Song of a dolphin calling

It appears that the former leader of this village was getting his wish. However Xyxer insisted on accompanying Naoki on his walk. Although the way the Mizukage phrased it confused Naoki ever so slightly, he figured the reason was rather simple - Xyxer didn't trust him enough to just let him walk around freely, not yet anyways. Well that was perfectly fine for now. Naoki's sharingan foresaw the motion of Xyxer's sword before it even started to happen. Although the Uchiha knew it was nothing more than a provocative gesture, his body moved almost instinctively anyways. As the swing was happening Naoki would turn full body in the direction of the swing while his eyes stayed locked onto Xyxer. It was a pointless move really, all it did was increase the distance from the sword and himself by maybe a foot. Once this motion was complete, the sword would stop to rest on its wielder's shoulder. As the two stepped out of the room, Naoki would smile in response to the mention that not everyone possessed the ability to teleport wherever they wanted, like the Uchiha man could. If only he knew the risks involved.

Naoki followed the man through hallways until they found themselves in a lift headed to the surface. Observing the man opposite of him Naoki would listen to what was being said. It appears that his speculation on the clues among the temple ruins were close to the truth and that the sunflies he had left did serve their function after all. Figuring to come clean, although only to an extent he was comfortable with Naoki started to answer in order "I was keeping an eye on Kumogakure, although not for too long long after I delivered the ryo and intel to you. For most of this time I was actually stuck and unable to come back, sadly. It was nothing that involves the enemies of this village, but rather my own fault and misuse of the arts of space and time ninjutsu." He would make a sour smile and add. "It is known as the most advanced form of ninjutsu for a reason and is not without its risks." He would then switch to the next question. Sticking his right hand into his left sleeve Naoki would pull out a mask with shark like features. "I assume you mean this?" He would say, handing the mask to Xyxer. "I found it among the temple ruins, it was the only clue regarding the Mist shinobi. I must ask however, were you the one who destroyed the temple?"

Xyxer couldn't deny a slight satisfaction when his counterpart stepped a little to the side to avoid the mere vicinity of his deadly blade, Samehada. It was an acknowledgement for both of them, an acknowledgement of Xyxer's power in this position, and that Naoki wasn't a suicidal guy willing to stand next to that blade. That was a useful quality in this world, not wanting to die, ironically. While in the elevator, Naoki spoke about his unfortunate departure from the world for a while, which caused Xyxer to grin. Rotating his head to view the fellow member of Akatsuki, he extended his free hand out towards him to lightly pat him on his shoulder blade once, dropping his hand back down to his side after that minor display of camaraderie, "You managed to fix it though, at least, otherwise you'd still be spinning through some dimension, and I'd still be left without my harbinger. That'd make the world a whole lot more dull."

Xyxer saw Naoki retrieve the cracked shark mask that was a symbol of his duties as a member of the ANBU Operatives.. a time far gone.. a strange time that brought a plethora of feelings to the beast. He enjoyed the freedom he had had at that time.. yet he had been far more callous back then, and would have slaughtered his comrades if need be. Yet here he was, with his comrade handing him the symbol of his feral past, in an event that he likely did not grasp the entire weight of. Without hinting at this momentary lapse in thought, he nodded and took the mask from Naoki once he handed it to him, chuckling faintly. "I was starting to think I'd have to send one of my Shinobi to retrieve that, but I'm glad you found it in good shape." As he said that, he allowed the mask to dissipate in his hand into the dimension of his ring, not wanting to dwell too much on the Xyxer of old, "I'm afraid it was already destroyed when I found the location, aided by your.. little bulbs of light, of course. Originally, I thought you became involved in a scuffle, yet retained hope for your survival, so I left that. After all, who else would you correlate with a shark more than me?" Xyxer finished his reply with a single chuckle, with the doors of the elevator finally opening to reveal the pair on the bottom floor. Walking out from the enclosed space, he was careful so that Samehada didn't bop Naoki on the head when he turned, walking down the large, open space that made up the reception of the chambers. As Xyxer came into sight, the ANBU members operating around the building, the ones that were not blending in with the crowd at least, knelt down to pay their homage to the Mizukage as he passed by, standing only when he had left the building.

