On the edge

Once the hole was 'created' the Uchiha would look at the pile that Hakouh managed to accumulate. It was not sloppy work, but they would need a bit more so the man decided to help him finish with the task. While they were at it, Naoki would try to engage in a small talk, well, small for him, this was actually serious stuff. "So, you say you are a missing ninja of Iwagakure. What made you leave? Did you leave anyone behind?"

Continuing with the work of Naoki, he was content with it, that was until he was asled the question. His face took on a a stern look as he recalled the day, "Iwagakure was destroyed and I was out on a field mission at the time, being a genin it was pretty normal to get basic missions. And for the people, I have family out there, a mother and a younger sister. I couldn't find them in the evacuees but I'm sure they made it out." He continued his work silently, a topic of death around the dead, how adequate this was, no they aren't dead, you're going to find them Hakuoh.

"Hopefully they're not dead and you're going to find them one day, Hakouh." Naoki would say as he straightened his back. They now had enough of a pile. It was interesting to learn that the guy did not actually desert, but was rather forced to leave through an unfortunate event. The Uchiha would explain to his helper that the pile needs to be brought closer to the grave. It was a shorter task than gathering them. In the mean time, Naoki would deal with the bodies. He took a couple rolls of bandages from his inner pockets and put them on the ground. Trying to pull or carry the bodies could easily become very messy. So, first he would cover them in bandages. He would do this while Hakouh dealt with his task, provided he complied with it of course. Bandaging both corpses should take a bit more time so by the time Hakouh would be done, Naoki would tell him to take the bandaged male corpse and put it in the grave. When he was done with the female he would do the same. While tending to Hikarishi's body he would find a damaged katana. It was useless but Naoki decided he could use it like a grave post, instead of gravestone.

Once both bodies were in the grave, the herald of Kirigakure would give it a moment of silence as he said his goodbyes in his mind. Then he would perform a sequence of six handseals and exhale three small balls of fire to ignite the bodies.

1789 w.

"Thank-"Hakuoh was at a bit of a loss at this moment, considering the man he was working with had not introduced himself,"-stranger, I needed to hear that from someone other than myself." He'd say this sincerely because he soul did grow weary at times. He'd set upon moving the stone pile to where was indicated, it was much easier than when he was plain out searching for them, but it was still manual labor that he detested. He still did it though, it was what he could do to honor these fallen ninja and respect for not only the dead but dead warriors was important to Hakuoh. As he finished the stanger would tell him to take the corpse he had just bandaged and place it in one of the graves, he reluctantly did so, not showing his reluctance outwardly mind you but inwardly, he was not a fan of handling the dead, considering they were dead, but it was must be done.

Once they were in he'd bow his head giving them a moment of silence, along with the stranger. And in a flash beyond his eyelids he would see that the bodies were lit on fire, an honorable funeral if he saw one, no matter the location, that is what he would want as well.

Naoki would of course note the man's use of word 'stranger' instead of his name, which he had not told him. It did not bother him, but the Uchiha had not revealed his name for a reason. Firstly, he would like to keep any information about him suppressed as much as possible. The second reason was that he kind of liked the guy and him knowing anything about Naoki might bring him misfortune and suffering, so by not telling him his name Naoki was sort of sparing Hakouh from being associated with a dangerous criminal.

Once it was mostly just ash and embers that remained of Hikarishi's and the female's bodies along with their equipment, Naoki would push the pile of rocks into the grave quickly covering it up. In less than a minute all that was left was a more rocky area. Next to it the Uchiha would put Hikarishi's katana, burying half of the blade in the ground and letting the rest stick out vertically. On the hilt he would tie the Leaf and Cloud headband and step back. It was done. Their resting place will be this rocky coast, next to tranquil waters of the river and the calmly swaying trees of the forest.

The herald of the Mist would then turn to his helper. "You've helped me and I have something I promised for you." He would put a hand under his white robe and retrieve some stone, then from another pocket he would take a pouch filled with money. Bringing them a bit forth, one in each hand, he would say "I will let you choose. In my right is a moderate bounty, equivalent to 5,000 ryo." it was a rather relative sum, an amount he was willing to part with for a small errand such as this. Yet it was enough for someone who has just begun their ninja life to get started, to acquire some basic equipment. "In my left hand is a rather special stone. I can be considered a one time life warranty." he would reveal the amethyst-like curiosity. Naoki himself had several of the valuable gems, so he did not mind parting with one here. His eyebrows would rise a little "Well?"

