A general meeting

Ramon had been to the Land of Iron before. It was a cornucopia of plants. Nightshades of all types grew here, if you knew where to look. This was Ramon's current goal: to locate all the nightshades he could, and any other potentially poisonous plants. The easy availability of lizards in the area would help him test the plants he was unsure of, and test the potency of those he was.

It was a cloudy day. Rain threatened the horizon and the nearby river seemed to be screaming for the rain, waiting for its chance to become hectic. Ramon looked up when he heard the chirping of a bird and at that moment the first bit of lightning struck. Mere second later, the rain started. It was slow for about a minute, and then it was coming down in torrents. Ramon didn't especially care, except for the fact that this would make finding the lizards harder.

It was about ten minutes later, when Ramon was still alone, and he was examining a 'cherry' bush that he heard the water. The river was full power now, and he had completely toned it out for who knew how long. He moved further away so that he wouldn't be caught if it burst its banks, and so that he could hear better. However, hearing was still hard with the downpour and the river that he couldn't get too far away from. He reached down into a hole and pulled a small lizard out of it. Grabbing one of the 'cherries', he fed the poor creature. It seemed fine at first. However, within 30 seconds its body was convulsing. Within a minute, the little creature's heart died. Ramon noted this: either those weren't cherries, or the ground here really brings out a plants poisonous properties.

"Come on..let it rain", the brown headed female would say softly. Simply staring up into the incredibly cloudy sky, The rain that threatened to break may come at any moment and this female looked like she couldn't wait. Her skin was obviously dry this much was obvious, Her clothing had been torn and ripped in many places and fashioned with dirt. The hair that usually sat proper and precise was a mess and plastered over her face. Surely there was no way on this planet that this young and rather tall female could look worse.

Yet she was happy, Standing on the edge of the border that led into the Land of Iron, The place were she and her family had been happiest. Yes this was her birthplace, Her mother was a powerful Samurai whom used to reside here with her father, Upon her mothers death she was unable to remain there due to her father whom had them move back to Sunagakaure. That was the worst move ever. For after her father refusing to allow her to become a ninja his own leader killed him to show that no one would ever tell him what he never wanted to hear. Yes the Kazekage murdered her father and then expected her to stick around. Foolish men never prosper.

Now she had returned home and was heading to her cherished spot, The spot were her and her mother shared secrets, the special place with a special bond. All of a sudden as she continued her walk to this place and bam, The small spits of the rain fell on her before rapidly striking her. She took this opportunity to get as much in her mouth as possible. Her movements would see her quickly nip in to a small house. the lights would turn on as she smiled, Quickly diving around and grabbing some bread and shampoo the female would leave the house un-touched. Devouring the bread rapidly and drinking the rain water she would rapidly lather up her hair in the harsh rain. Her outfit soon lathered as well as soap fell down her as she walked. Eventually her hair being somewhat clean while the rain continued.

Eventually she came to the place. A river rushing forward covered with trees around the area, Though the main portion was the large statue of a female, This was her mothers resting place and was chosen due to the special bond. Little did she know that a young male was already in the vicinity, Making her way through the tree's stopping 10 meters behind the male. "HELLO EXCUSE ME ARE YOU LOST" she shouted, this place was supposed to be private but she had no idea it had not been tended to in some time. Nature had simply taken its course. The dirty statue up ahead out of her vision would be the giveaway. if she were smarter she would notice by the growth and ground around her...sadly she wasn't that bright.

Den was in the Land of Iron. Why? Well mostly because the Gobi wouldn't tell him where Minorin's killers were, so he would have to search the entire world to find them. All he had to go on was the poison he found in Minorin's body, which for all he knew could have just been a common poison found anywhere, and the fact that these guys were obviously powerful enough to take on a jin that had mastered the use of chakra cloaks.

Den's attire was simple. He wore an outfit similiar to that most Jounin wore, save a black cloak that covered most of his form. It was partially open in the front enough that anyone directly in front of him might recognize the flak jacket he wore as that of a ranking shinobi. He had a kunai holster strapped to his leg and a weapon pouch attached to his belt as well.

The hood of his cloak was down despite the threat of rain, the cloudy sky sort of reminded him of home. Kiri's weather had been a lost worse than this normally, but it was something Den had grown up with and learned to deal with it. After the move to Tengakure it actually took Den awhile to get used to constantly nice weather, if a bit chilly however due to spending a lot of times up in a balcony of a tall building.

