Welcome to the MN Club

Most times, topics like this would start off with something like "CharacterName was bored. Blah, plot, blah." However, the way that Kozai's player had designed him didn't really allow for that kind of thing anymore. After all, inside Kozai's mind, there were all sorts of thoughts whizzing around (and no, "whiz" in this case doesn't mean "urinate"). At any rate, now that the humor ends, Kozai found himself still many miles away from Haven. He had no idea where to go now, other than to simply wait until Mitsui inevitably found him on his endless search for trouble. However, he was still at a loss.

At a loss, that was, for interesting people to meet. He just so happened to be leaning against a tree in the middle of a clump of such maple trees, with a gurgling creek about twenty meters away. A source of water that he had drank from a few hours ago. He had purified his systems, naturally, so he was completely safe. No giardia for him, today. As he sat there, eyes only slightly open, his sensories were going full blast trying to detect anyone around. Occasionally, he'd run over the appearance of the odd squirrel or insect with his Coriolis Revelation, but no humans... yet.
[211, intro post is short post]

Salzem walked around Haven's borders, taking his time enjoy the scenery. He hadn't had the opportunity since he'd arrived in Haven as most of his time was devoted to finding that murderer and finding a safe place to sleep. Neither successful. Salzem looked worse than when he entered Haven with the areas around his eyes dark, his body pumping on adrenalin making him twitch slightly, his skin more pale than usual. He'd likely fall asleep right there if he was sure it was safe. Perhaps he'd have better luck tonight. Salzem looked up at the sky near the trees.

"About 4:00 AM...." Salzem whispered to himself. The sun was barely visible along the horizon, orange seeping into the black sky as if it were water colors. Wandering through the wilderness, Salzem came across a small grotto with a light creek bed running across a bed of smooth rocks. Had he not been so tired, he might have given the chakra he detected a second thought. He knew it was something familiar, that was clear. In fact... It felt recent... as if they had crossed paths in the last few weeks... He shook his head, as if trying to clear the thought from his head, eyes locked on the creek-bed. It looked pretty clean for forest water. Salzem knelt by the creek, lowering his mask with one-hand while dipping the other into the water. It was cool, refreshing at a touch. Salzem scooped some up in his palms, just enough to whet his whistle, and drank. His head seemed to clear as the water flowed down him throat. People, unpredictable. Gods, predictable, but not trustworthy. Nature, you can trust. With his mind and body functioning more than 20% now, Salzem took a "look" around the grotto with his Chakra Sensory. Nothing significant, nothing sig-  Salzem stopped in his tracks when he detected that strange chakra. No.... It wasn't strange... It was familiar... Although he was sure that they hadn't met more than once, this chakra jumped to the front of his mind with a title to go with it: The Kill Order!

Kozai had now fully closed his eyes. His sensories scanned over everything around him... the trees, himself (wearing what he always wore, but hygienically, of course), and... hey, wasn't that one of the ninjas from Konoha? So, had Jason Senju sent this one after him to finish the job? Well, perhaps not. He hadn't yet confirmed anything, and it was too early to make conclusions. So, instead, he watched with his eyes closed (not many could do that) as the boy drank from the creek. Mmm... he should watch out for waterborne parasites. Those weren't all that uncommon in freshwater streams, even here in the northern reaches of the world.
So, he decided to approach this by NOT planting his fist into the male's head.
Assuming that it wasn't obvious that the boy had defected Konoha (i.e. headband symbol scratched out, etc.), Kozai would speak to the boy, his rather deep voice carrying to the other man.
"Ah, leaf nin. Has your kage sent you to eliminate me? Or do you come for some other purpose?" Either way, Kozan began kneading a titanic amount of chakra, just in case. The boy hadn't displayed any kind of outstanding abilities like Draconis had, but that only served to make Kozai more wary of him than usual.

Salzem faced the kill order as he spoke. Salzem had long since discarded his headband, as it no longer hung around his neck as it once did. He considered addressing the man as he had known him: Kill order, but he decided against it. He had no reason to disrespect him now, nor did he have any reason to then, back in konoha. Salzem just shook his head when he asked if he'd come to finish the job.

"I've not come for your head, nor am I tempted to take it now." Salzem said to the man. "It is chance that we would run into each other." Salzem would nod his head respectfully at him. "My name is Salzem and I am no longer of the leaf." He knew that he should have been feeling some degree of fear or anticipation, seeing as this man was strong enough to put the entirety of Konoha on High Alert. In this case, however, Salzem felt little more than if he were addressing a stranger. He looked at the man in front of him, and studied him politely, but made no aggressive moves. He was, by no means, relaxed however.

So... Salzem was the boy's name. Unusual in its phenomes, he supposed but then again, Konoha was a diverse village. This guy could have one of a variety of backgrounds. Regardless, that wasn't his business. Unless he needed them, Salzem's memories were his own, not Kozai's. However, the more important thing was that Salzem was now no longer part of Konoha. What had happened? He had gone so far as to show up when Kozai had so much as approached one of the village's younger ninja. In that short period of time, something must have occurred to make him defect.
"Ah, I see. I'm Kozai." He opened his eyes, and took a look for himself at the boy.
"As it turned out, I didn't need the Hokage for what I wanted to do anyways."
To him, Salzem looked a little lost, like Kozai had on his first few days on the borders before he had gone to Ame. Well, perhaps he'd help the former leaf nin a little... and find out more about him. Kozai, as has been mentioned numerous times, had a hankering for information, regardless of the time of day. He wasn't the gossipy kind of person, obviously, but desired knowledge for different reasons.

