Lakeside

Posts : 132

Hiryuu crossed rooftop over rooftop in pursuit of a single task: Find Yusuke. Even after the mission with the Leaf Ninja, his remote promotion to Jounin, Hiryuu had not yet managed to do break any grounds concerning the whereabouts of his friend. So he did the only thing one does when desperation sets in: reach out to those who hide in the shadows. He'd bought drugs just to get information, paid large sums of whatever money he could steal from the grubby fingers of those who had nothing all in pursuit of his friend. And now, in the Rain Country he was in the Warehouse District again searching.

The Rain slicked the surface of the roof, Hiryuu moved deftly across. His tabi splashed lightly against the water sliding down over the edge. Crossing to another building with his Byakugan active, Hiryuu on looked the target warehouse. So far, every room he had come across was completely empty. Nothing but cobwebs and trash littered in corners. Each lock on the door was bolted shut, not even ninja patrolled here. Homeless men and women were no where insight. Solitude reigned king.

Hiryuu took a final leap off of his last rooftop and deactivated his Byakugan. Touching down on the ground, he hoped that he'd finally find this place loaded with answers and not more questions. If this was the end of the line, it was back to the Leaf Village where he'd have to rally the support of the Hokage. For some reason though, he felt the impending doom of meeting the Hokage in his office and explaining the situation to him. The feeling as if he would receive a no. The premonition that the Hokage would deny his request and tell him to mourn the loss of his friend.

A strong sense that he would have to deal with the fact that Yusuke was dead.

Posts : 760

It was early in the afternoon when the large man walked soundlessly down the pouring streets of Amegakure. He found a better cloak to cover him this time. He had exchanged his old one (by exchange, he meant ripped and threw away) and bought a bigger, thicker and waterproofed cloak for the cost of a pair of boots. He wore it now with the hood over his head, putting a shadow over his entire face.

It took him a few days to get reacquainted with his hated village. It had been over a decade or more since he last set foot in the constant rain. There were a few new towers here and there, and new districts that seem to favor the small start-up and local businesses. There was a new market district that the people, who weren’t strung on drugs, gathered. It looked familiar to the city in Fire Country where its entire purpose was to be a hotspot for tourist. He wouldn’t put this market under that category. Ame no kuni was anything but a tourist attraction, but there was potential. He walked through it earlier that day before he was in another part of Amegakure where familiarity was coming back to him. He looked up at the buildings. There were four small towers and two big ones with red and green pipes surrounding the latter. It was like opening up a book and smelling the old smell of cigar ash and remembering how good the book was in the past. He remembered where he was at now.

He turned to his left, and he found himself standing in one of those open food stores. He could see a man with his back turn, flipping over kebabs over a open pit of fire. “I’ll be with you in a minute.” The man said.

“Even for an old friend?” Alayasha said.

The man lifted the kebab out of the fire and rested it on a plastic cutting board. He turned to see Alayasha removing the hood off of his face. The look on his face went from slight annoyance to utter surprise then to a slight happiness. “Hanzo?” the man said.

“I haven’t gone by that name in quite awhile, Moto.” Alayasha had flashbacks of when they used to call him that. The name had different meanings in his eyes. “Hardass” was one of them. “Silent”, “Cutthroat”, “Slow to anger”, and all those other names that were so typical it couldn’t even make the cut in a screenplay. “I go by Alayasha now.”

“I think I like Hanzo better.” Moto said. He walked to the counter and sets his hands on it. They were black, covered in soot from the fire. He couldn’t of been any older than thirty-eight or thirty-nine at this point. He was olived skin, his hair short and black with hazel eyes. “What brings you back to Ame?”

“Information, of course.”

“Oh? You an info broker or somethin’”

Alayasha shrugged. “Something like that.”

