Disappointment

At the man's proposition, the boy would shuffle his feet as Akane eagerly agreed to be his student. That wasn't why he had come out here, he had come to Shadow Country for peace, quiet and the opportunity to build himself a shop. Create something of himself, make a name and a life for himself, create an empire. But could he truly turn down the opportunity to be tutored by a true swordsman, a samurai from the Land of Iron?

"I came here to better myself as a craftsman and smith. But, I suppose I wouldn't mind bettering myself as a swordsman and shinobi, either. I'll also accept your gracious offer." the Terumi would say, a sly grin on his face. The blood of his father was in his veins, and as much as his mother hated it, the fighter's lifestyle called to him.

"Kazuo. I don't know, I think I like Skyfallen Stranger." the boy would say, laughing slightly and continuing. "Name's Ezra. Ezra... Wasabi." the Terumi would say, cringing in much the same way he had when telling Akane his name. Maybe he'd have to start dropping his family name, or create a new one for himself.

"I much prefer Protege, by the way. Sounds more fancy, right?"

The two agreed to tag along with Kazuo. Great. He finally had some people to do his bidding. Hopefully they wouldn’t be as unreliable as that Kaigo Resu guy who he had ran with before. Or that other creep, Raian, yeah, that was his name. The one who had scarred Kazuo’s face. Or that Salvatore Luciano guy. Really, he’d had a lot of really flighty minions. He didn’t even know where the old preacher that had helped him kill Neku got off to. Maybe he was still out there, beating up any and all who dared to call him “Sally.” Ah, good times. He’d been a good comrade, shame he couldn’t stick around. Come to think of it, that whole fight was a blur in his mind. He couldn’t quite recall the entire thing. Almost as if it never actually ended. Strange.

At the girl and the man’s agreement, Kazuo nodded, gesturing for the two to walk with him. He would wait for them to catch up, then nonchalantly set his bag upon Ezra’s cart. It wasn’t very heavy, but it let Kazuo have a bit more freedom of motion, and Ezra seemed fine carrying it.
”Protege it is, then, Ezra. By the way, I didn’t catch your name.” Kazuo said, glancing at Akane. To any who had dealt with Kazuo before, these moments were crucial. Kazuo very much despised people not giving their names when making a business arrangement.

”I can teach about crafting blades as well. I’ve got a bit of experience in that area. They make us forge our own as apprentices. I’ve had a bit of practice since then.” He said to Ezra, removing Darksong Edge from its sheathe to display its craftsmanship. Beginning to walk by now, Kazuo would continue down the path, his form flickering in place for a fraction of a second, before vanishing, appearing farther up the path, about fifty meters ahead of them. He stopped, looking at his own hands, before turning back.

”Uh. Ta da?” He said, shrugging as he looked back at his two new proteges. ”It appears I’m having trouble with this ability. Specifically, not using it every few minutes.” He explained, sighing. He had grown so used to teleporting over his time practicing that it seemed any time he focused on any particular point too much, he merely teleported towards it. This was useful at times, sure, but overall it was rather annoying.


(2325)

When Kemuri said that he didn't catch Akane's name Akane would say, "I'm so sorry, it totally slipped my mind! My name is Akane Tokiyama." She didn't want to tell the two of them that she was a missing ninja just-in-case either of them despised missing nin. As Kemuri spoke to Ezra she'd simply just look around and would follow them as they walked. 

Suddenly, Kemuri disappearing and reappearing fifty meters ahead of them both would catch her attention. Akane had never seen anyone do something like that before, but it seemed that he didn't do it on his own, it just happened randomly which seemed like it'd be quite annoying. If he appeared and reappeared in places randomly it'd be quite hard for Kemuri to teach the both of them but it didn't matter to her, Akane would just simply keep walking towards him.

As the man explained he could aid in teaching Ezra to craft and smith, the Terumi's face would light up slightly, only further excited that he may get additional teachings in the ways of the sword, both of how to properly use one in combat, and make one TO use in combat. He had the basics down, but there was only so much his father could teach in the home basement without alerting his mother. When the man unsheathed a fine black katana, Ezra was astonished at the craftsmanship.

Until taking a closer look at the blade.

It was riddled with holes and bends, yet it looked fairly new and well kept. Strange, could it have been purposefully crafted that way? But wouldn't that just serve to make the blade more fragile? Give it more stress points? "Is that some sort of ceremonial sword? It looks incredibly well crafted, but i've never seen one with holes and bends like that."


As the man walked forward, Ezra would grab his cart and follow the man, stopping in place as he teleported a good... fourty five, maybe fifty meters ahead of the pair of Ezra and Akane. Well. That was... strange. Ezra had heard of teleportation jutsu and those like it from his father, but the logistics were lost upon him. He WAS just a child at the time, after all.

"If I may, it may be because you're concentrating too hard. Concentrating too hard can lead to overexertion of your mind, which can cause things to go off without any real command. By no means be lackadaisical, but don't try to use the ability with an iron fist. Let it happen naturally when you want it too. Otherwise, forget you can even do it."