Once the pair left the moderate warmth of the Mizukage building, the dense, freezing mist of Kirigakure would soon swarm the duo, covering them in it's cold wisps. Of course, Xyxer was used to the rather harsh atmosphere of Kirigakure, after all, his entire philosophy was to never be comfortable, hence why he sat on a stone throne.. plus it didn't hurt that it was akin to a refreshing drink of cool water for the Hozuki. Looking around the outside of his building for a moment, it was at this point he realized that he had no idea what Naoki wished to visit first, and so he would ask him, "What do you want to see, Naoki? We have an abundance of facilities available for you to examine if you so desire, perhaps even the training of our Shinobi.. maybe you simply want a baked treat, I hear people do often enjoy them. Rewards and all. Whatever you desire to see, I'll escort you to." Xyxer said, his words still clearly heard despite the faint howl of the wind as it pushed through the village.. it seemed the storm barrier was being a cruel mistress on this day.

You'd be surprised how close to the truth you are. Naoki thought to himself while smiling at Xyxer's response to his little explanation of what happened to him. However, the Uchiha would pretend no reaction to the small compliment and the pat that was included with it. If you could call it a compliment, maybe it was a tease of some kind. Honestly, Xyxer shifted tones more frequently than waves touched the shores of the village and it was very confusing. One minute he could be confronting and threatening, then supportive and friendly the next. The former leader allowed him to finish the story about the mask and the temple and then fall silent as they left the elevator. It seems that he was right and the Kirigakure was no responsible for destruction of the temple, which means somebody else did it, probably in a clash with the locals, that is the Kumogakure shinobi.

As they left the building Naoki of course noticed the way ANBU behaved. Maybe some of them had been his before, most of them probably came here from Tengakure, but most certainly they were Xyxer's men now. Naoki himself never enforced this kind of worship of the village leader when he was in power, in fact he quite disliked being treated this kind of way, but the exact opposite, he liked to roam free among the peoples, being one of them as he did so. Soon the mist of the isles swallowed them and the man beside him asked where he would like to go or what to do. Taking a moment to think Naoki would respond. "The marketplace first. You are correct, I do miss the local delicacies." Well, more than the food Naoki aimed to see the marketplace because it was heart of the village's economy and thus a good representation of its state. It was the most simple way to see how the village was doing. Provided Xyxer agreed and they began making their way there Naoki would bring up another question. "You mention village facilities, which reminds me. With the Storm Circle Barrier destroyed the village, albeit shrouded, is rather exposed. I trust some kind of alternative defenses have been devised while I've been away?"

The male he was currently standing beside suggested an area he did want to visit.. the marketplace. Of course, given that Kirigakure was a multitude of islands, there were quite a few marketplaces that could be visited given the drastic scale of operations, but of course as you would do, he would take Naoki to the main one on the main island. Nodding his head to show that he acknowledged his request, he pushed one foot from the ground and started at a regular pace from their current position, heading north. As he walked by, multiple civilians turned their heads to acknowledge his presence, the raw chakra pressure of the pair would be formidable for everyone who witnessed them, but what was even more overbearing than that was the presence of the former leader and the current leader. News hadn't got out to the masses very well about the relationship that was shared by the pair, and in all likelihood, the duo themselves did not truly understand it. Multiple civilians would simply look between the pair, somewhat confused by the situation.. it was known that Xyxer had not taken the village over very politely, but that there was a hostile exchange between the two from the people who had witnessed the ordeal. Yet, here they were, walking together. A few civilians even scrambled to kneel before the Mizukage as he passed, imitating the ANBU in an attempt to show honour to the one who kept them alive.

