This isn't how I left it! (Haven)

Aivas had managed to take nothing but the back roads even still the whispering about the founding of a ninja academy in the capital was eating at his mind. Footsteps turning slightly he had started toward that area of the country, his intent was to maybe see about rebuilding in the capital it had been awhile since he had done any humanitarian work or well ever, maybe it was time to start building up some karma, and the repetitive work would help Oda with his troubles. Repetitive menial labor maybe they needed builders, he had to admit he did know which end of the hammer drives the nail so why not right. He adopted his stride a bit drawing himself up to his full height and switching his sword slightly the grip changing it from the hilt pointing up and instead aimed down for a faster draw. His eyes roamed over the landscape as they approached the capital, it was obvious the signs of a drought hung over the land, everything had turned a dusty brown and choked without water to sustain the greenery. He hadn't expected that, ah but mores the fun, at least he would have something to do once he got there. Aivas had spent much of his younger years in Haven but not much time in recent years their plight was something new to him but determined to not let it bug him he was all smiles as he walked, turning to converse with Oda without hesitation, "its changed a bit since I was last here, but at least as it is maybe we can find some work right?"

He would sigh inwardly as he stopped on the road dropping into a push up position for a moment and starting on another set of twenty, he groaned lightly with the effort as it drained him a bit of the life sustaining water he had precious little to spare these days, it wouldn't kill him but he longed for a cool drink to sate that scratchy feeling at the back of his throat. Maybe they could find some water once they made it to the capital as things stood at this moment he would have to persist without it, he barely had finished his set before kicking lightly off with his feet and ending up in a handstand, he would walk the rest of the way this way, after all Oda could pretend to be a wandering minstrel but Aivas had no cover other than to play at being a fool in order to throw people off about his true talents in life, on that note he would sigh slipping the sheath of his sword quickly into a position that he could still draw from even though he was walking on his hands, it would hang almost loosely from his belt to not throw off his weight enough to cause him to fall over. It was an interesting talent and one he had honed through years of his self imposed exile from the world, it had been a decent way to keep things from getting stale as he traveled, it gave him an option to throw up the pace of his walking and as long as he didn't fall into a routine it was alright enough to keep his brain alert.

[WC: 554]

As they had been traveling, Oda had thought about how Aivas had essentially shrugged off the Kunai. He still was not sure how, but he had decided to accept it. It still bothered him, though. He was not sure biology worked that way. But it must for some people. Which was weird. How did he do that?

These questions prompted Oda to recall scrolls he had read from within the Tengakure library. At the time, he had only paid them a passing glance. They were of medical ninjutsu. Oda figured that Aivas's survival had to have something to do with medical ninjutu. That thought intrigued him. That is why, while they were walking to Haven, Oda snuck off while Aivas slept and purchased a scroll. He had returned before Aivas woke (or so he thought), and packed it away. As they traveled the next day, Oda pulled out the scroll. A few passing comments and fake remembrance likely led Aivas to believe he had had the scroll the whole time.

It was a scroll on a basic medical jutsu. while not quite as powerful as heavenly palms, it required significantly less chakra control and could be using with only minimal levels of medicinal knowledge. It would serve him well for the time being, and would help him decided what he truly wanted to do. Perhaps medicine could help him with his personality... issues. At least that is what he hoped for. He needed to learn to control it.

And so while he walked, the practice began. Whistling as he walked, he worked on controlling the chakra, trying to get it to be manipulated the way he wanted to to be. He needed to concentrate it in and around his hands, and then to work from there. It was a very different practice than using genjutsu. With genjutsu, you projected your chakra outward. With this, however, you have to carefully release it, and let it leak out at a controlled rate. And even then, you had to keep it near your body. It was extremely different from genjutsu.

He was ecstatic when his hands had a light glow. He had wrapped his viol up with two straps so he could carry it like a backpack, and punching the air almost undid the knots holding the 'straps' in place.

As they got nearer the destination, however, he stopped practicing. He had it decently well down, and he figured it would be best to not advertise himself as a ninja near towns and villages. So Aivas and him did a kind of minstrel and jester act in some of the towns. It made them a bit of cash, but Oda would quickly spend it not because he wanted it gone, but because measly amounts of coin purchase measly amounts of food and drink. However, once they passed a village, and Oda figured that he and Aivas were alone, he would once again start to train his ability with the heling jutsu.

"Work would be nice," Oda responded.

[WC: 504 "Learned". If we do something that would prevent training from applying then I'll just restart my person wc.]

Den had an ulterior motives for patrolling outside the city. He didn't want to simply ward off rogue ninjas from attacking the capital, he was trying to find the source of all these rogue ninjas, trying to find out who had ordered Min's capture and caused her death.

