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eve
Jan 27, 2009 21:27:09 GMT -5
Post by kinyōji on Jan 27, 2009 21:27:09 GMT -5
The sound of sandals upon the sand, a wind crept across the desert, one that seemed to chill the bones. Cold desert nights to match those hot desert days, Kinyōji stood atop of the large dune with the search team that was assembled, wrapped in a thick cloak to keep him warm, his eyes peering through his goggles at the large city that was lit up below by lanterns and lamps. The almost celestial white moon hung above, dimly lighting the desert below.
"Is this the place?" Adashino asked, it took them twelve hours to traverse through the desert to this spot with little breaks. He stepped up, slightly behind the cloaked Kinyōji who led them here.
"Yeah. Watch your back at all times, y'hear? This isn't a nice place." He dove down the sloped sands.
"He seems serious, should we be worried?" Adashino looked back at Tsuya with a grin.
The sound of bottle wind chimes clanking, half-filled with beer, dangling from one of the many bar's entrances. He moved up the narrow street in a stride, half-drunken idiots turned from their games of dominos on their plastic chairs and tables set off to the side of the street to look up as he arrived. Some were in shock, others in awe, murmurs of who he was could be heard around them.
"Didn't he leave?"
"I heard he headed North and died."
"Is that really him? Ninja can falsify appearances, ya'know."
This place was once home to him for two years or so, and in those two years he made a name outside of Suna. He motioned to Tsuya and Adashino, nodding toward a specific bar with a large wooden sign above the door.
"OASIS" Stepping through the opening of the bar, the subtle smell of liquor hit him, it managed to sneak up on him and upset his stomach. Undoing the button on his cloak, he hung it up on the rack--
A blur came from his left side--
"Watch out!" Adashino called out--
A girl blindsided Kinyōji, tackling him to the floor and pinning him there--
"I knew it wasn't true! I knew you weren't dead!!"
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Tsuya
Jōnin - 上忍
Glass Kunoichi
h o n e y b r o w n
Posts: 56
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eve
Jan 30, 2009 12:02:43 GMT -5
Post by Tsuya on Jan 30, 2009 12:02:43 GMT -5
"Whoa--" Tsuya stepped back as the girl nearly stomped on her foot while stampeding toward Kinyouji. Adashino apparently had the right idea by standing back near the wall by the door, staying inconspicuous. It seemed Kinyouji attracted a lot of attention these days. Not something she was used to.
Well, unless he was getting in trouble or falling on his face. Then she was used to him getting that kind of attention.
But I digress.
The brown haired shinobi pulled a chair out from the nearest table and spun it around in front of her, sitting backward as if she were in some gangster movie. A lone toothpick dangled from her lip as she spoke.
"Who's the skirt, Kin-kun?"
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eve
Jan 30, 2009 15:09:24 GMT -5
Post by kinyōji on Jan 30, 2009 15:09:24 GMT -5
"Uhhh...this...is..."
"I'm Sonada, I'm his wife." The little girl stood from Kinyōji, placing her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes on Tsuya who she was perceiving as some sort of threat. Kinyōji grumbled, rubbing at the back of his neck, standing from the ground with a groan. "And you are?"
"You're not my wiiiife~" Kinyōji whined, stretching and cracking his back.
"Not yet! But I will be, right?! When I'm old enough?!" The girl flailed, waving her arms frantically at Kinyōji who rolled his eyes.
"Is Marumaru-sama here?" He asked, dismissing the whole wife ordeal.
"Yeah, he's in the back...you know, like always." The young girl thumbed toward the back of the bar. Kinyōji took a good long look at the door that led to the back, thinking about whether he wanted to do this or not, then looked over at Tsuya and Adashino.
"I think I need a drink first." He pulled up a chair, despite his lack of tolerance for alcohol, he motioned to the barkeep for a drink. "You guys want anything...?"
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eve
Feb 3, 2009 20:04:24 GMT -5
Post by blank on Feb 3, 2009 20:04:24 GMT -5
A woman serving simply nodded at the mention of alcohol, and brought back a small cup and a bottle so sake, sitting it in front of Kinyoji while Adashino simply stood in his corner and shook his head. He wasn't a drinker in the slightest. He had seen what could happen when people get drunk and reckless. Tsuya considered it for a second, but then remembered the fiasco that had taken place the night before.
"Whoanow. Kin-kun...I don't think that's a good idea," she began, reaching over and grabbing the neck of the bottle, consequentially pulling it in front of where she was sitting. "The last thing you need to do is stumble into someone's back room wasted off of two sips of sake. Don't forget why we're here."