As they pushed through the mist, Naoki spoke once more which caused Xyxer to glance over his shoulder and exchange a glance with the Uchiha, before he turned his eyes back towards the front of him to carry on towards their destination as they walked through the cobbled streets of Kirigakure, with the population growing increasingly denser the further they went,"That's a perfectly valid point, Naoki. In fact, after you left, the importance of that barrier was stressed to me. I was in an interesting place at the time, controlled by rage and the desire to cause suffering, yet still.. the words that were spoken about the defense managed to pierce the crimson veil I wore when I encountered you, they managed to enlighten me on the usefulness of this defense, after all.. it's difficult to ignore the work of a genius, even if you have just clashed horns." Xyxer stated briefly, giving Naoki an almost immediate confirmation that his old defense had been rectified, yet the mist remained blowing thanks to the newly inputted one. It'd be interesting to see how he handled that information, especially given the way Xyxer had posed the response, yet he had not finished entirely, "I also formed a few squads for intelligence purposes, mostly communication. They'll aid us when it comes to the dark days of war so we can remain informed on the going ons back in the village when we have to leave. As well as that, I have a few more ideas in the works that should certainly be a boon to our people, I'd be glad to have you run over them if you so desire." Xyxer finished, continuing the journey towards the marketplace that his peer had chosen.

A short while after Xyxer's response, they'd start to enter to enter the main market district on the island, the most notable tell being the shouting of vendors attempting to peddle their wares in the crowded area. From a purely visual perspective, the marketplace was perhaps the most colourful area of the village given how the merchants were attempting to lure the masses towards their own stalls, yet even still it was not incredulously flashy out of fear of catching the wrong attention. As Xyxer moved into the area, the crowd would shift away from him instinctively, yet they still focused largely on the wares that were being sold by the varying vendors in the area. A strong smell of iron and spice in particular stood out from the crowd, although there was of course, the scent of cooked fish not too far from that given that the primary diet of the people would be fish due to their location. Despite the shouting, Xyxer would speak over his shoulder once more towards Naoki as they passed numerous stalls that seemed to just have their items lying out in the open, available to steal if someone was so inclined, "The vendors here feel safer now knowing that their goods are protected, so it allows for more browsing options for the clients as they can feel the heft of the weapon-, I mean, there's more than just weapons of course.. Exotic foods, regular foods, training equipment, umbrella-" Xyxer paused for a moment on that word, looking around the area as if he was attempting to find the piece of equipment he was talking about.. did they still hand out umbrellas in Kirigakure, or had that phase passed? ".. Maybe umbrellas? A variety of items scoured from the globe, yet the best selling tend to be the produce produced at home, perhaps the cost of importing the goods from other villages isn't worth the hassle, but I do have to say, they are a self sufficient people."

Looking around the area once more, he soon caught sight of one of the pastry stalls that had their treats placed behind a plastic screen on top of a heated metallic tray, allowing for the pastries to provide a warmth to the throat of who ever wished to indulge in them, they were often gone given that people enjoyed the brief change of temperature, and Xyxer had to admire the smart approach by the vendor, so he would approach the stall through the crowd, assuming Naoki followed along. "Pick whatever you like, I'll pay." Xyxer said simply, following up soon after as they neared the stall, catching the attention of the stocky bald man who ran the stall, who flashed a grin at the pair like only an entrepreneur could, with Xyxer finishing up before they got there by saying, "Tell me, Naoki, you wandered a lot. Did you happen across Funkagakure? The village with the volcano?"

