Paths of the Lost

Stepping on a rocky terrain Naoki would be making his way up a mountain. The manipulated fabric he wore was in a shape of pure white robe with a hood to protect him from sunlight. After he had finished his business with Hikarishi and rested enough, the man had inspected everything he had acquired during this whole endeavor. He had already made use of many of it, made changes to his gear, mostly the manipulated fabric, it truly was such an amazing gift. The giant blade Yoru was hidden in a seal on the Uchiha's right wrist, as was the katana he carried on his back into the fight. Everything was sealed away, into his personal storage seal or into scrolls, some stuff was still kept in his ninja pouch and pockets. But basically, despite everything he has acquired he now looked just like how he did when he came here. If not for the gray bag he carried over his shoulder. Next to him strode Wookie on his last voyage, the clone carried two such bags. What was inside it? Money. From the 300-something thousand that was offered as his share Naoki had taken two thirds, aka over 200 thousand, the rest he left to Youka. He wondered if it made the man any more inclined to trust him or like him. It was quite a sum, more than Shimagakure ever had in its funds, as far as the former leader knew. Although his village did invest a lot into defenses. Way more than any village he has been to so far. At the very least the sum he left Youka could be used to acquire some impressive defenses, though the thought of what the man might do with it was not the most pleasant after everything that Naoki has seen happening in Kumogakure after Youka took over.

From under the cover of his hood Naoki's eyes would look at the scenery around. It seemed like a wasteland, the ground was dry and cracked, there were withered plants here and there and he could feel the dry dirt and rock would crumble under his feet. But that was only what those who could not look beyond would see. It was only the scenery of the immediate area, where rains have not reached in recent months and where sun shone without an end. This image was only enhanced by the heat of the sun in zenith. But the slopes and valleys beyond this would give a refreshing sensation to the man. They were green with grass and forests, blue with rivers and sky and brown with rocky slopes. And to the Uchiha it meant that even if Youka could rot the village at the heart of the country, this land will never rot. And that thought gave him comfort which was much needed for him at this time. Naoki realized he has been part of great evil, the destruction of the Hidden Rain village and the attack on the Cloud. He was partially responsible for many deaths and changed the fates of many for the worse. He could try to deceive himself that it was not his intention, that he had no choice, but it did not matter. It was true that bringing such chaos and destruction was never his intention, it did not however change the facts of what he has been part of, it did not change the pain he had inflicted through his actions.

Naoki would follow the mountain path and emerge on the side of a green plain. It seemed to be a bit more flat part out here and it was covered in grass mostly, a few other plants unknown to him were here and there. His eyes taking in this view before him would spot a building on the far end of the plain. It was still some distance away and the nature of the structure could not be made out. Naoki would put the bag down and stretch a bit, as he would wait for Wookie to reach the plain. Once the wood clone did, the Uchiha would pick up the bag and head towards the building. Unlike the part of the mountain he has been to before, here the wind was steadily taking the heat away from his body, adding to the refreshing feeling of the green plain. The two would walk in complete silence, except the wind and grass, just like they did all the way up here. Mostly because any conversation they attempted became very weird very fast. The one knew what the other wanted to say and when said they could only agree to it as both had the same beliefs and opinions. The only difference was that Wookie constantly felt the temporary nature of his existence and had accepted it. Naoki theorized that it was a quality all clones shared, after all they all knew they were not the original and that at any second their existence could cease. Yet they never rebelled. Was it because they were made that way? Maybe the jutsu bound them and they were slaves to their creator's will? That was a cruel way to look at it and Naoki decided to abandon that train of thought and immediately noticed that they had reached the building.

It looked like a shrine of some sort. The two of them got here so quickly that Naoki did not even notice. He also did not notice until now that the wind has blown his fatigue and heat away. Neither he nor the clone could see or sense anyone around. Putting down his bag by the entrance to the shrine Naoki would instruct Wookie to guard them. He himself would approach the door. There was no need to knock because he knew nobody was inside. The door was unlocked so he would push them, putting a little of an effort to move the wooden mass and gain entry. The man would step in and leave a little gap at the doors so some of the sunlight came in. With all the other windows and doors closed, the place was rather dark. It was clearly meant to be lit with candles. Before progressing further Naoki would summon ten tiny Sunflies to light the halls and sent them to start exploring while he took his boots off. The wooden floor was smooth and refreshingly cold. Allowing a small light emerge from his hand the Uchiha would raise it before him to light the way and step deeper into the temple. He would walk around for a bit, looking at different ornaments, pictures, statues and everything else that could tell him anything about this place, all the while his tiny glowing helpers would map out the halls of the shrine.

Bit by bit the pieces would fall into their place and he would get a clear picture of the deity that was worshiped here. This was a shrine of the Goddess Etro, she was the harborer of the dead and the keeper of balance. What Naoki would find interesting is that according to some of the texts the shrine would only appear to those who believed in the Goddess. Yet it appeared to Naoki, was it because of his current state? Did it mean he was looking for a god? Maybe. There was nobody here to tell him, in fact the place was quite void of life. Still, it did not look abandoned. It's as if it used to have people visiting it daily, but now only once in a while somebody would come to tidy it up and pray. Could it be because of the crisis that befell Kumogakure? Could Naoki be responsible for this was well? Standing in one of the bigger halls the herald of Kirigakure decided he liked it here, he would stay and study this place for a bit more. But first he really needed to give life to the place and that meant lighting up some candles. Except that there were many hanging at the walls and columns. It would be a bother lighting, let alone reaching them all by himself. And that's when he would have a rather ingenious idea. He could use elemental chakra, specifically fire element in this case, channel it through his sunflies and have his glowing helpers light the candles for him.

That's what he would do. After recalling the wisp like lights back to him, he would infuse some fire into them and then send out like twenty of them throughout the halls. He would give them an image of a candle and commanded the sunflies to seek them out. Not all of the candles were similar so sometimes the orbs would return to him and he would give them new commands. This took some several minutes to organize, during which the man had a couple more ideas on how he could use elements with his sunflies. And who knows what he could do with lightning and wind, the two elements he did not possess. Once everything was set, Naoki would put together a ram hand seal and emit a burst of chakra. His sunflies were commanded to do two things on detecting this burst. First was to release a similar, mimiced burst of their own, extending its range and basically creating a network, a chain reaction until it reached all the sunflies he has put to work on this. And the second thing was to use the fire chakra inside the seals and make a little spark, which would ignite the candles. One by one the halls of the shrine would be lit and Naoki's helpers would return to him.

Once he had brought life to the place Naoki would go outside where Wookie still waited. He had decided what he would do, for now he would stay here. But the clone would return, somebody had to complete the assignment. Naoki and his other self exchanged nods as he gave the clone a note to deliver and the third bag. This will be the end of Wookie, the clone who served him for so long. Stepping a bit away Wookie would make a seal of confrontation and a sphere of chakra would form around him before collapsing into a single dot and disappearing, taking the clone along with the money back to Kirigakure, using the dimensional corridor that only Naoki knew.

1728 w.
[Exit,
claiming Sunfury trained (1500 w.)
and 228/750 towards next Inner Seals level

Also sending a wood clone with 150k ryo to Kiri]