On the edge

[In case anyone has problems with this, read Dem's farewell thread]

The air would be disturbed and start to warp. Suddenly a sphere of chakra appeared and upon its collapse Naoki emerged, stepping down onto a rocky surface. This was the approximate location he could last sense the mark. Looking around the herald of Kirigakure found himself on a coast of some river. To his left were the shallow waters, flowing lazily and to his right was a forest. The coast was rocky with little to no plant life and gray sand. Judging from the chill in the air this location was not too far from the border with the snow country. Stepping down from some rock Naoki would approach the river. In the direction opposite of the flow he could hear some sort of settlement and in the other direction... his senses picked something up and the wanderer started walking following the feeling.

It would not take him much time to enter the scene. On the shore but a few meters from the water and maybe ten meters from a bridge over the river were two bodies. They were almost completely engulfed in black flames. Naoki recognized this as the ability Hikarishi possessed and even used against him in their fight in Kumogakure. The blade he acquired from the battle also possessed the same power. This was problematic though, removing or extinguishing the flames was extremely difficult. Naoki had to go as far as to develop a seal dedicated to keeping the flames of his blade in check. He did not really have anything to remove them off the bat. Anything but one thing it would seem. The Uchiha remembered one of his newest acquisitions, fashioned from a very interesting mask. It was a gem bonded with the manipulated fabric. The gem had the power to absorb almost any kind of chakra ability, which did not exclude the black flames. Turning it on, the fires that were slowly eating away the bodies would be sucked into a black opal on a ring which morphed onto Naoki's right index finger. Naoki would sign and note that it was actually lucky that the fires did not spread to the nearby forest.

Now it was safe to approach the bodies for a closer inspection. The smell of burned flesh was rather terrible, but it did not take long for Naoki to confirm that the male of the two definitely used to be Hikarishi, the other one he did not know, the flames had destroyed her features to the point where she was impossible to recognize for the former leader. However for some reason Naoki felt that the two had some kind of resemblance, beyond the seared skin that is. The body of the female was also soaked and bloated, as if she had spent some time in the water. So here was a theory, Hikarishi found a body of a dead relative washed ashore and while distressed used his ability either on purpose or accidentally, which set the black flames on both of them. That or he fought her and both of them were caught by the flames. Or... somebody else set the fires on them, possibly using the female as a bait. Ducked down next to the bodies Naoki would look around. He could not sense any strong presences nearby, so he took another look at the corpses. Sadly, the Rinnegan did not survive. There was very little to salvage really, all of Hikarishi's weapons have melted away or vaporized. He did find a mostly intact ring on his finger though and a slightly burned headband with two symbols of the Leaf and a symbol of the Cloud between them. The ring seemed to have interesting properties so Naoki decided to keep it, maybe something decent will come of it. The headband though...

Honestly, Hakuoh had no idea where he was, as a Missing Ninja he has learned to stay on the move, stay away from other ninja and hope no one offs you for some bounty somewhere. That being said, staying on the move often lead to places he had never been to through a path he has never walked. Hakuoh on this beautifully unfortunate day was walking a long a river, keeping the water on his right and a dense forest on his right, given how cold it was he assumed that he had made quite someway near snow country. Absent mindedly walking was interrupted though as the air started to change and shift, quick as he could Hakuoh made his way into the woods behind a tree, still behind the now fully materialized figure a few meters, he watched from behind his tree of safety as the stranger would walk towards the river, pause and then start walking along it. Damn it, this is a bad idea Hakuoh thought as he weaved between the trees to follow this person.