The boy would wait a few seconds after saying that to add to it. "Oh and of course, that's not guaranteed to work. I'm no expert in... whatever that is you're doing. Teleportation."

Akane’s fate was saved as she revealed her name to Kazuo, who really needed to stop taking himself so seriously. Still, Kazuo had legitimately nearly killed a man for not having the manners to speak his name, and Kazuo knew the most important thing about having a code of honor was consistency. So, he’d probably have to beat her to within an inch of her life if she did not reveal such information. Thankfully for all parties, she did, and Kazuo was able to move on from the slightest of slights against him. Whoopee. Hurrah.

As Ezra inspected the blade, Kazuo grinned.
”Oh, no, boy, these grooves were very intentional.” He replied, swinging the blade slightly, the slightest of breezes causing the blade to sing magnificent music, if only for a moment. ”Watch.” He would say as he arced the blade through the air, the song echoing from the blade beginning to be instilled with genjutsu. A weak form of a singing blade technique, it would temporarily render the two of them practically dumbstruck as it lowered their reaction speeds to a snail’s pace, but he made sure it wouldn’t hurt either of them. This was just for show, after all. If he’d been doing anything other than showing off while using that technique, they’d probably be dead by now.

When he was teleported forwards, he merely sheathed the blade as the two continued towards him. No sense in walking back, that would just be a waste of energy. As the two arrived, he would listen to Ezra, shrugging.
”Truth be told, this is something I’m simply dabbling in. I’m a master swordsman, that is my true calling. This is like a hobby in comparison.” He explained with a shrug, beginning to walk. After awhile, he would speak again. ”So, tell me about yourselves. Where were you headed before this? I assume you are wanderers?” He would say, just trying to make conversation, trying desperately NOT to teleport again. Hard lief yo.


(2671)

Akane would reply to Kerumi's question truthfully, "I was headed to the Land of Lightning but I ran into Ezra and decided to come here. I'm also not a wanderer, I'm a missing ninja from the Land of Wind." Akane decided to answer simply as she didn't want to drag out the conversation for too long as she felt it may be a waste of their time. If the two of them wanted to know more about how she became a missing ninja she would tell them but for now, they'd just have to wonder.

Hopefully, the two of them wouldn't think she's a bad person as Akane didn't intentionally try to get branded as a Missing Ninja. She was just trying to defend herself when she was younger and accidentally killed one of the Missing Ninja, she felt bad for it day after day for the longest time but eventually had to get over it and get back to her cheerful old self. Sadly, ever since she had left Haruki her happiness was taken away, she longed to see Haruki again but didn't want to return so soon. Akane needed to take some time away and make some connections throughout the ninja world since it seemed to be such a harsh place.

'Why the hell did I even bother coming to this damn country? I haven't seen a single sucker since I've been here. Honestly I should have just stayed with that moron back at the shithole shack. At least he wanted to give me his damn money.'

It had been nearly two days since she had met that arrogant prick, Shibuya, who had offered her quite a lucrative business arrangement. She would get 65% of all of his profits if she just tagged along with him on whatever "job" he needed help on. Maybe a few sideways projects or whatever. Honestly she hadn't really stuck around for the details. He had started talking about his past and it was all very boring for her taste. So, of course, she booked it out of there thinking it would be more fun to swallow a bucket of nails than to listen to that guy drone on about nonsense. Unfortunately she left so fast she just kind of ended up in the Land of Shadow without really knowing where it was she was headed or why. That sort of thing happened with Alice from time to time. She would just get so lost in thought as she walked that she found herself in some unknown land. Mind you those instances were few and far between; usually she planned out her next 20 steps before she made them. So, when times like this did happen it was kind of relaxing.

'I guess I might as well practice my technique a bit while I figure out what I'm going to do next.'

Alice was always working on improving her clan's secret techniques. They are the sole reason she was who she was after all. Recently she had managed to create a new technique utilizing her clan's secret shadow-style ninjutsu and her own personal knack for space-time. She called it the 'Hiding in Shadow' technique. If the name didn't make it obvious enough, this technique was all about taking the concepts of space-time and implementing them into her shadow-style ninjutsu in order to literally hide herself inside of any shadow she chose. For someone of Alice's intelligence it wasn't very difficult to do. Honestly she couldn't figure out how her absolutely useless clansmen hadn't managed to even accidentally discover this technique. Seriously.

Anyway the girl was standing off to the side of the road surrounded by plenty of shadows to use in her experiments. It didn't really matter the size of the shadow, anyone would do. So she decided to go with something simple and easy. Since her own shadow was already intertwined with that of a nearby tree, that was where Alice began. Like all Nara Clan secret jutsu, she focused her chakra into her own shadow as she began to implement control over space-time into this new technique. Steadily performing the four necessary handseals to activate Hiding in Shadow, Bird-Ox-Dog-Rat, she felt her body slowly being absorbed downward into her own shadow. She sank all the way to her knees before her concentration broke and the technique failed.

