Where do I begin [Asahi/Mizu] P

Stretching her arms above her shoulders - still disguised as her surrogate son Souji - she stood at the tree just outside of the shrine she had met up with Asahi once before. Her eyes scanned over the now pristine shrine as its upkeep had been maintained over the months, everything looked as it had that day; only cleaner. She had sent letter to his office after she had left that day and given details of their upcoming meeting date and time as well as precise location to ensure it would not be mistaken for one of the other resurrected shrines that had popped up under his reign. 

She had arrived very early to give herself time to really consider the choice she was making - to give another soul knowledge of her best concealment practice was a huge exercise in trust but who else did she have anymore? She hadn’t seen Zaine or Raleth in months, she had received word over rumors that Kenshin had ended his life and her own blood brother Arantima had settled into the village into obscurity. It seemed it was just her living with the hauntings of the past… well her and *her*; the internal struggle of her identity was ever raging with no sign of weakening it seemed. 

Suddenly pushing off the tree she strode over to the middle of the shrine where incense lay in a jar ready to be lit, taking one she would hold it up - the fine powder packed thick over the stick that created the incense held aloft in a hand that wasn’t hers. As she kneeled at the altar she contemplated quietly to herself, when was the last time she had seen her reflection? When was the last time anyone had seen Mizuki actually… She supposed today would be that day then, wouldn’t it?

Rubbing blood shot eyes Asahi Yagami made his way through the streets of Tanbogakure. It was early, but not nearly as early as requiring such extensive attempts to wake up. In truth the Komekage had not been sleeping well ever since his return from the travelers temple. Not only was he now attempting to find room in the budget to clean up a mess that he had helped create, but his dreams had been anything but peaceful since. He’d eliminated a target, a vessel for something….something that he still didn’t have all the answers to. He was closer now than he’d ever been, but still so many miles to go. He needed to confer with Yamato, but simply had not had the time. His soul was tired, speaking nothing of his muscles. Simple exercises and practice where one thing, but having exerted himself to almost his limits….had been something else entirely. Still, it had been necessary….he hoped. He saw the four attendants in his dreams, and the pain of the lamia frequented the endings of his dreams as well. It saddened him, and his pillow often was wet upon waking from fallen tears. Still…..the world moved on. It was a painful thing for those spirits he clung to what they had to watch as the world continues without them. None of us, mean the world to humanities existence, we simply mean the world to a few who would remember us.

Dressed in rather tame clothing, he wore his set of ronin style robes. They were a white color with Sakura blossoms and branches decorated around the him. On his head a large wide brim hat similar to what the rice farmers wore however it had orange patterned with the kanji for Tanbogakure emblazoned on it. His Onimaru on one side, and the Bashosen in his hand gently fanning himself. The oversized fan almost comical for such a use. Next to him Ivy Bluemoon trotted, his constant companion even in these simple meetings.

He wasn’t sure exactly who he was meeting. They’d given a name, but not one he recognized. No listing in the roster, and even more had left a fairly large sum of money behind without real explanation. That money was safely away within the treasury, something he was willing to return. Still, he needed to know more.

His feet were strapped in the wooden clogs that caused his own clip clop sound along with the trot of his horse. Arriving close to the little shrine he saw a figure holding up a jar. A jar he had filled not long ago. His sensory perception reached out, wrapping around the figure, seeking any familiarity though finding none. At the same time he sensed them, they would receive an image. An image of Asahi blasting the three attendants and collapsing a building. A scene that had unfolded just two days before. At the same time Asahi would receive a vision form the persons past, and in this way, they could understand eachother more.

“Careful with that.” He’d say politely. His voice calm and cheerful despite the weariness in his eyes. “It’s hell to gather the ingredients. Expensive too, but I’m a stickler for certain details ya know. Kind of like knowing who is leaving money at my nightstand.” He’d smile, his reference a double meaning, though obviously referencing the eighty thousand ryo. “I think you gave your name, but do you mind again?” He still spoke calmly, and he was.

TWC - 580

Used ninshu please describe your chakra aura however you may wish and a sentence from your past

She had easily heard the clopping of footfalls well before the vision or his words hit her - she had remained kneeling with no intention to show her awareness of his approach nor did she see a need to as he held no hostility in his heart. In the disguise she was wearing rather simple clothing far beneath Souji’s merit but she could only muster up the clothes she met him in at the gates; dark pants and a tan loose fitting top looked unfitting on the handsome face and striking eyes of the boy. Those ideals were driven from her mind over the months of masquerading - seeing fit to blend in more than give him the illustrious robes he used to wear. 