The filth he had found that day had been useless. He had ran into a few groups of rogue ninjas this day thanks to intelligence gathered through the mind reading technique the day before, finding their little hide outs and destroying them. Den had maybe gotten close to a real lead, but as he read the mind of the two survivors of his last raid he found that one of the men den had slain early in the conflict that been in charge, and from the memories of the two men he seemed to be more than a simple splinter cell leader, he might have actually known something. The two men's bodies would corrode away into nothing as Den let them fall to the ground, the only remnants being their clothes and equipment.

Retrieving his sword Den would clean it off with the shirt of the man it had been embedded in, before placing it back in its sheath and retrieving his fallen cloak and draping his form with it. Pulling his hood over his face he continued on, in a foul mood as he had killed the only real lead he had found that day.

As he traveled his senses would branch out, including his chakra senses, and as he began to head back towards the capital for the evening he managed to pick up two signatures. One was above the norm, and Den's first guess was that whoever it was had been trained as a shinobi, instantly making him inclined to believe the man was a rogue ninja affiliated with the group operating in Haven. The one who was following him had an extremely low signature, but for all Den knew he could just be suppressing it. The two would be at the edge of Den’s sensory range when he noticed them and made his move.

Den’s left hand made a sign akin to what it would make when one normally did the ram seal, however Den didn’t need to use his other hand to perform it anymore, at least not in this situation.

Den would move at a speed of 200 from this point, reaching his destination in the briefest of moments, 35 meters in front of the duo he had sensed. Den's form would just appear in front of the two as he returned to a normal standing position, not even a puff of smoke accompanying his arrival.

“What’s your business here?” Den visage would be hidden from normal vision beneath his cloaks hood. The cloak itself was black and color, in similar in design to the cloaks occasionally worn by shinobi hundreds of years ago in the time of Naruto other than the color. His shirt and pants shared the color of his cloak, but the vest he wore was a dark brown color. Thanks to his cloak it wasn't visible, but his left sleeve was actually bloodstained from his previous fight.

If the two didn’t stop approaching Den’s chakra would begin manifesting over his cloak, white energy would frame his form and trail upwards from his body as two red orbs would become visible from beneath the hood. The two didn’t appear dangerous at first sight, the one with low chakra was in fact walking upside down, but appearances could be deceiving, and Den was already predisposed to believe the men were his enemies anyway.

(Display of power used if you guys keep advancing, but not using the killing intent part so Sliv doesn't have to worry about that. Also sharingan activation is also only if you guys move forward.)

The target appeared very quickly some thirty-five meters from where he and Oda where on the road, he continued to advance, still walking on his hands before lifting up on the fingers of his right and and unsheathing his sword with his left, the sound of the ringing steel as it rasped free of the sheath revealing a freshly polished and sharpened sword, turning his body so he ended standing up straight once more. He would look down at the admittedly flimsy looking arming sword and let out a small sigh before holding it up pointing it at the figure with the white flickering outline, it was cool and all but it didn't even seem to bother him as he stepped forward motioning for Oda to start backing away whispering over his shoulder so only the trained ears of his traveling companion could pick out the exact words, "if you feel the need to retreat do it now, I've only got one chance at being the bait and thats to hope he takes awhile trying to stab me." Turning to face the immediate (he perceived) danger he would flick the sword in his left hand experimentally not letting on that it was indeed not his traditional hand for the weapon, he would smile to the new comer stepping in closer to about twenty meters as he raised his voice, "I'd rather not have to fight but I insist if you intend harm duel me first." He would again with a practiced familiarity swing the sword in his left hand quickly transferring it from a downward slash into a reverse grip with an upward slash, the hilt never seeming to move very far from his hand as he again switched it into the standard upright position, allowing it to fall down by his side and tap irritably against his leg. This wasn't how he pictured his return to Haven at all, he had expected to quietly slip in and make an honest living in the shinobi less village. He would relax his stance his footing equal not giving away a lead foot as he continued to stretch his free arm across his chest, the evident stitching on his vest obvious if the stranger had been looking for it, but he sincerely hoped the 'enemy' would attack that spot and get in close, after all close in fighting happened to be his specialty.  His right shoulder and arm fully stretched and ready for the rigors of combat he would reach down cautiously and undo the ties that held the scabbard at his waist, letting it drop to the ground with a dull thud, Aivas would give a mock bow to his opponent as if this were nothing more than a simple training bout, "come now are you any good with a sword?"

[WC: 1024]

(I'm really busy today so sorry for short posting this)

The man appeared in front of Oda and Aivas. He was obviously VERY fast. So much so that he was likely a ninja. Aivas drew his sword and spoke, and Oda backed away. Not far, as he was afraid the man would chase the one running, and Oda knew he would be unable to escape, but far enough to have little chance of interfering with Aivas. He would reach into his pocket, wrapping his hand around his headband, planning to pull it out if need be. He would have pulled it out now to show good intentions (hopefully), but the cloak made it impossible to tell if this man was a rouge ninja, a village ninja, or someone with extreme training, although he highly doubted the third option.