Moto nodded. Alayasha knew he wouldn’t ask any further. In his business, Moto knew there were rules and limits of when and when not to push a question. “Then you came to the right place.” His eyes sly shifted left. “Although, information never comes cheap…”

Alayasha took out a wad of cash. It was as thick as Alayasha’s arm. It landed on the counter making a hard thump noise that shook it. Moto’s eyes did a double take. “Holy shit-“

“Will that suffice?” Alayasha said.

Moto’s hand didn’t seem to make a double take. Their movement was enough of an answer. They move instinctively towards the money. It was a smooth transition. The thick stack of money slide on the counter and then in an instant, it was gone and underneath the counter where it was tuck safely away in some storage box.

“What do you need to know?”

“ One, I need to know who this Parabrahma group. I keep hearing things about them from my intel network. They’re causing a bit of a stir with one of the infamous Sennin of Konoha.”

Moto nodded. “Oh yeah, she’s that Nakotsumi, Mana chick who is a magician.”

“Ah.” Alayasha confirmed.

“Hmmm,” Moto had a hand on his chin. Some of the soot rubbed off his hand and onto his face. Whether he knew that or not, he didn’t seem to notice. “Well, I hear from the grapevine of strange looking individuals who passed through Amegakure from time to time. No one knows if it is that Parabrahma, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the group did come through. They certainly haven’t been causing any uproar or stirring any problems within the black.”

Damn. He was hoping they would’ve done something to cause some attention. If that had happen, they would’ve left a trail where he could follow. So far he was hearing more and more of his Parabrahma group, but what he was hearing was simply shadowy words and whispers. They were keeping a low profile, so low that even his intel was having a difficult time of finding their whereabouts. He was hoping his cousin would bring more information by the time he got back, but even he was doubtful of whether he could gather more information. They’re targeting the magician for some reason. Why that was, he didn’t know. He doubt Moto would know either.

“Seems I didn’t give you the information needed. I should-“ Moto hand was reaching down to the money. Alayasha raised a hand.

“I might have questions later on so keep the money. Is there any other activity I might of missed?”

Moto didn’t take long to answer that question. “There was a group of genin who travelled here recently and got caught up with Hakuren Bakuho. Some kid was killed.”

He knew that name all too well. He had heard of he mad scientist who was infamous for his experimentation back when he was still in Kumogakure. The stories he heard from that was so chilling, he still made Alayasha shiver. Regardless, the name had fear in it and “Was he a Kumo shinobi or a Konoha shinobi.”

“Kumo. There were some Konoha shinobi in the vicinity, but from what I know, one escaped while the other was captured.”

Alayasha moved his tongue to one of his canine teeth. Another habit of his whenever he was on the border of making a move or simply thinking. “Where was Bakuho last seen?”

“At the warehouse district. But that was-oh, I would say-about a week or so ago. He’s sort of disappeared after the engage- Hey, whoa, wait where are you-” Moto’s voice trailed off. Alayasha had turned and was out of the shop. He wasn’t entirely certain if Bakuho had any connection to Parabrahma, but perhaps his trail could lead him towards the group. He was hoping he could find a trail otherwise he would have to go and find the magician girl herself.

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to take that route just yet. He wanted to tap into all of his options first before he started his last ditch efforts. From the looks of it, he had very few options to begin with and he may have to aid the magician. He wasn’t sure how that would fly. “Excuse me? I know you don’t know me, but I’m a person who is secretly trying to create an organization that’s main purpose to cause a bit of chaos and disorder for the sake of causing balance to the shinobi world. The Parabrahma is one such group that is getting in my way because I have no control over it, and as such I need to rid of them. Would you mind aiding me?” This was a bit different than putting on game on a woman, but he could tweak just a tad bit.

The warehouse district remained the same. Time didn’t seem to touch this lifeless place. Maybe time abandoned it, or this warehouse district abandon time. It didn’t matter what the circumstances were, Alayasha had a gut sense that he would be 500 years old and this place would still be here.

