Journey homeward bound

In the mountains of Lightning Country, on a distant cliff, there stood a temple. It was a place that at one time sheltered Naoki who was in need of retreat and guidance. The temple was devoted to worship of Etro, a goddess of balance and death. Now the place was in ruins. Some distance from it the air would distort slightly and out of nowhere a sphere of chakra would form, within which stood the very same man that once stayed here. The bubble would collapse and the chilly air of mountains at dusk washed over Naoki's face and filled his lungs. The Uchiha stumbled a few steps forward and stopped. His eyes would keep a dull stare on where the temple used to stand, now only a pile of rubble. Well, this was reasonable. A year passed, even villages could have been razed in that time. Sighing slightly Naoki turned around. There was a place he should investigate, a spot he left a couple of his sunflies at in case someone from Kirigakure tried to reach him. Quickly performing the wood clone technique the Uchiha let one emerge from the ground beside him and then sent it through the evening winds deeper into the mountains. In the mean time he had business to take care of here. Putting his palm on the ground Naoki made a single handed handseal. The person he would summon was Vigil, his own creation, a seal clone, an exemplar. Vigil was a boy Naoki considered his own son and was already a capable shinobi who Naoki left in Kumogakure to study medical ninjutsu under Youka.

For Vigil on the other hand it was a somewhat less adventurous evening. He was examining some medical scrolls in his room in the hospital of Kumogakure. This was after Maku's grandiose announcement and was also after Vigil was assigned to one of the teams, the one going to Yukigakure specifically. Ever since that time when Vigil began sensing Naoki again he was trying to stay prepared to be called at any time. As such, even though it was his time off, the boy sat in full attire with his blade in arm's reach should he need to grab it quickly. He was skimming some boring medical report when it happened, when he felt the pull of his master. Quickly putting the report into a drawer and grabbing the blade Vigil stood up and disappeared with a silent poof of white smoke. In an instant as the smoke cleared he saw Naoki sitting on a rock in front of him. The man was smiling but upon closer inspection the exemplar could see that he was actually injured. Dropping the blade on the ground Vigil quickly approached and without much delay started working on the wounds using Mystical Palm technique.

Naoki was happy to see the boy again. Surprisingly he had not changed much in the last year. It was also very relieving to know that despite what happened to the Uchiha his connection with the exemplar was not completely broken and the seal clone managed to survive. As Vigil was working on his wounds Naoki would take the opportunity to shortly explain his absence and apologize for leaving Vigil alone for so long. He would then ask about the year during which he was gone, if there were any major happening. The exemplar continuing to fix his injuries would begin reporting. For the most part there was nothing special, he told which jutsu he managed to learn, how the village was reworked, what kind of defenses there were that he knew of anyways. The most interesting detail was the most recent one. Naoki recognized the name of Maku Jemuzu, for the two of them had a bit of history in common. Maku once visited Shimagakure back when Naoki was still the leader there, it is through him that Naoki learned about Youka, whom he later helped take over Kumo, an act Naoki regretted greatly. Both Youka and Maku were also responsible for destruction of Amegakure in which Naoki took minor part as well. So it sounded now that Youka while remaining the de facto Kage of Kumogakure has retreated from public sight and that rather unexpectedly Maku was put in charge of the military. Furthermore, Maku seemed keen on starting something big, firstly by expanding the borders of the Lightning Country. Sighing and taking a look at the sky which was now starting to glimmer with stars Naoki thought to himself if there was a way to avoid a war. It seemed the gods did not want him to catch any rest and would put the Uchiha right in the middle of conflict again.

Some minutes later the wood clone would return and relay that there was no sign of the sunflies that were left in the meeting spot for the Mist. That could mean several things really. First was that they dispelled on their own. He was gone for a long time after all; maybe his water infusion was not efficient as he thought and eventually the seals failed; maybe what happened to him caused the seals to dispel. On the other hand, somebody could have found the meeting spot and destroyed the sunflies, or the shinobi from Kirigakure found it and tried to contact him, in which case the seals would have brought them right here... Naoki's sight shifted in the direction of the ruined temple. In Vigil's report there was no mention of a battle here or any mention of Kirigakure's shinobi. Either way, after this long there was a good reason to return to his old village in case his help was needed. However taking the exemplar with him was dangerous as well. The boy was now part of Kumo in one form or another, his disappearance could be easily traced and if Maku's plans were threatened, it could mean danger for Naoki and his village. As such it would be the best to leave this whole situation as close to how he found it as possible, which meant leaving Vigil in Kumogakure. But even then, this encounter with Naoki alone presented an issue and it would be wise to cover his tracks the best he could. The plan was formulated. Once his healing was complete Naoki explained it to Vigil. The wood clone would teleport the exemplar back into the village, with the boy explaining and giving details, the two would appear exactly from where Naoki summoned him. Then as the clone dispelled Vigil would use a jutsu on himself and seal away the memory of this evening. Naturally he would continue serving Kumogakure as he did up until now. That was the best plan Naoki could come up with at this point.

Once all of that was put into action, Naoki looked around the ruins a bit more before leaving as well. The sphere of chakra would carry him to his home this time. The place where he grew up, where he became a Jounin known for his exceptional ability at Fuuinjutsu and Spacetime techniques, the place that was entrusted to him and that he sacrificed his standing and maybe even his very soul to protect. It was his home village, now called Kirigakure.

1207 w.
[Exit into Kirigakure
3 stats for Vigil
603 w. towards learning Rainbow Fort Seal for Vigil
604 w. towards learning Seal Rooting for Naoki]

Approved; if you want you can also claim 6ap for yourself

I meant to go for that 25% discount on Naoki's part