The clopping of footsteps would halt for a moment, as a second later a vision passed between the two; the one she received was of a battle of sorts where 3 people were struck down along with the destruction of a building she wasn’t familiar with. In that same moment a memory passed to Asahi without her approval - one of her first breaths as a Kyuketsuki. In a clearing looking down at her hands covered in blood with her nails grown to their full 4 inch sharpened edge, before a quick glance up showed the bodies of her adopted younger sister and brother lay ripped to shreds. The memory would end there but the lingering feeling of black red chakra aura seeped from her, like the hand of death gripping its host with one hand and warding off approaching parties with another. In simpler terms it was split, unnaturally so, bloodthirsty and warding as if to try to keep innocent people away. 

The flash of memory between the two was just that, a flash - and with a slow raise of her head she stared ahead at the beautiful calm of the forest around them. Without turning she spoke to him in Souji’s voice, “I didn’t realize you slept at your desk Asahi, it’s not good for you, you know. I gave you a name but it wasn’t my name.” With both her hands visible to make her movement clearly unthreatening she stood and turned to face him - in the motion her skin seemed to ripple with a red hue as Mizuki was revealed. 

The black hair reaching her waist blended in with attire that was befitting a funeral; Black robes that were fitted well enough and cinched under her bust, the fabric was silk which caused the light to dance along its tightly woven composition. It was the look on her face that spoke the most though, the red Kyuketsuki eye barely had a scrap of violet at its center while the other was the white of a byakugan. “Thank you for meeting me, I have much to discuss with you, one of them being the very fact that you know I can disguise myself at all. It’s impertinent that you tell no one… after all I've done, the best thing I can do is not be found by anyone else again. Do you understand?”

WC 517

You never knew what sort of vision you would receive, not when two souls mingle together.  What he received was not something he wished to see.  It wasn't that Asahi had a weak stomach, it was just that such things made him uneasy.  He had killed, he had seen death.  So was the curse of anyone brought up in a warrior culture.  He took no great joy in it, not did he take joy in seeing the pain of others.  What he felt here, more than the grueling images...was the pain of the one who had lived with them.  Very much like the attendants he was forced to see tragedy and heartache and have no powers to do anything with it.  His soul felt the scars, as though soft fingertips running along the white flesh that had knitted one back together, and his eyes grew watery.  His time at the travelers temple had changed him, and he was still reconciling all the feelings he had experienced there.  For some, maybe even most, it would harden them.  Remove some of their humanity, increase their tolerance for cruelty....however for Asahi..he had felt a great softening in his heart.  He had never been a hard man, but now....he felt tears drawing closer at simpler things.

Opting to not interrupt he watched as the stranger confessed to giving a false identity.  Something he had assumed but could not have truly known.  In the next moment their flesh seemed to crawl away as though it was nothing but a heat wave of the past, revealing the blistering truth of the now.  It took a moment, but recognition finally did hit as he recognized the Kazekage he had once shared a hot spring bath with.  His eyes still watery from the vision, but his mouth twisted in a smile.  At odds with the seriousness in which she spoke.  Ivy Bluemoon on the other hand hooved at the ground, clearly a little spooked and distrusting of the stranger before her master.  

"It has been awhile.....Mizu wasn't it?  Aren't you a kage, whatever could you have done to hideout in my little slice of the world?  I told you to visit, but.....I'll confess I didn't mean it like this."  His tone was light, heart rate controlled.  He was pleased to see a familiar face, even if it was one that he admittedly had very little understanding of.  "I mean, I doubt I know anyone to tell, and as long as you aren't doing anything too spooky I think we will be alright."  Still a smile, still calm, still relaxed....but the meeting was at a precipice.  Asahi was easy going, especially for a village leader.  He did however acknowledge, that mayhem could not be invited down upon his home.  He let the moment remain soft....if just to blunt the hardness that may or may not follow. 

TWC - 997

The smallest smile of familiarity crossed the face of a pained woman, “It has been a while hasn’t it Asahi. Whatever I did is of no consequence now but it seems the threads I left out in the breeze in my haste to leave have caused a ripple effect that I could never have guessed.” Slowly bringing herself to her feet, standing well enough below the man before her even with the feet between them, the height difference evident. Drawing up to her full height she resembled the woman he had met all those months before more clearly, a born leader - to what she was still unsure of - but the confidence radiated from her as the small smile faded and left her expression deeply disturbed.

“I appreciate the confidence, but I can assure you, Tanbogakure has no worries from my presence… the rest of the world I can’t be too sure. Have you heard anything about Sunagakure recently? Some whispers have been concerning me as of late and I have no way of getting concrete evidence.” While she spoke she hadn’t maintained eye contact with the man or the creature pawing at the ground in an anxious manner - while its master was at complete ease, heart rate controlled and calm. Instead she moved about the space in a similar anxious pattern, eyebrows knitting together as she spoke the concern aloud in the deserted space, her slow pacing back and forth growing to the temperature of unease she felt and exuded. 