He could feel the district emptiness. It didn’t take any sensory to find that out. As he walked passed each warehouse, there wasn’t a soul in sight. Dead as the graveyard his father would say. If there was evidence of Bakuho in one of these warehouses, he could find it without much disturbance. Well, maybe almost no disturbance. He saw someone, a small figure from the looks of it, jump down from the warehouse and down on the concrete path. The grace of the fall was that of a shinobi. Alayasha squints his eyes to zoom in on the person. He could see the tied up black hair, oh so familiar to a certain Hyuuga he had met a long time back. The size of him, the stature, everything he remembered from that time he spent in Fire Country.

Alayasha moved suddenly towards the boy. The boy could’ve blinked, and maybe he did, but in that moment there would be a man who towered over the boy standing five feet away from him with a hood over his face.

“My oh my, you’re a bit far from home.” Alayasha removed his hood from his face then revealing himself to the Hyuuga. “And what brings you to this-“ He motions his hand to the rain. “Dreary and depressing village?”

Posts : 132

Hiryuu's knees bent, a blur dashed backwards thirty feet. With his blade drawn and eyes flared, Hiryuu brandished the tip of his katana pointed towards his opponents head. The rain steeled his resolve, a single bead of water building up at the tip of the blade, dangling from the knife's edge until it dropped namelessly into the eternity of water below him. Pulsing veins flared around his eyes, just one or two to note.

"Who--"

And now a year later he was in front of the same giant he met in the wilds of the Fire Country. Yusuke had Hiryuu had not met someone with such considerable power. He remembered his stature, his chakra signature and most of all the dark skin. Hiryuu counted everything on his body, all his weapons and tools that could be used against him. But he soon stopped. If this guy was going to kill him he'd already have done so, but Hiryuu's stance didn't budge. If this person was here, he'd either been Yusuke's killer or knew something about his death.

"If you're here you already know!"

Intelligence wasn't something that came with ranks, Hiryuu wasn't playing coy with his giant. This was the individual who fathered the criminal known as -Shinjin Shikyo- a terrorist that had escaped Konohagakure after laying waste to an entire prison building. Criminals like this needed to be behind bars, locked away from society. Just the mere thought of the name -Shinjin- brought a foul taste in his mouth. One might say a year ago, despite him being manhandled by a giant, Hiryuu might be in awe at such a man.

Something else was afoot now. Memories of training days, missions and time spent with Yusuke flashed before his mind like a kaleidoscope. The thought of Yusuke's possible death, no the idea of murder fondled his thoughts with suspicion. Who had set these events into motion? Who was in control of these strings? Why did Hiryuu feel this gripping hand of fate, pulling him away into anger?

He bubbled over. No doubt the giant would see his muscles twitch and feign and attack, he wanted to sprint and sever the giants head from his shoulders and tout it back in the streets of Konoha.

"What do you know and why are you here? Why are you meddling in the affairs of the Leaf Village?"

Hiryuu grit his teeth, his jaw opened wide and he shouted against the rain.

"Answer me!!!"

Posts : 760

The blade tensed in the boy's hand. There was intent there. Much of it confusion, much of it was anger, and just an ounce of kill intent. What stopped the boy was the question: Why? His entire face took that question and marked him from the crown of his head to the sole of his feet. Those white eyes looking into Alayasha only confirmed that.

Alayasha did not make a move when he saw the twitch. He didn't dare after hearing the Hyuuga's words. The boy screamed then. He screamed his question at him. Alayasha still didn't make a move. He only watched him yell, watched his body strain and his jaw gnash his teeth. The final "Answer me!!" made Alayasha look at the boy with those starlit eyes. He blinked once, slow and thoughtful, then he blinked again.

Alyasha didn't immediately refute the claim. He just stared at the Hyuuga, eyes scanning him waiting to see if he was going to make a move. The boy was in a confident stance, willing to fight Alayasha if he needed to. That year before when he decided to chase him, he didn't think he had the balls to come after him. In fact, he didn't seem as confident then as he is now. He had gotten stronger. From the way he looked, the way he simply stood there and held his blade ready to contest, he had jumped up a few levels.