She grabbed the cup as well, then poured herself a shot.
"I, on the other hand, have a higher tolerance. And I'm not the one asking the questions."
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eve
Feb 3, 2009 23:20:41 GMT -5
Post by kinyōji on Feb 3, 2009 23:20:41 GMT -5
"Tch." Kinyōji grumbled as he was denied sake, he took a short glance over at the woman who was admiring him from a short distance away. Standing from the table shortly after giving it a slap, he trudged through the crowd, leaving Tsuya and Adashino with a warning. "Watch your pockets." He stepped through the back door, pushing the beaded curtain from his way, the scent of burning incense smacked him in the face. Two candles lit at the far end of the room the room, a muscular silhouette sat before the dim lighting, chanting over and over. The clattering of wooden beads as they shifted, clicking against one another.
"What are you doing here? I spent good money having your death faked to get your scrawny ass out of trouble." The voice was deep, the bass within it was enough to rattle Kinyōji's steady heart as a father's would his child. His eyes widened, invisible behind his shades before he calmed, swallowing hard and stepping forth.
"You always did like to sit in the dark and chant." Kinyōji said, leaning against one of the wooden support beams. "I always did find it funny how you try to be such a holy man in such a unholy place. Here, in the back of a bar, in a city where people sell off body parts and steal one another's pocket change like nothing." Chuckled the young Chūnin, stroking the stubble on his mandible with his fingertips.
"Know what I found funny? That you bothered to get in trouble with the baddest mutherfuckers to roam into town." He stood, revealing that he only had one arm, wrapped in bright red, a thick beard upon his face. The robe he wore had a cowl, hiding most of his features in shadow. "Then I blow money to get him out of it, make sure he's dead--do you know how much a corpse that resembles you looks like--?!"
"Tch...probably a pretty penny for a corpse that looks as good as me." Kinyōji spoke mockingly, the monster of a man's nostrils flared as he grunted, reaching over with his remaining arm and pulling his robe closer inward.
"Then the first thing you do when I get you out of the fucking rut you're in--"
"Are you supposed to swear so much so soon after prayer--?"
"Is run around the fucking world looking for trouble! Being counter-productive to the very people you're among most of your time! Are you crazy or just fucking stupid?!" Marumaru neared, seemingly furious, from under his cowl were two intense white eyes.
"Depends on the day of the week, really." Kinyōji glanced upward and away from the approaching man, flinching as he saw a approaching hand coming from Marmaru--
The hand grasped his neck, shaking Kinyōji back and forth--
It slid upward, the man's rough fingers caressed Kinyōji's cheek--
"You've gotten big." The large man spoke, pulling Kinyōji into a hug, giving him a swat to the back in an attempt to pat him. "It's been three years...how'd you grow so much?"
"I ate...just like you told me."
Kinyōji and Marumaru sat across from one another, more candles were lit around the room. Kinyōji was stuffing his face, a bowl in his palm and a piece of beef dangled from his teeth, viciously biting at it.
"What'd you come here for...?" The old man asked, pulling back his cowl, revealing his bald head. Kinyōji jumped, almost forgetting the mission momentarily. He reached onto the back of his hip, pulling the scroll with information on it from it. He placed the scroll down, rolling it toward Marumaru, letting it come undone. On it was information on Isutoshi.
His blank eyes widened, staring down at the scroll. "Why do you search for this man?! I forbid you from searching for him any further, do you understand?!" He pounded his remaining fist onto the wooden floor before pointing at Kinyōji.
"I'm not looking for him, I'm looking for someone he might have with him." He pulled a photo of Kyōmei from his kimono, one of her taken shortly before her leave, holding it where Marumaru could see.
"Anyone you search for that he's possibly come across is long dead, Kin-chan. It's best you turn and go back to where ever you came from, stop making tr--"
"She's not." Kinyōji interjected causing Marumaru's eyes to narrow. "Don't say that..." He trailed off, his mood becoming intense, he pulled the photo back and went to place it back into his kimono--
"Wait." He motioned for him to hand the picture over, snatching it as Kinyōji offered it over. "Who's she to you?" The old man asked.
"Someone from a past life." Kinyōji sighed, scratching the back of his neck. Marmaru looked from the picture, straight at Kinyōji with a frown.
"Ah...I remember I used to feel the same way about your mother!! Someone you'd go to the ends of the earth for!!" He laughed causing a irritated Kinyōji to reach forward and snatch the photo from his hand.
"Shaddup! You're not my real father!" He placed the bowl down, slipping the picture back into his robe, "If you're not going to take this serious, I have more people I can ask!"