“I do not know what I should do, my instinct is to react and pay the price as it goes but if my tracks were traced back here…”, suddenly her eyes shot back to the icy blue pair holding them fast. “How loose have your lips been in regards to this village? How hidden are you all really?” The anxious nature displayed seconds before melted away, a new questioning and warry expression overtaking the mismatched set of eyes that scrutinized him - her body coming to an unnatural halt mid pacing, only her right side facing him now.


WC 347

He watched her calmly, her anxiety nearly palpable. She spoke of consequences but how they were of the villages. Certainly not, but he’d known more than one place that had faced the consequences wether they deserved it or not. A distant memory returning, his father face dejected. A call to action and arms that had led their clan into a battle for one man, and in the process many innocent people had died. Even a soldier of his stoicism had been shaken by such a thing. He was not ready to do anything hasty yet, but he thought just possibly she was naive to think she alone could pay the piece of her since should they come calling here. Sadly our sins often spill more pain to others sometimes even than it would of done to ourselves.

“I can’t say I know anything about it.” He’d say truthfully. She mentioned a village, and he assumed it was a major one. It was a place far off from what he could vaguely remember, though his knowledge of the major villages and geopolitical landscapes were not his specialty. His focus even as Kage was internal stability and expansion, there were others that for now delt with trade amongst other places. He was to get involved soon, but no trigger had been pulled as of yet.

She finally nearly accusingly asked him a further question related to the villages secrecy. He frowned at that. The first negative emotion he had given her, possibly since they had met. “The village is….a village. We aren’t a shinobi land, we don’t deal in nothing but blood and backstabbing. We make things here. We help things grow, and nourish them.” He wasn’t sure where it had come from, this national pride. It partly shocked even himself as he spoke. “I doubt any of the major villages know much about us or even more so care. We are still nothing but a blip, and that’s fine with me.” He’d say, the negativity vanishing and instead a look of genuine consideration.

He’d mentioned vaguely where he was from before to some others on those strange instances he was away from the village, but as he considered it further, he’d never actually mentioned the country he was in. Being so small it would likely take some effort to discover the place existed and even more so where it actually was located. “If I had to guess I’d say this is about as remote as anything, unless you wanted to try your luck in the wilderness, or perhaps at sea.” He’d finally say as the true answer to her question.

TWC - 1436

“I appreciate the confidence, but I can assure you, Tanbogakure has no worries from my presence… the rest of the world I can’t be too sure. Have you heard anything about Hoshigakure recently? Some sources outside of the village are whispering of an attack sourced from my previous home… with someone close to me among the attackers.”


Hi hello staff here. It has come to my attention that you have been plying meta information that you wouldn't have been able to have obtained from some "random" source as the attack was not only just recent, but the only people or parties that would know would be those directly involved. Since this is a blatant breaking of our thread and roleplay rules your post will need to be edited for voided. Thank you for your time.

(That’s fine with me, the info isn’t relevant to Tanbo or myself anyway)

Turning her face from him in a dismissive manner she would resume her pacing, at a much slower pace now - news was not to come to a place no one knew about so there was that at least. It seemed his words mirrored her thoughts as he described this village as a productive one without the trappings of murder that the remaining world had come to be swallowed by. Fair enough, not as secure an answer as her anxious mind demanded but one she would have to deal with in the end. 

In fact the mention of the village being remote brought an old memory back to her head - one of the last leader of this village saying something eerily similar to her in his office. Heaving a deep sigh her shoulders would release their tension in an instant - and as if flipping a switch she would turn a soft expression to the man once more and let a small smile cross her lips while her eyes drifted to his feet. “The wilderness does seem the most remote but this place, you are right my concerns seem silly now being addressed aloud. Thank you for the reassurances. I’m afraid that that was the main reason for my calling you out here so criptically… It seems my fears have begun to take over my actions in recent weeks. Please forgive my wasting of your time, I needed to hear it from someone I still trusted more than I thought.” 

Closing her eyes she would raise her face to the sky, and in that moment of relaxation Mizuki looked like the woman she was - shattered into a million pieces, all being held together by the thinnest shred of tension. Taking a deep breath the image would be replaced by the facade she normally wore of calm indifference; wiping away the remnants of the memory he saw or the glimpse of her reality. “It was lovely to see you again Asahi.. But I really must be on my way, and I’m sure you have more important matters to attend to.” 

If he tried nothing to stop her - speaking or otherwise - she would turn from him and take a few steps before slipping into the dark of the ground using Mayfly.

EXIT if not interrupted

WC 377
TWC 1545
Claims made later

EXIT CLAIMS: twc 1545
Using max stat discount 25%
1430 towards Sage Art: Reduction 1875/1875 previous wc from: Re: An Arrangement [P]
115 towards Debuff Bolt 115/1125