"What were you planning with the Hokage?" Salzem asked. Kozai was probably just thinking out loud and had no intention of sharing that information with him, but since he brought it up, there was no harm in asking. Salzem tried to disconnect himself from Konoha, to forget everything and everyone he had an emotional attachment to, but when he and Kozai spoke the word "Hokage", His anger rose steadily. He knew it was childish to pin the murder of his best friend on anyone but the murderer, but he just couldn't help but feel the Hokage was in-part responsible. He was the one that allowed this murder to go unpunished. He was the one who refused to look for him. Although he kept himself planted in place and held his tongue, one could obviously see his anger in his eyes glowing like an inferno. This only lasted for an instant before he regained control of himself and blinked the anger out of his eyes. There was no reason to put this off on another person.

After Salzem asked his question, Kozai was quiet for a few seconds. Only a small fraction of that time was spent thinking of his response, the rest was spent analyzing Salzem some more. The boy seemed have some kind of deep resentment... towards his village? Towards the hokage? He had noted with his experienced eyes that it was upon mentioning the hokage that the boy's more hardened part came out. Had Jason wronged him somehow? Kozai honestly didn't expect that of the hokage... it was unlike him to harm his own ninja, or those associated with him. Or had he acted that way in front of Kozai for a reason? Hmm... it was possible, but at this point, he couldn't possibly fathom Jason's motives. It'd be rude to ask Salzem as well. No doubt, he wanted the information from Konoha to sell himself.
Kozai smiled, and looked toward Salzem. In the darkness of the early morning, one of his eyes, the left one, would flash red with the sharingan.
"Originally, I wasn't going to harm anyone to acquire this eye power. In fact, I had to end up stopping a fight to get the Sharingan. But yes... doujutsu was what I was after. I couldn't base any conclusions off of others who had witnessed its power... to unreliable. Surely, you've heard of primary sources?"

Salzem glanced to Kozai's left eye as it glowed with the familiar sanguine of a Sharingan. From what he understood, this man wanted the sharingan to experiment and experience, not to use it as a weapon or tool like they were taught back in Konoha. This wasn't necessarily a BAD thing, just unexpected and slightly alien. Perhaps it could be a GOOD thing if it were used correctly. When Kozai asked if he'd heard of primary sources, Salzem shrugged lightly. The worst part about it all, is that Salzem pieced it all together. The Hokage must have let this man in to the village! The final solution, he could not say, but he had a hunch that it wasn't for his good dinner conversation.

"The Uchiha." Salzem said to Kozai's question. Where else would you acquire one? Sure, you could have the eye passed from handler to handler, but it always came from the Uchiha. He himself had seen the sharingan's ability and even had the privilege to test himself against it and he had to say, he craved it's power. Though he'd never admit it to anyone, nor would he go hunting for parts like Kozai, he always wondered how far he could carry himself on the ocular Jutsu. On this point, Salzem decided it was his turn to ask a question.

"So how is it? Is it all you calculated it'd be?" Salzem wouldn't say this in a mocking tone. Rather, he'd say it casually as if discussing a new shirt or headband.

"Hmm."
Kozai switched off the doujutsu, as his eye returned to normal. He had gotten used to it by now, for at first, using the sharingan had been slightly disorienting. However, this hadn't lasted for long, as he'd adapted quickly to it. Being able to predict movements and jutsu from their origin was something even surpassing the experience in fighting that he had gained thus far in this life. No wonder the Uchiha were rumored to be such fearsome fighters. Only the very fastest or most skilled of taijutsu specialist could physically outpace the predictive ability of the sharingan.
"I didn't take these from an Uchiha, but that's a story for another time."
He stood, still leaning against the tree, not scraping against it as he stood up.
"Indeed, they are exactly as I expected given the information I received. As far as I can tell, there hasn't yet been anything unsual that's come out of this. No detriment to my body, and no personality modifications. There are those who believe that these eyes 'corrupts' whoever bears them."
How silly that was... to think that mere organs could change personalities? Even when Kiranomo had first given him that idea, he had cast it aside as nonsense.

Salzem sat down on a near by rock as Kozai spoke. He seemed to speak knowledgeably, as if he had been studying the ocular jutsu his entire life. He had to admit that it was a rather engaging task talking to this man. He wouldn't exactly call it "fun" per say, but he was learning enough to keep his attention. He didn't relax for a moment, but tensions didn't exactly rise either. It was as if he were stuck in some kind of limbo, trying to decide whether or not to talk with Kozai more openly or leave (if he'd let him). When Kozai said there were those who believed that organs can corrupt and change a person, Salzem had to suppress a small smile. A ridiculous claim! There was no scientific basis to back this up and the only thing an organ can change is how extensively it mutates and in what biochemical direction. Learning the ways of medical Ninjutsu has it's perks.

"I suppose what they mean is that once one acquires the organ, there is that temptation to just keep getting more and more until one is no longer the person THEY recognize and they probably can't see the same person because all they see is either masked by horror or disgust. Biased opinion. Quite a selfish belief." Salzem would note.