Checking up on the family [p]

Age : 32 Posts : 1178

Start of the Journey

Kumogakure had been treating Hiruzen well for a long time, acting as a home for the Uchiha ever since he was born. While circumstances had never made life easy for him, what with his father being an abusive alcoholic and his mother dying shortly after giving birth to him, he had always been surrounded by family and friends. Whether they were initially abusive and unkind or not, he still liked having family around. When people started dying around him, the way he felt about the village was slowly getting more and more clouded with clouds of negativity that hid the bright patches of happiness. The death of his father, the murdering of his Genin team and Sensei, the growing tension between the clans and the commoners and the new Raikage that struggled to deal with the mess left behind by the previous Kage of the Hidden Cloud, everything made it really hard for him to focus on himself as most of his time went either to the aiding of his clan by working around the compound or by keeping the peace around the village by completing missions for the Raikage. Noticing that his grandson was suffering under the strain of having to uphold not only the village but also his clan and the people that wanted to see him disappear from the village, Tetsuo had made contact with his relatives and friends in the Hidden Leaf village. Acting like it was a vacation to repay him for his hard work, the old man had the chef make a lot of food to be packed and taken with him on his journey through the lightning, snow and fire country.

Not only that, but he had also packed his bag with several letters from the other Hidden Cloud Uchiha that were to be taken to their Hidden Leaf relatives. Accepting the vacation, Hiruzen did not leave because he planned to spend his time laying around and do nothing, quite the opposite actually. Now that he did not have to work for anyone for a change, he could finally spend some time to work for himself. Wearing a long black cloak that covered his entire body, he kept his hood down, allowing for more vision. Everyone knew that when one traveled through different countries, chances were that there would be danger of some kind waiting for them. Bandits, carnivorous animals or even hostile shinobi that no longer had any ties to a village would always be a part of the world he lived in, and as a shinobi, he had to be able to see these threats coming before they would end up killing him. Having no traveling partner other than himself, he had the scrolls of his grandfather and Hideo's journal with him to keep him busy whenever it started pouring and he had to take shelter. Luckily for him, creating a quick shelter out of earth and stone was very easy for him, allowing him to read from the journal without getting it wet. When the first rain storm hit, he was already one hour away from the Hidden Cloud village, sitting down in a place of his own creation. Using that time to read from the journal, he started memorizing the symbols and what they meant. Finding that most of these symbols had relatively simple meanings as letters or numbers, some of them were in fact an entire word, usually being either "the" or "an".

All together, the journal was very informative and shed a lot of light on the ancient language used by some of the people that lived before the era of shinobi. Having too much to work through in a single rain storm, he made sure to put his journal away and move whenever he had the chance to do so without getting himself and his belongings wet. Knowing that the snow country would not be the best place to sit down and read, the actual studies would have to wait until he got himself to the Hidden Leaf. While on his way to the Hidden Leaf, there was not a moment that went by when he did not hope for more information regarding the content of the journal. After all, there was a temple in the fire country as well, hopefully one that was built in a manner similar to the one he had visited earlier that week. If this was indeed the case, chances were that he would be able to further his understanding of the ancient humans that pre-dated everything that made up the shinobi world. While he still had at least two days of traveling left, he was already really psyched about getting to further his research and come back home with something that was truly useful. With all the things that had been going on lately, it was things like these that kept his hopes up, hope that there was more to life than just having to keep his own family and the people he worked so hard to keep safe from killing one another. Having done all that he could for now, he could do little other than hope that the Raikage would be able to get in control of the situation while he was gone in a way that would not negatively affect his family.

Age : 32 Posts : 1178

Halfway

The past day of walking had taken the Uchiha out of the land of lightning, leading him into the colder climate of the snow country, a highly fitting name. The snow that covered the vast majority of the country was something a Cloud shinobi such as himself was not used to, finding it only in the highest of mountains. Trading in the rains that often hit the regions of the lightning country that were close to the borders of the snow countries due to the change in temperature and environment for the occasional snowfall. While cold, the snow was not nearly as restricting as the rain was, not getting him all drenched due to the slow rate at which it melted due to the cold temperature. Hiruzen was lucky that he had thought of bringing his cloak that, while standing out in the white terrain, granted a lot of protection against the cold climate and had a water retardant layer that was not easily soaked through. Allowing him to walk on for almost a full day without being forced to take shelter, the only time he actually chose to make a stop was when he had gotten tired of walking on for almost seven straight hours. Occasionally picking up some wood that was not wet to it's core, he figured that it would come in handy if he ever needed a fire. Sitting himself down on the cold floor, he weaved the seals to his Rock Shelter jutsu, forcing the earth to do his bidding as it rose to form a shelter from the harsh conditions he found himself in. Making a few holes at the top that would allow him to breathe, he also made some more long the sides that would allow him to look outside in case he heard something suspicious.

Dropping the pieces of wood onto the floor, he made it into a nice little camp fire that would not only allow him to keep warm, but also to heat up the food that he had received from the chef. Yesterday, Hiruzen had been able to eat some Shōyu Ramen that was still warm inside of it's heat containing package with a dish of Inarisushi. Having eaten all of the fish foods he had been given in fear of it getting spoiled if he let it sit around for too long, he still had several pre-cooked sticks of Yakitori that he planned on eating now. Holding them by the end of the sticks, he held them over the fire, making sure not to burn them while he heated them to the point where it would taste just about right. Sitting around like this, surrounded with nothing other than nature was a nice thing to him. For a long time, the place that was supposed to be his home felt like it was nothing more than a new battleground, a bomb waiting to explode. Being all alone made him think of what might happen in his absence, whether things would slowly start getting better without him or if things would be getting worse without him being around to help out the clan and the village while trying his best to keep the peace between the two. Feeling his good mood slip away the moment he started thinking about it, he shook his head to literally shake the thought. Taking a bite from his now warm Yakitori, the taste of hot, spicy chicken was a welcome thing indeed. Being in the cold for so long was not exactly promoting his physical well-being. As things were starting to get dark outside, Hiruzen finished up the last of his Yakitori, deciding to preserve what rations he had left.