The boy had genius in him, Alayasha knew. He was almost like his student, maybe more so. Alayasha began to walk to him. It was slow, one step at a time. Even with the Hyuuga's katana drawn Alayasha could see that he was at the edge between attacking or retreating, which would make things messy on his front. He stopped and stood for just a moment. "I-" he began, keeping his voice at a steady calm and reassuring tone, "heard that there was a group of young shinobi who came to this village to seek Bakuho, the mad scientist. I did not know it was your group. Well, you and the Uchiha."

He kept an eye on the boy, thinking about taking another step then stopped. He was wearing the cloak. The cloak did not show the full extent of his body. It didn't show all his weapons nor where his hands were at. If anything, he could've made a move right then and there would've been blood. He took his hands out of the cloak and turned his hands out to show that his palms were empty.

"I originally came out here for a-"he paused. He wish he didn't, but if he started talking now he would've choked up. Could he lie about his reasons here? He could, but what difference did it make if he told him a false narrative? A big one in this circumstance. No, he wasn't going to lie. Not this time. "I came here for an auction. A black market auction that is going to take place in a few days. I decided to get a head start by getting familiar with Amegakure. It's been a very long time since I set foot here and I wanted to get my bearings." He could've mention his hatred of this particular place, but what good could've come out of that?

"I guess that answers one part of your question." he said. "Though I doubt you'll believe me." He murmurred that. "But to answer the other part-I haven't have a clue of what you're talking about in terms of "meddling" with your village. What's there to meddle?" He said, raising his voice a little. It wasn't a shout, or even loud talking. It was attentive, a talk a teacher would to his student.

"The only thing I've learned from your village is the fact that your "village" is very incompetent. Its leader, the Hokage, is just that: A man with a fancy title. Nothing more. He couldn't lead a village out of box even if you gave him a map. Your military is, at best, sub-par and that's being generous. It would be crushed by any neighboring village or the other superpower with just a single strike. I wouldn't meddle in the affairs of a village that is about to be slaughtered. It would be investing in a business where they're trying to sell fish on the moon: Pointless."

Throughout it all, there wasn't a hint of anger or spite against the village. There wasn't jealousy, no envy, not even an ounce of hate. Alayasha spoke so matter of fact, that the tone alone was a bit more to handle. He was young, this Hyuuga. There was no doubt the life that he lived, either from the main branch or the side branch, was quite easy-going. He was told that life would be somewhat hard, but Alayasha had his doubt that there was anyone, his family, his teachers, his friends, his leaders even, had the balls to tell him these simple facts.

"From the way you're talking to me, you're under the impression that I somehow knew you had lost your Uchiha friend. I didn't quite figure that out until you drew your blade and said those words. You're searching for Bakuho in attempts to rescue your friend. I'm searching for Bakuho for information concerning a group that is-" he took a second to think of a word, "becoming a thorn in my plans."

"So there...I answered it." he said that imitating the Hyuuga's voice. Despite his voice being deep, he was close to the Hyuuga's pitch and tone. "Whether you believe me or not, is up to you."

Posts : 132

Hiryuu did not budge once. Not a single time did his motionless eyes flicker or shake, nor did the rain dripping from the tip of his katana fall from his hands shaking. He was a statue of danger, willing to jump at the throat of anyone ready to attack, that person of course being the giant before him. Why had fate dealt him such cards? Running low on supplies and money were now the least of his concerns, he was in a foreign land with a terrorist on the search for his presumably dead friend. Hiryuu would show no fear, but in the back of his head he knew this person might need to become an ally. So he listened.

Why were criminals so long with their words? Hiryuu cared not for anything besides the Leaf Village or Yusuke. What he was doing here was of no concern, one day he would end up in a jail cell and his crimes were going to be added to a long list. The black market auction (now that he knew about it) would come down sooner or later, time being the only obstacle. Or maybe it was all a bait, or maybe he simply didn't care if he knew. This guy was confident in his ability to kill so Hiryuu assumed the latter.

