently laugh.

The boat's bell rang and was followed by an announcement asking those who were travelling to get on. Reaching into his pocket and pulling out his boat ticket, Skye grabbed his bag and flung it over his shoulder. "We'll have more time to talk on the way to Kiri. Maybe we can swap some stories." Skye had a lot to tell Sano, though he would have to be wary of what he was talking about. Having sworn an oath not to reveal his connection to Kumo's ANBU, he would have to keep certain mission details and secrets known only to ANBU members hidden. Walking past Sano, he motioned for his friend to follow as he approached the boat. The trip to Kiri would go zooming by once they started going on about what had happened since they last saw each other.

(-=Exit Thread=-)?

((OOC: If you want to keep doing a back and forth with what's been going on, you can.))

Word Count: Complete