Hakuoh would stay behind Naoki about 20 meters, in the tree line away from the shore, keeping him in his line of sight. He was a approaching a scene near a bridge, it was difficult for Hakuoh to make out but it looked like two figures..burning? Was the fire on them black? The longer stared at them the more sure he was that it was black flames that they were engulfed by, possibly a jutsu of some sort. As he speculated on that, the flames moved, not like fire but like they were being pulled, which they were, towards the person he had been tailing. They entirely left the bodies and seemed to have been pulled to some place on his hand, maybe a ring as it didn't look like it went into his palm. This figure, whoever it was, must have been a very powerful ninja to pull such a feat, and that transportation jutsu he used to arrive here was nothing to scoff at either. As the fire disappeared the figure looked towards the forest, quickly hiding Hakuoh was sure that he was found out, that this was the end of his career on the road, before he could join that village he heard about, before finding his sister and mother, oh god why did it have to be so soon. But after a few minutes of not being vaporized, he crept around his current tree and saw that the figure was now at the two bodies, inspecting them it seems.

Hakuoh would make his way forward, only 7 meters behind Naoki now, but still at the tree line, forgetting that he was trying to keep his distance for safety almost entirely. He watched the figure, now able to see the person more clearly, other than the white robes the stranger had fair skin and balck hair. He was inspecting the bodies seeming to pull something from the hand of one of them and picking up what appears to be headbands, which made the Iwagakure headband feel a bit heavier in his pocket. This was not the first time he was around corpses but he was still feeling uncomfortable, this was a private moment, maybe he knew the two dead or maybe he was responsible for their demise, unsure of the situation Hakuoh decided to move on thinking that if he stayed in the treeline he'd be able to move past the stranger and his scene without being noticed.

Naoki's train of thought was interrupted as he was alerted by a noise in the nearby trees. It was a faint sound of someone or something walking. Almost immediately Naoki's sharingan would activate and the disguise for it would be raised, making his eyes seem like they would normally. However, his body would give no clue to his alertness, he would not flinch or move, but rather remain calm, pretending to inspect the headband. In truth however he was already scouring the woods with sensory. There appeared to be someone there and judging from their chakra they seemed to be a ninja of roughly Genin level. Of course, that could be a deception, but knowing how chakra suppression normally works, Naoki was inclined to believe it was not. After all, no way his teleportation was tracked. No, this was probably a random encounter.

Hearing the person make a bit more noise the man would realize they were turning around to walk away. Well, he was forced to at least inspect this so. Standing up Naoki would say to his unexpected guest "I would appreciate it if you showed yourself." It wouldn't be a shout, nor a whisper. Just loud enough for whoever it was to hear it. His eyes would constantly scan the treeline for any threats.

(Explicit Thoughts Redacted) Well, so much for not going unnoticed, Hakuoh was now stuck in this probably dangers situation, the mindset was either run and hope this man was incapable of vaporizing him with a thought. Well, may as well come out and show myself, hope for a bit of negotiation and apologize for spying on him, Hakuoh's mother did raise him to be a kind person.

He steps out of the tree line, adjusting his cloak, he approaches the stranger with his hands up, at his shoulders, palms out to display that he has nothing on his hands. He'd put on a warm smile, hopefully to deter the murderous thoughts of this man in front of him, and bow keeping his hands up and keeping eye contact. "Hello, let me say, I apologize for spying on you from the woods, it wasn't why I was out here. I was just walking along the coast of this river as you did your appearing thing." He motions to the direction where Naoki appeared, and consequently the direction that he and Hakuoh came from. He'd look down at the bodies and drop the smile, remembering the deaths and trying to be respectful of their lives, no matter who they were they deserve that much. He'd return his attention to the Naoki waiting for him to condemn him and add to the bodies in front of them.

The seemingly black eyes would follow a figure cloaked in gray as it emerged from the treeline. The person gestured surrender and showed that they are unarmed, which actually meant little to someone of Naoki's level as he knew shinobi could easily fight without a single weapon or gadget. Between their height and delicate features at first Naoki had a difficult time discerning if this was a man or a woman. But soon his guest would begin to speak before the Uchiha could ask anything and the doubts would be put to rest. The guy clearly liked to talk, putting out a small mouthful of an explanation and apology. That or he was scared shitless and was just explaining for his life here. Well, Naoki decided to take a chance here. He would gesture for the man to lower his hands and inquire "What's your name?"