But yet for some reason he didn't know much about the Leaf Village. An error on Hiryuu's part. If he had any ill-will towards the Leaf Village he now knew they had and probably would continue to be here in the future. However what he was saying about the Hokage wasn't entirely false. The military bit was false, simply because Hiryuu and Yusuke were Konoha shinobi. Not only that, they were both from the strongest clans in the Leaf Village and once they were able to get into power they'd change the way the village was run. Both boys had vowed to it. Nobody would dare march on Konoha soil (at least not again) and live to tell about how they got off with it. But it was Hiryuu's turn now.

“Stop trying to be dark and cold. Nobody cares about the shit you are going through. You're a fool if you think I'm going to fall into your trap.”

Hiryuu's motionless body smoothly went into movement, sheathing his blade but keeping his hand on his weapon. Through the rain that pelted his face and hair, he spoke calmly.

“But, you are responsible for Shinjin. We can either fight here and I can drag you back to the Leaf or you can help me find Yusuke. It's up to you whether you want to die or not.”

Talking this much shit was grounds for a beating but Hiryuu took those cards and played a buff. The giant would know of course, no doubt about that. But would he release what Hiryuu was really asking?

Posts : 760

The Hyuuga had spunk. He probably would talk more shit if he knew he could get away with not losing an arm, a leg, or a head even. This kid, he thought, staring in the face of danger and he would openly mock the person who could kill him right there and then. How the memory of another person who, not too long ago, talk smack to the Mizukage. "Well, I'll give you credit for trying to threaten me, but the only person who can pull that off is my father. And last time I check, my dad wasn't 4000 years young and a Hyuuga for that matter."

Alayasha sighed, moving a hand to his temple. His temple was pulsing now. Out of anger? No, this was out of slight irritation. The kind of irritation he gets when he's dealing with hard complex fuuinjutsu formulas and hard-head individuals. "And you are so determine to put the blame of Shinjin on me. Like the kid was the puppet and I the puppeteer." Alayasha scrutinized. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe Shinjin acted that way because that was his own will? He did those things not because I influenced him, but because he felt he was trapped in a place where he would stand trial for a mistake I made- "

He stopped. He closed his mouth for a second, feeling the aftertaste of the words he said. They felt bitter, like drinking the bitterest tea his father use to make them drink. It lingered for a moment. The blame, the sadness, the outright anger he felt all that time ago. They returned then, trying to solidify in his mind and heart. He shook his head. "Forget it. Why should I explain myself and Shinjin's action to a thirteen year old. You already have this pre-existing notion that I'm a criminal and I'm just some evil man who scare the shit out of young genin."

He collected himself. He pushed the emotions aside, all of it to the deepest part of his mind and pulled out the only thing that was sane to him: Logic and deduction. He looks over at the warehouses. He could make out five surrounding him, but he knew there were more warehouses. He could search the warehouses himself, waste more time, and probably waste more money and energy just trying to find the slippery doctor. Or, he could somehow convince this Hyuuga to help him get what he want. He was a kid, sure, but he was one of those genius kids who excelled fast. His Byakugan could do a lot of search work while Alayasha used his skills. His money, his influence, his contacts, his power. Combined with this kid's genius? He could make it work. He knew he could He wasn't going to find this organization, but he could certainly find Bakuho. He could be the key to it all.

"From what I can tell, you're looking at the spot you last saw Bakuho, and your trying to find anything that'll give you a clue. This is what the deal is. I possess something you don't have, and you possess something I can never get so let's combine those two and perhaps find where our slippery friend left out. I'll help you find your Uchiha friend if you give me something I want." He was eyeing the kid's weapons. The kid could handle them well. It was a skill was sort of envious. Perhaps he could be a part of the bargain. Perhaps. He had to see how this kid was thinking. "Let's call it a 'I scratch your back, you scratch mine' kind of deal."