As the two were walking northwards Naoki tried to take in as much of the village and its people as possible. It was his home and he might not get to see it for long. Of course at the same time he was listening to Xyxer's reply. More than the not so subtle compliment it was hearing the Mizukage admit his own negative attributes and wicked nature that surprised Naoki. Although it was implied that the veil has been lifted, that Xyxer was no longer controlled by his urges. Which the Uchiha silently evaluated. That might very well be true, currently he might be confusing and still somewhat confronting at times, but Xyxer seemed far different from the man that forced him to kneel or see his villagers slaughtered. Oh and apparently they rebuilt the seals that created the constant storm surrounding the islands, which was nice to hear. At least defense was not being neglected, if anything Xyxer seemed to value it. As the man in lead continued to talk about the defenses of the village Naoki recalled the troubles of setting them up when he was still the leader. The Storm Circle was actually done with Kaede in charge, although Naoki was head of that project. The interdiction seals however he devised and led himself and while he did not struggle with making it happen all that much, he knew it was a big load for the village to handle. But now the village was times bigger in terms of population and that thought of potential gave Naoki hope. Which would reflect by him making a more relaxed casual expression as he was in thought for a bit before they reached the market.

Once at the market Naoki's attention once again was drawn to his surroundings. It appeared to be somewhat more colorful and cheerful place than the rest of the shrouded village and there were people everywhere, shouting and calling to try out their wares. It actually reminded of how the village used to be, although this kind of ruckus would more likely be in the parties back then. Naoki was actually pretty happy to see such a lively market, as it meant the village was doing well. There was a great variety of goods, some clearly local and some Naoki figured to be foreign, some he recognized to be traditional Shimagakure stuff, others he realized must have come here with the people of Tengakure. As they walked through the crowd the former leader noticed the occasional stare. Some were fearful, some were confused. The two of them have been getting those here and there their whole way here, people sometimes would even bow to Xyxer as the ANBU did. Which reminded the spacetime expert that some things did change and this village was now something else than the place he grew up in. The two were making their way through the market and Naoki was glancing at the different wares being bought and sold while listening to Xyxer's monologue and an explanation. Apparently the villagers deeply trusted in the village ninja to keep up the peace and deal with any crime.

Before the two stopped at a pastry stall Xyxer asked if Naoki had ever visited Funkagakure. Apparently he was also treating him to something sweet. Knowing this was probably a more serious conversation Naoki inspected the bald man offering him his tasty looking things and surmised he had no previous ninja training, so probably not a problem to speak in front of him. Pretending to consider what to take the Uchiha began with "The incident I mentioned sadly kept me from doing the lot of wandering that you expected." Ordering some dangos Naoki continued. "However, having been in charge for a while, keeping an ear out for the other villages was something I did, especially when it came to my neighbors by the volcano. There isn't much to tell about them really. The village has been rather closed off for the most part that I've been in power. I even hear that it is no longer considered among the five strongest, that a village in the far west has supplanted it some couple years ago. In fact, I haven't heard anything about Funkagakure since I stepped down."

As his companion went about ordering some his treat, Xyxer silently shook his head to the merchant peddling his goods. He had rarely took comfort in sugary goods, often finding them to interfere with his ability to perform at his true peak, which of course, was a very shoddy experience given how he was consistently swinging his sword around and in the face of his adversary. Looking around at the bustling market place, his arms crossing over his chest before holding onto the opposing bicep, gazing across at his people. The majority of them continued to go about their day purchasing wares, yet some continued to glance at the pair, with anyone who Xyxer made eye contact with almost instinctively bowing their head out of fear of the Mizukage interpreting their eye contact as a challenge.

Naoki started to speak soon after, regarding the topic about Funkagakure. It appeared that although he had not personally seen the village, he had heard news of it. It was fortunate news, after all, as he spoke of them losing their positioning within the hierarchy, dropping from a village that had a major status to a mere minor one. That would make the following ordeal so much simpler when it came down to it. Nodding his head to show that he had listened to the words of Naoki, he spoke out to him once more, "I would appreciate you paying them a visit. I need you to look for a few things. You see, a long time ago.. a few people took something from me that I valued. Upon reading Shinji's documents recently about the Kage Summit, it appears one of those people was in direct contact with that village, A Hyuuga, with a keen interest in reaping Mangekyo Sharingan. As such, I assume his associate will also be within the confines of that village, a male who was capable of distorting the space around him in some bizarre usage of chakra." After saying that, Xyxer would give the male a description of the pair that he had encountered back in Tengakure, not yet bothering to mention their part in the destruction of Kirigakure that had been mentioned briefly in the notes, "Oh, if you could find my pupp- well, he'd be a dog now. If you find my dog, feel free to retrieve him. I assume you'll know which one is mine, given that that place is a shit hole and will only be capable of breeding meager animals. Any questions?"