Den was resting up in a tree when the rain started, his only response to the downpour was to pull up his hood. Now this reminds me of home. There was no mist, but still it was cold and wet.

The Gobi was not pleased with the change of weather however, Can you at least find some proper shelter? This tree won't stop us from getting soaked.

Den was beginning to stand up when he heard a girl's voice in the distance, shouting to someone. I think I'll see what that is first though. He could sense the Gobi's displeasure as he hopped down form the tree and headed towards the noise. After walking through the woods a few meters he would see a man and woman. He was about 5 meters away form the woman, not directly behind her but he was just outside of her peripheral vision.

"Everything alright?" Den took on a kind, helpful sounding voice a she removed his hood, not wanting to seem like some darkly clad stranger that was hiding his face. A smile would be on his face, though all the while he would be looking between the two beings in fornt of him to make sure they weren't hostile.

"HELLO THERE ARE YOU LOST" was the first thing he had heard anyone say in quite awhile. And between the downpour and the river, and her coming through the trees and stopping behind him, he was caught very off guard. He jumped in surprise and sent the dead lizard flying upward in one direction, and the 'cherry' in a slightly different direction. At the same time, he released a little yelp, although that was probably covered up by the rain hitting the ground, leaves, and puddles, and the river raging. He turned around and glared at the girl. Oddly enough the lizard still hadn't landed, but the cherry was about to plop on the girls head. Not like it would do anything if she didn't eat it, but still. Random cherries falling on heads were funny.

Then he noticed her clothing. Ragged, torn, soaked. He figured his clothes were probably soaked too. His belly length shirt would probably be skin tight by now, and his shorts would be trying to pull themselves down with how heavy the water would make them. He doubted they would fall though, they never did. And at least he was wearing all black. Nothing would be really transparent. Then the third voice was heard. He could barely make it out, but he was fairly certain the person had said "everything OK?" With the downpour, the girl was hazy, and the man was an outline at best. Ramon would straighten up and would start talking right as the dead lizard was about to land on the new guy's head. Of course Ramon wouldn't notice that unless a huge ruckus was made, so he would talk. "I'm not lost, and I'm fine," he would say, raising the tone of his voice to sound more female than he normally sounded.

Well, it seemed that even though Den tried to sound kind he still startled the girl. Den's body tensed beneath his cloak as the girl jumped away from him, ready to reach for a weapon should he be provoked. It seemed the girl didn't intend him any harm though, so he let himself relax.

A small thing landed on Den's head as the other person began to speak, it sounded like a feminine voice but Den couldn't tell if they were a boy or a girl. Reaching up, Den pulled the dead lizard off of his head and examined it a moment. It didn't look like another animal had harmed it, or like it had been crushed or cut. Poisoned perhaps? That was the first thought that came to Den's mind.

Den didn't seem to be paying the girl any mind when she explained that he and the other person would freeze to death, instead he continued to look over the lizard that had fallen on his head. However once she finished speaking he addressed her. He looked away form the lizard and gave her a thankful nod and a smile, that she might be able to see through the rain, "I'd really appreciate it, thanks."

It's not wise to follow strangers off to mysterious huts idiot. The Gobi's words echoed in his mind, It'll be fine. The girl's rather slow, you saw how she moved when she noticed me. The other person though, as he the one who had killed the lizard? Den wasn't sure, but the other girl seemed rather kind, and had just arrived, so that seemed to make sense. But why poison a lizard? I'll remain cautious of the other, if that'll keep you quiet.

I don't intend to keep quiet until you stop acting stupid, so expect me to berate you for the rest of your life fool. There was a bit of the Gobi's usual venom in her voice that time.

The girl did her little jump and it was known instantly that she was at least battle ready, possibly a ninja. Although her speed implied she was a bit faster than him, and that was assuming the jump was done at full speed, which was unlikely. He didn't like his odds. He'd lost all his supplies last week, so he'd have to rely on his tongue. Then a thought popped into his head. There were still those 'cherries'. He bent down, saying "The rain doesn't, and won't, bother me." This was truthful. And while he was grabbing his bag, he slipped a few of the fruits into the pouch farthest from his food. This pouch was padded and coating in a film to keep its contents within, and prevent leakage, so even if they did get squashed, he'd only have t rinse out a single pocket, not ditch the backpack. "However, I would like to get out of this cold." He intended to keep the altered voice up. His body was slight enough to be a flat chested girl, and his shorts would give nothing away.