"No Kekkei Genkai?"
"No."
"Search the Northern lands...on the plateaus...the people you search for are called the Shūshūka..." He grumbled, stroking his chin, Kinyōji looked down at the man with the red robe, with a frown. "The chances that this woman you seek is alive is well...but the chances that she's alive and involved is too great for even you to ignore."
Kinyōji remained silent, he started toward the beaded entrance, offering Marumaru a short wave.
"Kin-chan." Marumaru called out as he neared the beaded curtains. "If the Buddha comes across your path..." His eyes narrowed upon the back of Kinyōji, "Will you cut him?"
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Tsuya
Jōnin - 上忍
Glass Kunoichi
h o n e y b r o w n
Posts: 56
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eve
Feb 7, 2009 19:30:20 GMT -5
Post by Tsuya on Feb 7, 2009 19:30:20 GMT -5
After Kinyoji left, Adoshino made his way to Tsuya and sat the the table where she was turned backward in the chair. "So," he began, pulling his frames from his face and wiping them off with a table napkin. "What do you think? Kin-san is legit?"
Tsuya turned in the chair and sat upright, leaning onto the table with her elbows. Her golden catlike eyes met with his. "I trust him. I don't know why, but I trust him when it comes to Mei-chan. He'll do what it takes to bring her home."
Adashino put his spectacles back on his nose. "But you know as well as I do that if she is alive, she's a tr--"
"Shut up." The look in Tsuya's eyes could have sliced Adashino in half. He scoffed, then leaned back in his chair.
"You get too emotional sometimes, Tsu-chan. It's just a valid question that needs to be asked."
"I'm well aware of the possibilities, Adashino." Tsuya looked away, grabbing the salt shaker and gently pouring a bit on the table. "I'm just choosing to take them with a grain of salt."
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eve
Feb 10, 2009 12:18:30 GMT -5
Post by kinyōji on Feb 10, 2009 12:18:30 GMT -5
"Let's go." Kinyōji said as he passed by, picking his cloak from the rack and tossing it around his robes. "I know of a camp town about a hour to the North," he spoke to his two teammates over the banging drums that suddenly washed over the town. Somewhere toward the center of the village in the crater, there were blasting drums, one who wasn't familiar with village customs would assume this was just some sort of party taking place, but Kinyōji knew what it meant...he knew it too well.
"Aw--Kinny-kun!" Sonada clasped his cloak in her grip, "Stay here! The desert is too cold at night for you and your friends to travel! You'll catch your deaths out there!" She smiled sweetly, rubbing her cheek against the fabric of his cloak.
"She's right, we should find somewhere to lodge and conduct a debriefing." Adashino stated, pushing his glasses up, originally startled by Kinyōji's sudden appearance. He wondered how much Kinyōji actually heard, if anything at all. "Did you get any useful information?"
There was actually a hotel in this heap of a town, this sad excuse for a society. Kinyōji led the small group over to a run down place called the "Sabakuyō" or "Desert Nights." The rooms weren't that bad, they weren't lavish, pipes hung from the ceiling and popped from the walls, a number of lanterns hung from above, the light inside shined through the yellow oil paper. The beds looked okay, though they were clearly worn in.
Kinyōji stood out on the deck, the bright fire that burned toward the center of town seemed to have in entranced, reflecting in the lens of his goggle. His foot tapped to the beat of the drum, his eyes followed the smoke into the sky, gazing up at the star studded sky. He couldn't help but think something as stupid as whether Kyōmei was looking up at the same sky that hung above them, whether somewhere up there--his partner was somewhere resting in peace.
Before he could get too deep in thought, there was a knock at his door, causing him to turn and scratch his eyebrow, watching the wooden door slide open to reveal Adashino and Tsuya entering his quarters for the debriefing.
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Tsuya
Jōnin - 上忍
Glass Kunoichi
h o n e y b r o w n
Posts: 56
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eve
Feb 10, 2009 14:33:45 GMT -5
Post by Tsuya on Feb 10, 2009 14:33:45 GMT -5
Tsuya pressed into the old, sandy room and made her way to the bed. She squatted to sit on it, but quickly stood back up as she remembered what she'd been told about these places. She'd rather sleep under or tree or on a sand dune that to touch these sheets, especially in this town. The kunoichi coughed, then leaned against the wall.
"Oi! Kin-kun. Let's get this show on the road."