The walk to the Hidden Leaf was still going to be quite far, so he should not eat up everything he had left before he actually felt like he had gotten close enough to the place. Taking out his journal, he decided to read up some more, warmed by the fire that continued to burn inside of the earthen shelter, the smoke leaking out through the holes in the roof so the Uchiha would not choke. Placing his backpack behind him and using it as a pillow, he kept his cloak on to serve as blankets. While the cold floor was not exactly comfortable, it was the best thing he had. Truly, those that grew up inside of a major clan did not have to get used to this kind of thing and usually refused to sleep like he did, though Hiruzen was not as stuck up as some others. Reading the journal for at least another hour, he noticed that it became easier to read the words that had been written in the same foreign language he had seen in the temple of Raijin. While it was still very far from fluid, he was progressing quite well, hopefully figuring it all out in the next couple of months if he was lucky. Being able to do a whole lot more now that he was not being held down by the troubles of the village and the clan around him, his studies might progress a lot faster than they were now, though there was really nothing he could do about that. After all, his family and his home were more important than his studies. Putting his journal away, he put out the fire and turned on his side. For now, he would get some much needed rest before he would set out yet again in the morning.

Age : 32 Posts : 1178

Arrival

Having awoken early that day, Hiruzen had left his rock shelter behind him hours ago. Moving faster than he had done the days before, his goal was to reach the village in the early afternoon, a feat well within the boundaries of what he could do. Dashing through the trees of the fire country, he had left the land of snow behind him roughly two hours age. The warmer climate of the fire country was much more hospitable than the land of snow, that much was without question. That said, the fire country seemed to have different problems of it's own. Moving through the treeline that ran alongside a long road that seemed to run all the way through the fire country and up to the Hidden Leaf, his eyes fell on a duo of strange figures that seemed to be extorting a local that was traveling down the road with a large cart and an ox. While it was really none of his business as an outsider, it was not his style to let things like this just happen if there was something that could be done about it. Sighing deeply, he jumped to the side, placed his feet against the side of a tree and launched himself out of the trees, landing on the ground after a front flip that would no doubt pull the attention to him. Looking at the two men with a determined look in his eyes, he would only give them one chance at redemption, after which he would not spare them from their fate.

"Look, I will give you two one chance, and one chance only, leave right now and do not ever let me catch you doing something like this again. If you choose to resist, I will not spare you from what is to come, that much I can promise you.".

"And what is a kid going to do about it, we are trained Shinobi you know, we don't turn tail and run because some prick tells us to. Maybe you should walk away now before you get hurt Princess.".

Laughing at the joke they had just made at the expense of the young Uchiha, they soon heard something that surprised them. Chuckling when one of the men called him a princess, the funny part was that they had sealed their fate when they chose to not heed his warning and continued doing what they did, even turning things into a threat aimed at him. When he was done laughing at the two fools, he opened his eyes, showing the activated two tomoe of the Sharingan.

"Alright!".

Dashing in with the only warning being that he acknowledged their decision, he made sure that he was the first to make some blood flow. Burying his fist in the first face he could reach, he sent the first man tumbling backwards, not having expected the sudden burst of speed. Shortly after the first punch landed, Hiruzen twisted on one foot, building momentum in the other as he side-kicked the other man right in the neck. While Hiruzen was not much of a Taijutsu expert, he was fast and agile, knowing a thing or two about basic hand-to-hand combat that helped him deal with petty thieves like these two. Wasting no time, he shot another fist straight to his side, punching him straight in the liver. He had aimed for that particular spot because the man had the stank of liquor all over him, more or less giving away the fact that he was an alcoholic. With a final elevated knee to the nose, the other man fell to the floor just as easily as the other. Just as he turned around to check up on the other man, he saw the reflecting of a piece of metal in mid flight, barely moving in time to keep it from sticking into his flesh, receiving only a moderate cut as it grazed past him. Dashing over to the man, he kicked him in the side of the head to make sure that he would not be able to get up for a while. Whether these guys had actually once been trained as shinobi, they most likely did terribly if they had ended up as petty thugs that could barely put up a fight. Tying their hands and necks with a steel wire while they were down, the merchant he had helped offered to do something for him in return.

Asking him if he could take Hiruzen to the Hidden Leaf village with his cart, he stated that he was quite tired of walking for such a long time. Because the man was actually on his way back to the village with new wares, it soon came to pass. When the men woke up, Hiruzen sat himself down on the cart while the wire he had tied the men up with was held tightly in his hand. Slowly but surely, the village gates came into sight. Hiruzen could now finally go to visit his relatives in the Hidden Leaf and give them the letters and gifts he had taken with him from his family back home. Obviously, it was not his only goal, for he knew that the Fire Temple was not too far away from the village. When the man stopped his cart at the gate, Hiruzen said his goodbyes and wandered over to the main gate. Walking over the the front gate at a slightly accelerated pace, the men he dragged behind him were forced to keep up with him if they did not wish to get hurt. With the wires still holding on to the prisoners, he walked up to the guards at the gate, handing the first one he saw the reigns that controlled them. They knew that they would be in a lot of trouble if they resisted, getting not only their wrists but also their throats cut by the steel wire wrapped around it. Telling them that he had caught these men outside of the village when they were trying to steal from someone, he also told them that he was a Kumogakure Shinobi that came to visit his family. After doing them a service, the guards were rather lenient and let him in without trouble. Now, the next part of his adventure could finally get started.

[End of Thread]