Provided he was answered truthfully, which he would judge using his sharingan to analyze the guy's face, the questioning would continue with a small reassurance first. "Well, Hakuoh, unless you secretly harbor ill intent towards me or spied on purpose you don't need to worry." He would then gesture at the seared corpses next to him. "Have you seen what happened here before I came?"

"Ah, my name is Hakuoh Tashiaki, Missing nin, previously Ninja of Iwagakure. Pleasure to meet you stranger." He'd bow once again giving a small flourish of his cloak, standing up he'd take a more relaxed stance due to this ninja's reassurance. He'd look at the scene before them and frown," Unfortunately I have not, I was just passing through when I encountered you." Such a shame of a scene, no indication of what happened or who was involved other than the people who were currently on the ground.

A pity. Learning what the hell happened here would have been valuable, but Naoki guessed he would have to do with his own hypothesis and conclusions of that. He would glance at the two corpses, should not leave them like that. Probably should not leave any trace of them at all, but at the same time for some reason Naoki wanted to at least leave a grave for the man who was his accomplice if only briefly. Turning to the man who introduced himself as Hakuoh the Uchiha would voice a proposition. "I knew one of them. Say, how about helping me bury them? In return I'll offer you something of value." Might as well see if the guy was willing to help him with this.

He'd nod slightly at the stranger's request, "Yeah, no problem for me." Hakuoh would reply, waiting for an indication from Naoki where to start the task of burying them, seeing as himself lacked a shovel for various reasons. Hakuoh wasn't that good with situations like this, well, dealing with other people and situations like this. He was torn between silence or talking to him about the one he knew. He decided to go with the latter, "Um, which one did you know?"

Hearing the rogue agree Naoki would just go "Good." and then start thinking about how they should proceed. Obviously neither of them had a shovel nor had the means of making a decent one quickly enough, so he needed an alternative and it came to him rather swiftly. After responding to the other's question the former leader would tell him what help he needed. "I knew the male, he was an associate of mine. Now about the grave... I prefer not to dig one with my hands and I think neither do you so I'll create it otherwise; don't be startled by an explosion when it happens. In the mean time I will ask that you gather some rocks which we will use to cover the grave." With that the Uchiha would walk around a bit, looking for a better spot for a grave, at the same time looking where the ground was softer, as the area was, as stated before, rather rocky.

Once he had found the place, a bit more towards the forest, Naoki would put his hand on the ground and unseen to the other man a tiny light would seep through the rocks and below. The sunfly would phase about one meter deep where it would stop and await command. Naoki would give that command - countdown, and then step away. Should Hakouh be anywhere near, he would say "Stand back. Maybe find cover." In around ten second the sunfly would detonate, raising a column of dust and sending stones in all direction. The hole it created was just over two meters deep and wide.

Hakuoh would nod silently as he was given his orders till he couldn't help but crack a small grin at the explosion warning. "Don't worry, I'm alright with explosives." He'd say, mentally recalling his ability to will explosives from his own chakra network. He'd set upon gathering stones from the shore, ones that were more than likely carried along with the river's flow. He'd accumulate a pile nearby of larger stones that would be suitable for the graves, it was quiet work, both of them going upon their business to make the graves. He didn't mind it, the least he could do to honor the dead, even in this kind of place it's what they deserve, a proper burial.

Hakuoh would step a few feet back at the suggestion of Naoki, interesting enough there weren't any explosives visible, he was working for a while so it's possible Naoki buried them or perhaps he used some jutsu or perhaps he was similar to Hakuoh with the explosive element, which would be nice to have kindred spirit. His thought process was quickly interrupted, as a geyser of earth erupted from the ground. Hakuoh would dust himself off from the debris, with a slight cough he'd say, "Well, at least we didn't have to dig it with our hands."