(I tried to post this 7 hours ago but I only just noticed that it errored >_>)

Denkiteki's vision enhanced as the one with little chakra continued to advance, even drew his blade. As his white chakra continued to shroud his body Den debated what to do with these two. The one who drew his sword began backing up, as did his companion. If they ended up running Den guessed he would just let em go, they didn't seem like the types to have the information he would need.

Instead though the one with blade in hand attempted to whisper to his companion, unaware of Den's enhanced senses. Bait? Perhaps these were his enemies. Den's left hand gripped the sword at his hip, drawing the blade in a swift motion and holding the blade at his side. Unlike the one who seemed to be his opponent, this was his dominant hand.

Den contemplated the wisdom of going after one who called himself bait, which meant perhaps there was a trap involved. But while the one without a sword seemed to have a powerful chakra for a human being, it was not at Den's level, he was confidant if he proved to have some sneaky form of jutsu that Den would be able to counter it somehow.

Especially if he got rid of the one with the sword quickly.

Den would began to rush forward at 55 speed towards the one in front as the man approached. He might have begun saying something as Den closed in 20 meters, but if he had Den wasn't really attention, instead making sure he performed this jutsu right. At 16 meters Den's body would disappear once more, reappearing a meter in front of the man with the sword. Before teleporting Den would position his blade in preparation for a stabbing motion, and as he re-appeared would extend his arm forward at 110 speed, seeking to impale his enemy’s right lung, his arm and sword long enough to cover the meter distance. The strike wasn’t meant to kill, though if it did Den wasn’t really concerned.

Den’s blade would poke out the man’s back if the attack was a complete success. The sharp sides of Den’s blade were facing up and down, the sword couldn’t be pulled to the side to be removed for instance, though Den wouldn’t recommend such an activity even if it was an available option. Den would continue to hold the hilt of the weapon with his left hand, hopefully holding the man in place with the impaled sword In his torso and what not.

If he was successful Den would towards the traveling companion of the swordsmen, his arm turning a dark grey color and an brighter aura of white light appearing on his palm, which was promptly pointed directly at the unstabbed man’s chest.

“When someone asks what you’re doing, you shouldn’t step back and scheme.”

-20 for blink
-25 for sage transformation (+10 health, +10 strength)
-10 for advanced sage transformation cannon
-1 from sharingan

1217 AP left

Aivas looked down as the weapon seemed to sprout from his chest, huh interesting, "oh look at that I've been impaled." He would step forward walking along the length of the blade as he lifted his sword with his left hand, flicking the tip down in a mimed stroke through the empty air as he reversed the grip and brought it flashing up at his attackers arm with his overwhelming ten speed, oh yea baby. Noticing for the first time the hand extended at Oda, Aivas would frown his voice coming out very raspy as he reached his hand up to grasp at the hilt of the sword that was through his chest with his free hand, "stop threatening my friend, we were just coming to help build or find work in Haven, damn missing ninja." Aivas would flex his muscles keeping his breathing steady but a definite rasp had begun to be noticeable, and a slight gurgling as blood pooled in his lung unfortunately the slight upwards angle of the blade would allow the pooling of blood which was rather uncomfortable compared to being stabbed through the fucking chest. His right hand would slowly reach up to rest on the hilt or the hand that the unknown element was using to hold the sword as a frown flicked across his features. He was still trying to mentally shrug that one off, damn that had hurt quite a bit but after all he had done in life it wasn't the worst thing ever. Aivas would take another shaky breath, dropping the weapon from his left hand to land point down in the earth at his feet, barely missing his foot as he reached up to rest his left hand against the flat of the blade, pushing down carefully to not cause too much more damage but effectively creating a sheathed effect to the blade it would be difficult to pull it from the wound as he applied his full strength to the holding the blade in place, "what is with people and always going for the chest Oda?" He would look over his shoulder to contemplate his travel companion for a second, "alright I think I can maybe hold him here Oda, you can go ahead and make good your escape now buddy." He would frown it didn't look like Oda was going to leave, he would cough once, a little of the blood from his lungs spilling out of the right corner of his mouth, "you are a missing ninja right...cut us a break?" 

[WC: 1450]

Oda saw Aivas get impaled. Despite knowing that it would not kill him, it was still shocking. What better a trigger than a near murder followed by a death threat?