"Wait." Adashino closed the door tightly, then tapped his glasses. By focusing chakra into them, the served a double purpose. He could now see any magnetic waves that may indicate the room was bugged. His spectacles began to blow blue with chakra as she scanned the room, walking to the farthest corners and searching the walls, then heading out to the balcony and scanning the areas below and above. He then moved back to the room, searched the closet, under the bed, and even the bathroom. When he was sure that the room was completely secure, he deactivated his glasses, leaned against the wall adjacent to Tsuya, and then crossed his arms over his chest.
"All clear."
"I swear," Tsuya began with a sly smile on her face. "You have to show me how to do that one of these days." Her attention then turned to Kinyoji. "But anyway...what's up Kin-kun? What'd you find? And who was that guy you went to see, anyway?"
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eve
Feb 10, 2009 14:54:09 GMT -5
Post by kinyōji on Feb 10, 2009 14:54:09 GMT -5
"He...he wasn't anyone important...just a informant." He muttered, dismissing it as he stepped back into the room, scratching at the side of his face with a frown. "Anyway..." He lifted a hand into the air, motioning to Adashino.
"Map." Kinyōji started off with, Adashino didn't waste time, tossing a scroll across the room. He caught it, unrolling it in his loosely clutched hand, revealing a map of Kaze no Kuni. He laid it out on the bed, pointing to the Northern lands, his finger pressed down onto a region that had sudden elevation, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I think this is where we're headed, I'm not sure...the info I got is just rumors."
"Anyway, whoever we're messing with...he's got some people pretty shook up."
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Tsuya
Jōnin - 上忍
Glass Kunoichi
h o n e y b r o w n
Posts: 56
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eve
Feb 10, 2009 22:56:11 GMT -5
Post by Tsuya on Feb 10, 2009 22:56:11 GMT -5
"Wait so..." Tsuya pushed herself up off of the wall and walked over to Kinyoji, eye to eye with him. "You think this is where Mei-chan might be?" Adashino cut his eye at the girl, then observed Kinyoji's reaction intently. He still wasn't convinced that Kinyoji could be trusted completely, especially when it came to Kyomei. He'd do anything for her, even betray Suna.
"I mean, why would they want her, and why would they keep her all this time? There's just too many pieces missing from this freakin' puzzle."
"That's what we're here to do, Tsu-chan." Adashino walked over and grabbed the map, examining the place where Kinyoji was pointing previously. "We probably shouldn't go into this area without a real team..."
"Fuck that." Tsuya then snatched the map and examined it for herself. "We have two jonin and the Golden Boy ova here. We're more than qualified to go in and kick ass."
Adashio gently took the map back and rolled it up, sighing deeply. "Whatever you say Tsu-chan. We'll go in and do some information gathering and surveillance, and then we report back to Gaara. We're not going on a suicide mission into dangerous territory."
"Suicide? Dangerous? Pah. No one can catch me. I'm--"
"--Only the fastest shinobi in all of Kaze no Kuni." Adashino finished her sentence, then slid the scroll in his pocket. He winked, then headed for the door.
"Excuuuuse me, that isn't what I was going to say!" Tsuya retorted, spinning and facing him. " 'The fastest of all time' was all you needed to say." Her face was beaming with cockiness, her eyes with a playful narcissism that was undeniable.
Adashino chuckled as he placed his hand on the door to open it, then turned to look over his shoulder for a second with a more serious demeanor. He could not hold it in any longer. The shinobi knew this would probably create questions in Kinyoji's mind, but he was a shinobi first and a friend second.
"Oi, Kin-san," he began. "I know that man was more than an informant. If you don't want to indulge your little secrets, just say that you'd rather not say. But we are a team, and if there is something Tsuya and I need to know, you'd tell us, no?"
A blatant question of loyalty.
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eve
Feb 10, 2009 23:50:03 GMT -5
Post by kinyōji on Feb 10, 2009 23:50:03 GMT -5
His gaze descended, looking down at the wooden planks under his toes before he looked back up at his teammate, smirking slightly. "Marumaru was the man who watched over me after I defected, me and Sonada-chan." He scratched at his cheek with his index finger, tilting his head slightly, chuckling, "heh, he was the closest thing I ever had to a father."
He swallowed hard, brushing the hair from his forehead, turning and making his way back toward the small deck, his hand sliding across his face and onto the back of his neck. "I know it's hard to trust someone you haven't seen in years, someone who--well, you'd normally consider a enemy under normal circumstances. I know that." Kinyōji turned his head, glaring back at Adashino through his dark lenses, his aura seemed to suddenly grow intense.
"Trust me or don't. With or without Suna's help, I'm going to find Kyōmei and bring her back. That's my priority above all else...finding Kyōmei." Kinyōji grew silent, gritting his teeth as he thought what kind of situation Kyōmei was in, where she was, and the inevitable thought that she was dead rung in the back of his head, the inevitability that he kept in the cold, dank, darkness of the dungeon called denial.