He would stand up and walk closer to the girl. He wouldn't smile, but he basically never did. Not earnestly at least. "Lead the way" he would say from about two meters away, from which distance he would follow. From this distance he could make out the man. They were short, and the cloak covered most of their body. However, for some reason the hood was down, so he could clearly make out the black hair and, while he couldn't tell what color eyes the man had, he knew they were a lighter color. He also noticed what appeared to be a heavy jacket. He wasn't sure what type, but it occurred to him that it could be a flak jacket. If that were the case, than this meeting could be troublesome. Better to not reveal he was any level of ninja yet, let alone a low ranking rouge. "Lead the way."

Den would follow about 10 meters behind the other two as they traveled, making effort to make it seem as though he was struggling slightly to keep pace with them. He kept his cloak around him so that they wouldn't see any of the weapons he ha don him, the pouch or kunai holster specifically.

This is not a good idea, even if they are weaker shinobi they could still try and trick you. The gobi had a point, and perhaps Den was overestimating his capabilities. Still though, he could use some time out of the rain to plan his next move. Maybe one of these other young adults would be able to give him some useful information.

When they finally arrived Den wasn't surprised to find a broken down hut. He didn't think it would be in spectacular shape, though admittedly it was more broken down than he had expected. I could probably fix it real quick... no, best not to reveal his skill with ninjutsu, especially his capability to use Wood Release.

Glad you're not completely retarded. there was still malice in the Gobi's voice, but at least it approved Den's actions for once.

Den was oblivious to the girl's inner turmoil, if it even showed at all. When she turned to face him and the other boy, or girl or whatever, and said that it should keep the rain out Den slowly began to walk towards the door, and would enter should Lucy allow him to.

The girl would lead the way through the trees, but he would follow from the ground. He was faster when he moved as water anyways, and with the sped she was going he would be able to observe the two of them. The shrubbery was dense enough that he would be able to sploosh and reform plenty of times without being noticed, but not so dense that his speed would be completely hindered. They'd likely assume he wasn't comfortable in the trees. So that's what he did. At first he left right after the girl and at the first thick set of bushes that hid him, and went slowly till he was behind the man. It was From the back, it was easy to notice he wasn't going at full speed. Then, when he encountered the next set of bushes, he went around so as to be out of either persons view. He became a puddle and maneuvered himself to right behind the girl. He reformed out of sight and continued on his merry way following her. He aptly dodged roots and other plants and observed the girl. She didn't seem to be trying her hardest either, but that was just told to him by the fact that she wasn't really tiring. Again, out of sight, he became a puddle and maneuvered into a bush the man would pass over. He forced his own way out of the bush as the man passed over him, and paid attention again. He was faking effort, of that Ramon was certain. Shortly thereafter, he decided to become a puddle again and catch up with the girl, reforming just behind a tree as she landed. He was certain neither would have been able to see him moving as a puddle with how heavy the downpour was, and how many puddles there were. He had worked hard to keep either from seeing him transform as well. The tree he had stood behind was on the man could not have seen at the time he reformed. He was fairly certain in the safety of his actions.

He heard the girl's dismay. He quietly walked around, his steps easily being masked by the rain. They were further away from the raging river now, but if one paid attention, they could still hear it. He stood three meters away, enough to not be a bother, but enough to see all that was happening. He stood outside her peripheral vision. With how slowly she reached for the door, he could tell this was a place she was either scared of, and the condition made it worse, or she was fond of it, and the condition was an indication of how long it had been since it had received care. He would remember that. Once the door was open, he would walk over and enter should she permit him to. Once in, he would take an actual, for real, not poisonous cherry out of the food section of his backpack and nom on it. He'd offer some to the others as he spat the seed out in a direction that wasn't directly towards either of them. Then, he'd eat whichever one's they'd pass up, and grab some more to suck on for awhile before zipping up his bag and slipping it back over his back.




((20 action points used then, if anyone cares about the number))