Oda raised his hands. He stepped back out into the open. In one of his hands was the headband, the symbol on it carefully covered up, but while making it seem accidentally done. Oda would say the following lines concisely and clearly, not stuttering the entire time. “Look, if you are part of that group of Marauders, I should probably let you know that the rest of your crew isn't so hot right now. The rest of my squad reported less than a minute ago” he said while tapping his head with the pointer finger of the hand not holding his headband, “that they had been 'dealt with.' My personal suggestion to you is to go find them and save as many as you can. If we go missing now, there will be a lot more to pay than a few lost lives. Honestly you're lucky that you attacked the immortal one first. Few hours and he'll be fit as a fiddle. Imagine if you had attacked the primary healer first...” he made a motion with his thumb pointing to the path from which they had come. “So how about you both just separate and let me heal his wounds before he starts painting the ground with blood. Sound like a plan?”

Of course it was all bullshit, but that is no matter. He stayed calm throughout the whole thing, not lowering his hands more than his head. He would slowly approach Aivas. If allowed close, he would whistle a quick jingle and his hands, still above his head, would begin to glow. Of course, he would only do this is the sword was already removed from Aivas's chest.

Oda was not skilled in this jutsu, but its use should at least help Aivas heal a little faster. Maybe in hours instead of days or weeks. Although he would truly need to practice more if he was to become competent with this ability. He would not get closer than two meters until the man (Denkiteki) had backed up a distance, and Oda would not cast the jutsu until he was within one meter of Aivas. It was all a bluff hoping to make the man flee in fear of stronger retribution. Of course, there was no 'rest of the squad' and there was no group of marauders. Oda was just hoping this would be enough to scare off the probably-a-missing-nin in front of them, or that the headband would be enough to cease hostilities with a samurai or other ninja. It was a stretch, but not impossible.


[WC: 457. TWC: 1089]

Well, it seemed the man wanted Den to stab him for an unexpected reason. He seemed to not be to hurt by blades. As the man attempted to walk forward Den would swing his sword to his own right, the flat end of the blade then pressing against the flesh of the impaled man and pushing him towards his left. Den would twist his blade as he made the motion, allowing the flat end to press upwards on the man's flesh so that Den could lift him upwards as he swung the blade, sending the man up and off to Den's right once Den's blade slipped out of the body. The force the man flew at would not be sufficient that he'd break his bones upon colliding with the ground or some object, but it would hurt. Due to this action none of the impaled man’s words would likely be spoken, unless he chose to speak after getting thrown/managed to avoid being flung from the end of Den’s sword. Due to the fact that both men were holding their sword in their left hand, when Den flicked the man to the right his sword would not hit Den.

If the man with the instrument still attempted his bluff he would find it would not have the effect he desired. Den paid little mind to the headband as the man spoke, there were too many reasons he could have gotten one for Den to be able to discern anything of it. He could be a village ninja, or a missing ninja that kept his headband, or simply someone who had acquired a headband from a dead shinobis corpse.

But when he spoke he seemed to perhaps be part of some group, at least a squad. Was there another country operating within Haven, or was this a group of missing ninja within the country, the one Den was after or perhaps some other group? The mention of something called the Marauders made Den think there was perhaps multiple groups.

If the man spoke, as he finished Den’s right hand would glow a little bit brighter. If he began moving towards his friend after or even instead of speaking at all, the same would happen.

“I’ll ask a last time, what is your business in this country?” Hopefully the man would hear him this time, and perhaps respond to what Den was saying. His tone was impatient, that combined with the chakra cannon he had pointed in the man with the high chakra signature would hopefully inspire him to answer Den’s question quickly. Den's chakra senses remained on high alert even as his vision was focused on the apparent healer, his sharingan allowing him to see his far above average chakra clearly.

-1 sharingan
-5 for juugo bl

1211 AP left

Well it wasn't the most dignified position but he only rolled once when he landed, groaning softly he would roll over onto his back and just stare up into space with a vacant expression, this was not the welcome home he had wanted at all.  Letting out a heavy sigh he would start to get to his feet once more, turning his head and stretching his neck before turning back to face the attacker again, what he hadn't noticed was his landing on a groundhog burrow. Starting to take a step forward he would stop and look down as the tiny animals would swarm from the burrow and attempt to chew through his boots, well thats not very nice, cursing under his breath Aivas would start kicking and retreating from the entrance to the animals home, but they weren't going to let go that easy, he continued to kick with minimal force sending the animals to fly between the other two ninja, they continued their assault though instantly running back from where they landed just past Den and charging Aivas once more. He would sigh continuing to punt the small but surprisingly numerous animals out past Den and Oda, they squeaking and furry fury evidently trained on the intruder that had so rudely disturbed the animals home.  Cursing again he would punt a little harder, but not hard enough to actually injure the animals, just sending them in longer arcs out past the other two observers to his plight, hopefully they would subside soon, but he didn't hold very high hopes for that.

[WC: 1713]
[SHORT POST AND LET THE NONCRAZIES TALK]