"Either you're with me or not."
"Trust is too vital to ignore, Kin-san." Adashino's head rose, the light from the yellow lanterns caused a glare off his glasses, hiding his eyes behind his lenses.
"Then trust me." Kinyōji sighed.
"I wear these glasses because I choose not to be blind. That extends to concepts like trust, Kin-san. Right now I have a former Nukenin in front of me who's tight on secrets and thinks he's running this show." Adashino spoke authoritatively, "You've forgotten that me and Tsu-chan are here as leashes, we're here to make sure you aren't up to anything shifty...for all we know..." his head tilted forward, his eyes narrowing upon Kinyōji, "you could be behind her disappearance."
Kinyōji's body jumped with a jolt, as if he was ran through with a long skewer, piercing through his chest. His brows fell inward, turning his face back to the hot wind that blew from the center of the town that was followed by a chill. If it were anyone else, if it weren't Adashino, he would have hopped across the bed and choked him to death, but he knew this man, he recognized him as a friend, and though he may not have sought Kyōmei as hard, he was probably just as adamant at finding her. Someone as cool and calculating as Adashino, of course he wouldn't eliminate Kinyōji as a suspect, he fit perfectly for someone to lure Kyōmei away from Suna without actually killing her. And that gave Adashino reason not to feel wrong that he actually hoped Kinyōji was behind the whole thing, that this was some sort of trap of some sort.
"I'll go alone," Kinyōji spoke up, his voice was a croak upon the desert breeze, "it's not a problem." He cleared his throat, "you can track me with one of those nifty falcons, right?"
"No...you're not going alone...because if you are behind all this and you do know where Kyōmei is, you can easily lose the falcons. Now, Tsuya-chan on the other hand..."
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Tsuya
Jōnin - 上忍
Glass Kunoichi
h o n e y b r o w n
Posts: 56
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eve
Feb 12, 2009 13:39:33 GMT -5
Post by Tsuya on Feb 12, 2009 13:39:33 GMT -5
Tsuya smiled and waved at Kinyoji sweetly. "Yep. Can't get away from me." The girl winked, then turned to Adashino. "And I assume you're taking this information back to Suna?"
Adashino looked up at her, his face deadly serious.
"Immediately."
He knew if it involved who he thought it did, then that meant that they needed to get this bit of info back immediately. "We'll meet back in this very spot in four days. I'll be back with reinforcements if need be. Tsu-chan--" He finally stepped out of the door. "--I'm counting on you."
Tsuya raised a brow at Adashino as she closed the door and headed down the hallway back to his room. "Aye, aye, captain?" She replied, not really sure what he meant, but she knew she would when the time came. She turned to Kinyoji and sighed. "So. I guess...we're off tomorrow then?"
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eve
Feb 12, 2009 14:15:35 GMT -5
Post by kinyōji on Feb 12, 2009 14:15:35 GMT -5
"Yeah..." Kinyōji suddenly felt like the outsider, what he always was, even before he defected. The guy with the jokes and the heart that orbited around everyone else, a satellite to everyone else's lives. Just that guy who's around to make everyone else happy, who everyone else mistook for the heart of their group, but he knew different, and now, here he was, and for the first time he could feel like he was a part of a whole for returning to Suna, find what he never found during his initial tenure, come back home to Kyōmei and reconcile any differences with his teammates only to find they were both gone.
He clenched his teeth, hiding his face momentarily, choking back any sort of emotion that he didn't like, that he didn't want to deal with. Spinning on his heel, he wore a melancholy smile, waving weakly to Tsuya. "Yeah, you know me...I need at least eight hours of sleep before we move out or I'm grouchy." His nervous habit of scratching at his cheek re-emerged, clawing at his face as if there was something stuck to it. It was a really bad habit.
"Hey..." Kinyōji called to Tsuya, his brows furrowing slightly, "you know me, right?"
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Tsuya
Jōnin - 上忍
Glass Kunoichi
h o n e y b r o w n
Posts: 56
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eve
Feb 16, 2009 13:03:59 GMT -5
Post by Tsuya on Feb 16, 2009 13:03:59 GMT -5
Tsuya was already heading out of the door by the time he'd begun to speak, her mind and body tired from the journey. Her spirit wasn't broken, yet she wasn't sure what she believed about Kyomei all these years. Too much was happening.
"...if you're still Kinyoji, then I know you."
The door thudded behind her as she left for her room.
[ End ]
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