It was a surprise to Hakuoh actually, that he was getting a reward for his efforts, he was more doing this for the right thing. He had half a mind to turn him down but being a missing-nin was hard and any help was good. He'd take a few moments of concentration, money was always useful, that gem though seemed very interesting. As a strange person himself, able to make explosions and such at will, he decided to go with the gem, it seemed useful if not blatantly then perhaps at a later date it would be. "I'm very gracious that you'd reward me for this, in honesty it was out of the goodness of my heart, what's remaining at least. I won't turn down a bit of help myself though, I'll take the gem if you don't mind."

After hearing the man's response Naoki would let out a faint smile and put the pouch of money away under his white cloak. Hakouh seemed to think the rare and powerful object was of more value than money to buy weapons. He was probably right, the stone's worth was roughly twice the sum he offered in the other hand. Keeping his hand extended Naoki would let the stone be taken. "Well chosen. I hope you will not find yourself in need to use it, but in case you do I should warn you that the stone takes time to bind to your soul before it can be used. And your body needs to be strong enough too, otherwise the trick doesn't work. So train hard, look for your family and even though you are a rogue, don't think that is what defines you, you are still free to make your own choices." Assuming Hakouh was to take the gem from his hand, Naoki would bend his finger to momentarily come in contact with the man's wrist and put a mark seal there. After that, if there was nothing else being said he would wish the man farewell and disappear into the woods.

Naoki would stop out of sensory range, about a kilometer away. He should probably head back, Xyxer might have already sent someone to make contact with him. But before that something was bothering the Uchiha and it would keep popping in the back of his mind, even throughout this little adventure. The fact that he could feel the marks he has placed. It was in a way similar to a sensation he would get right before teleporting to a location of a mark rather than a one he has been to. Except now he would get it constantly, albeit much fainter. Maybe he was onto something here, so sitting down he would make a ram handseal and focus onto these feelings. With concentration he could definitely feel them in more detail, he would even feel the newest mark which he would have just placed. Naoki would not have expected that sensing the marks could be this easy. It did not happen before. Maybe he somehow opened a door to it when he tracked Hikarishi here, maybe it was suppressed in his subconsciousness and took all this time to surface. The man did not stop to question the possible causes of this for long, he was satisfied with his new capability and in turn it only confirmed what he had previously noted. Denkiteki was still alive. The herald of the Mist decided to return to the shrine of Etro before deciding what to do next. As the wind carried the leafs in the forest, so would the chakra surrounding him carry the man through spacetime to his destination.

2627 w.
[Exit into Mountains of Lightning Country,
1500/1500 w. learned Mark Tracking
1127 w. towards Ashuku
Giving Hakou 1 unbound Soul Amethyst
Taken Hikarishi's Armor Ring. His body, Rinne and all of his other belonging were destroyed as requested]

Hakuoh would take the stone, placing it on one of his weapon pouches, giving Naoki a solemn nod as he spoke.

"I'll hope as well that I don't need it, but I will train for the day that I might need it. Don't worry stranger, I will walk my own path, as you said I am marked as a rogue but that is in no way how I am defined, and is not how I act in this world.  If our paths cross again I hope that it will be a much brighter meeting though."

Perhaps I'll even be told your name that time, whenever that is. Hakuoh added mentally, he thought names were an important part of a meeting, but he knew the danger that a name holds, if in the wrong company it can spell out your end.

Keeping the farewells short Hakuoh would leave, heading North along the river, perhaps he would have more luck there. But once he was out a considerable range he would decide to try a technique he was working on, a considerably larger clay construct, but with the goals of not combat but travel, he wanted to start moving faster, considering that he was mostly on foot during all of his missing ninja days. He'd use the hands seals, snake and go into tiger to focus the chakra correctly, his natural explosion element forming out his mental image, a large bird that was of considerable size, naturally it'd be white since it was going to be made from his explosives. It was slow forming at first, the construct seeming to struggle as it was being made from his sheer imagination, he had decided that this was a more wise way to go about things, since carving out constructs, especially ones as large as this, was extremely time consuming. Eventually the rough shape of a falcon, considerably larger though considering that it was being made for the purpose of Malvoes to ride, would form out of his explosive clay, animating itself, pecking about the ground and flapping it's wings in a testing manner. Hakuoh would place his hands on it, further exerting his will, enhancing the mental image he had in a way, to really bring out the details. As he did this the feathers and rough form would really flesh out the hollow eyes would shape better, the beak, talons, and feathers would have the right textures. The falcon would give a sort of preening squawk, a sign that it was happy to have been finished correctly and Hakuoh make his way onto it's back, mounting it near the wings.

"Let's stay near the river, I got a good feeling about it." He'd tell the falcon, it understanding him completely, due to it being a construct of his, would lift off, flying North.

[2149 words,
claiming 10 stat points,
gaining unbound soul amethyst from Naoki and putting my wc towards it,
claiming bakuton traveling bird ]

Approvals all around.