Naoki would listen to Xyxer while slowly taking off one dango after another from the stick he was given. What was being said had his attention fully, as it seemed he was being given another assignment, this time to go to the village of volcano. However, he would become even more interested when mongekyo sharingan was mentioned. It should have come as no surprise to him, after all a shinobi of his caliber, also involved with Youka and Maku, who possessed Mangekyo and even Rinnegan, Xyxer probably knew about the secret doujutsu of Uchiha before Naoki had even activated his. Once the Mizukage finished and inquired if Naoki had any questions, the man would ask. "Yes. What exactly would I be looking for, other than these two criminals and the dog? Am I to negotiate with them for these things of value that you spoke of, or are there some kind of items or information that you are sending me to acquire? That and, when do you want me to do this?" It appeared that he might not have the good time to visit the graves of his friends after all..

Pulling on the hem of his t-shirt, Xyxer pulled it down further over his waist while looking around for a few more seconds, deciding not too long after that Naoki would be fine within the village for a little while longer when his train of thought returned to an earlier moment in time, "However, since you wish to visit the graves of your friends, it's only fair you can stay in the village a little while longer, but no work lets a blade gather rust. Check on our Jinchuriki while you're here from the files, ensure they're in tip top condition, we can't risk an outbreak at this point, especially since all of the civilians will be inside of the barrier." Xyxer said, assuming that Naoki would follow what he considered the best course of action given that, "Retrieve what you can from the criminals, do not negotiate with them. The only diplomacy we offer to those who profane their village with criminals is death." With that, Xyxer waited a bit longer to see if Naoki had any questions that needed to be answered.

Well, the Uchiha man was given some time in the village after all. His current job sounded rather interesting, apparently the village had Jinchuuriki. They must have come with the Tengakure's population as he was not aware of any in Shimagakure. Xyxer must have read from the files on Naoki that he was well versed in the sealing arts from his early days, to give him this assignment. After finishing the sugary dumplings the man put the stick down and confirmed. "Very well, then. I will stay in the village for a while and take a look at the state of the Mist's Jinchuuriki." It seems this subject was done and Naoki had was satisfied with what he saw in the market. He would glance around for a bit before looking back at Xyxer again. "I think I will go pay my respects now, will you accompany me?"

As Naoki spoke, he confirmed that he will remain within the Mist while to carry out the duty, which was wonderful news. A subordinate that was actually useful and not attempting to kill you every other day was a welcome change in the life of Xyxer Gyojin, notorious for being attacked by his own shinobi. He then noted how he wished to visit the graves of his compadres, and Xyxer did want to join him. To lament for the dead was a valuable use of time as it soothed the mind and tamed the beast inside.. but Xyxer would not be capable of doing so, little did he know, he'd be encountering a more physical version of a beast sooner than he'd imagine. "I wish I could, Naoki, but I'm afraid I have to go and investigate a disturbance near the village. I shouldn't be too long, though, hopefully the village doesn't fall into anarchy while you're the only paragon here." Xyxer flashed a friendly grin towards the male, patting him on the shoulder once more while he started to walk through the crowd, sheathing Samehada on his back.

As he walked through the crowd that parted for him like his name was Moses, a stray thought flashed across his mind regarding the trust he had given the male he had just encountered. Should he really be afforded so much, when after all, they were both a part of a criminal organisation and this was by rights his village? At least, before Xyxer's conquest. He was unsure on why he trusted the male so, but he had every faith in him that he would not be betrayed, and if he should not return the village would be in capable hands.. a comforting thought to accompany Xyxer as he made his way outside of the village.

[Exit]

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Mastering it for no handseals