Part I: Examining the Contents [Read Only]

[Tsuya]

“This is it...” Tsuya blurted out in a serous, ominous tone as she dropped the old, worn scroll her team had found onto the table of her superior officer. “...this is what I was briefing you on. Those thieves outside of the village. They were looking for this.” The old ninja took the scroll and examined it closely before opening it, making sure there were no traps or anything that could cause he and his subordinate harm.

“It looks normal enough,” he began. “But it also looks rather old. This paper, it’s way older than what is used now. I remember this paper become obsolete when I was a youngster-- rice paper tempered with salt, I believe.” As the old man babbled on at his candle lit desk in the middle of the night, Tsuya’s skin began to prick with anxiousness. She just wanted to know what was in the scroll. “Can we open it, sensei?” she asked eagerly, her eyes twinkling with adventure. Her sensei had advised her not to take it back to the council, for fear that it would cause them an un-needed anxiety in these trying times when they were acting as the Kazekage themselves. If it was something that needed their attention, he would take it to them immediately. If not, it could all blow over.

Her sensei chuckled at her eagerness.

“Of course, my dear. It’s safe. Would you like to do the honors?” He asked her, with a grin. Tsuya wasted no time in snatching up the scroll and opening it. She rolled it out on the desk for both of them to examine. Her eyes scanned the text in the scroll, as well as her sensei‘s. The two looked at the text, then to each other with astonished expressions.

“I...I don’t understand, sensei. What is this? What does this mean?”

[Tsuya]

Her sensei looked over the contents again, as if he couldn't believe what he was reading. "It's...well...this is a rather cryptic message, then isn't it?" He stated. The words in the scroll were skewed, as if written in some ancient language, and had pictures of the 'other worldly' quality. "Whoever wrote this wrote it a long time ago, and was very serious about it's contents."

Tsuya raised a cat-like brow and looked back to the scroll as if she were trying to decipher it herself. "Really? How can you tell?"

"Because," he began. "I can read some of this. Back in my day, we were trained in the art of ancient writings for this very reason. There are things out there that we may stumble upon that will require that skill."

Tsuya shook her head a little, then pushed a piece of stray hair behind her ear. "Why aren't we taught skills like that that now, Tamonten-sama? Don't you think some of the other elite ninja should have that skill?" Tamonten leaned back in his chair and crossed his fingers behind his head. A thoughtful look sat upon his face as he concocted an answer for his pupil. "You see, Tsuya-chan, every since the Great Shinobi War, we had to refocus our curriculum for lower shinobi training. It was much more focused on combat for the defense of Suna. There was no time for a 'foreign language' class. Besides, most of the secrets of scrolls like these died with their authors."

Tsuya, still curious about the scroll in front of her, tried to decipher it herself, but to no avail. "Okay, so, I'm stumped. You gonna tell me what it says or what?"

[Tsuya]

Tamonten sighed deeply, then leaned over the table to further decipher the message in the scroll. "From what I can make out...I may need to get a second opinion, but..." His voice faded as he made out the words on the parchment. A large, rough hand rubbed an even rougher, stubbly chin as he mulled over the odd characters and foreign letters in the message. "...it seems to be talking about katanas."

"Katanas?" Tsuya asked, her head tilting curiously like a cat. "What about 'Katanas'?"

The old man ignored her comment and continued on, mumbling a recognizable word here and there. "...yes. Yes. I think...I think I know what this is now..." his voice much more serious now. The gravity of it almost scared Tsuya. His eyes shifted quickly across the page, and then he rolled the scroll back up and quickly pulled open a file drawer located at the side of his desk. Ancient fingers flipped furiously through the papers, and then he came upon a manila folder with the characters for "Top Secret" written upon it. He proceeded to put the scroll in the bottom of the drawer where the folder had previously been, then pulled out the papers and scanned them quickly.

"Oh no. No. This isn't good."

"What is it Tamonten-sensei? Tell me something! You're scaring the bejesus out of me!" Tsuya brought her hands down furiously on the desk. She was standing opposite of him, therefore she could not see the contents he was reading. But, she tried to peek anyway. "What's not good."

He looked up slowly, then tossed the papers to her side of the desk.

"Seiken."