'Shit. Guess I still haven't fully developed this just yet. I suppose that's to be expected since I only came up with the idea this morning as I was walking.' she thought to herself as she shrugged off her failed attempt. The shadow of the tree was so large it stretched across the entirety of the road. Even if this jutsu had required a specific size shadow to use, this one would easily be large enough for five Alice's to use the technique at once. Man, space-time was truly amazing. Shadow-style techniques even more so. Quickly refocusing herself, Alice went over the probable reasons for the initial failure in her mind and came up with an immediate solution so as to get it right on the next attempt. After what was probably only a few seconds, the young girl once again formed the necessary signs for her new technique. This time she managed to wholly join herself with her own shadow which immediately fused with that of the tree. It was an odd sensation, being inside of a shadow. To Alice, it kind of felt like a separate plane, a separate dimension. It also felt like, well, home.

The best part about this technique was that it allowed Alice to be completely hidden while also remaining entirely aware of her surroundings. So when a trio of babbling buffoons came walking up to her little hiding spot, she was already on alert. One of them had suddenly appeared on top of the shadow in the middle of the road where Alice was currently lurking. 'Another space-time user. And his chakra feels pretty high. This one is no pushover.' Why wouldn't she immediately assess the threat level of these new players? It was only natural for a girl to scope out potential targets after all.

This one had asked the other two where they were headed. The girl, who seemed to be the weakest of the three, mentioned that she was a missing-ninja from the Land of Wind and was currently headed toward Lightning. They didn't seem like bloodthirsty criminals at all or any other kind of asshole that Alice hated, so she decided she may as well come on out and say hello. After all, what the fuck else was she going to do? She was already bored out of her mind. That being said, she suddenly appeared out of the shadow that the teleport-y guy was standing on before the wimpy-seeming-female had entirely caught up.

"O-oh. Umm, h-hello there. My name's Alice." she said in the shy tone she usually adapted upon meeting new and potential suckers. "Excuse me, but where exactly are we?" Playing the cute dumb girl had gotten her this far, might as well not try to fix something that ain't broke.

As the man swung the sword, the blade seemed to produce an unusual song, and Ezra felt himself slip away. His sight slipped from him, his peripheral vision decreasing and dimming. His movements felt slow and sloppy all of a sudden, especially his head. The boy would shrug his shoulders and shake his head slightly when the music stopped, doing his best to rid himself of the feeling.

"I see. Some form of sensory attack, based on hindering your opponent's visuals. And performed with a blade. That's... majestic. Unique, i've never heard of such a thing." the boy would say, somewhat astounded that someone, somewhere had thought to make this happen with a simple blade one day. Or, perhaps, Kazuo had been the creator. But that was information he could be afforded in due time.

When Akane replied she was a missing ninja, Ezra's eyes would widen ever so slightly, but the Terumi would do his best to not give a visual reaction. His father had fed him a piece of wisdom when he was growing up. Not all who are branded evil deserve that mark, and not all who wear halos glimmer with purity. Never judge a book by it's cover.

"Well, you know my story. I left home to make a life for myself. I stumbled upon Hoshigakure a while back, and stayed there for a time. I just left, actually, in hoped of traveling to Shadow Country after hearing about the type of place it was. Very quiet, and very neutral in terms of major village alignment. I owe no allegiance to any major party, and i'd like to keep it that way. I hope to make my way as a wandering mercenary, sword for hire type business. Once i'm fed up with that, I suppose then it will come time to be a wandering smithy and salesman."

The boy would stop, wait a few seconds, and clear his throat quietly before continuing. "So Akane, if you don't mind me asking, what did you d-"

And of course, it would be about this time something completely out of left field and unexpected happened. A girl seemed to pop up out of the shadows. After she spoke, Ezra would relax sightly, but the Terumi wouldn't let his guard drop entirely. This girl set off some sort of alarm in his mind. Perhaps it was the overly sweet tone of voice? The shyness that just didn't fit a wandering nin? Or that she-

How did she not know where she was?

Ding ding, that was a problem. Perhaps she had the same sort of teleportation problem as the Kemuri man had, but that seemed unlikely. She didn't appear randomly, out of the sky or anything like that. She rose from a shadow. Something pre-existing. She had been there a while.

Or maybe she was just really, REALLY stupid. Could never really rule that one out.

The Terumi would wait to see if anyone else spoke, and only if no one else did would he speak up. "We're in Shadow Country." the Terumi would say, not wanting to give her anything else than the info she asked for. He didn't want to risk handing her an excuse if she was a potential danger.

Akane would be surprised when a young girl had come out of nowhere, it was interesting that she didn't know where she was but that didn't matter. They all needed to get back in town before it became dark, Akane didn't really want to navigate her way through the dark in a Country that she had never been to. It'd be a pain in the ass and there was a risk that they could be ambushed at any time and she didn't want to die there nor did she want to get robbed of the small amount of money she had with her. 

"Alright, let's head back. We can figure out more about this girl after we get back into town and make sure she isn't some sort of thief or something.", Akane would say before following behind Kazuo.

(Exit)