Hoshi Bound

Komon stood with his back against the wooden walls, at the village gates. It was about time to leave for hoshi and he had summoned the people he and his brother were responsible for taking. Sakana’s name had been on the list, but there was one he hadn’t seen before. An interesting last name to say the least, Renji Hyuuga. He hadn’t seen another man in kumogakure with byakugan since Yugure, and that kid had been nowhere to be found for quite a while now.
 

“This should be interesting” He’d say to himself as he looked at the list of names.

Renji would be rushing  to the village gates with a heavy backpack on his back. He would have a big smile on his face. Having gotten a letter saying that he would be traveling to hoshi, Renji was in rather high spirits.

the note that he received did not detail much about the trip, simply stating a time and place to meet. As he gets to the village gate Renji would see a man standing with his back against the wall. “I wonder if he’s part of the travel team?” Renji would think to himself as he walks over towards the man, waving an opened hand in the air as he does so.

Once he was a few feet away from the man, Renji would put down his heavy pack before saying “Hey the names Renji Hyuga, I’m here for the hoshi Trip!” in a very loud and excited voice.

Well this would be the second time Sakana had woken up in the hospital, the first being after his first chuunin exam. He must have passed out after his training session with Senshi. Sakana checked on the bijuu now, it was sleeping. On the table next to him was a note from Senshi telling him he was to go to Hoshi with some other ninja because he was invited to a party by the MakuKage. He was to pack his gear and formal clothing, and most surprising Senshi gave him the unofficial rank of chuunin. That kind of amazing him since just days before he was being threatened with being demoted, not promoted. But it still wasn’t official anyway so while the title was an honor it definitely didn’t fix how Senshi had treated him, it was a step in the right direction though.  
 

So once Sakana was checked out of the hospital and destroyed the note as instructed he collected all his gear, along with a black suite that he had only ever worn once before and headed off to the gates as it was leaving time. Once he got to the gate he saw Komon, and Renji standing there. He would approach them and say, “ Komon are you my body guard or something, and Renji are you ok, I haven’t seen you since you ran away from me a few days ago?”   He would joke with both of them with a smile, as if he hadn’t been in the worst pain of his life recently.

They were still inside the gates meaning Komon was waiting for them all to get there before heading out.

Still whistling the tune he had started earlier Komon’s grey byakugan eyes would rest on the gennin in front of him. For a split second he would wonder if it was Renji but the any suspicion would be washed away by the boys introduction. Komon would simply nod in response before saying “I hope you’re ready for a long walk, My Names Komon, Hyuuga as well. We have a couple more people to wait up on before we leave, you may want to take a seat.” If the boy continued to speak he’d of course oblige him with conversation.
 
If not the two would sit there until sakana and Komori arrived arrived.
 

It was only a couple minutes, but sakana found himself rounding the corner soon enough. The pale skinned blue haired boy seemed to be in a better mood than most days. “I Am never standing between you and an armed shinobi ever again” He’d joke back, remembering the time the swordsman had knocked him unconscious. “When did you two meet?” He’d ask after Sakana addressed them.

Kaori was panting and out of breath upon reaching the gates. After hearing that a group was leaving for Hoshigakure right now he had run for it, barely pausing to grab the small bag of his belongings. Now was his chance to finally leave for Hoshigakure and see Takumi again! 

"Hi. I'm Kaori Kondo. Are you the group leaving for Hoshigakure?" he finally managed to say after a long minute of labored breathing. It would be obvious to the others there what he was, thanks to the Kumogakure headband he wore, though he knew none of them would know him.

Renji would not have to hear Komon’s last name to know that he was also a Hyuga judging from his byakuganed eyes that he had fixed on the Genin.  Hearing that they had a few more people to wait on, Renji decides to take advantage of this time to learn more about the byakugan.

No soon Komon is done speaking, Renji would begin to blitz him with question upon question “how does the byakugan work, where did it come from, can you show me how to master it, what’d the best way to use it in combat, do your eyes hurt when you use it to long? How long can you use it for? Did that scar come from over us? Did someone try to take your eyes ?, are their any secrets to the byakugan?..etc” Komon was the first hyuga that Renji had met since awakening his byakugan and he was more then excited to learn more about it. The questions would be coming so fast that Renji would barely give Komon much if any time to answer them before asking the next one.

Sakana would arrive just as Renji was about to start up another round of questioning. “haha, oh yea. sorry about that, ‘Duty’ called!” A nervous chuckle and smile crossing Renji’s face as he response to Sakanas inquire. “if you want we can pick back up once we get to hoshi. I’d also love the opportunity to train with you as well Komon.” Renji would say to the Sakana and Komon respectively.

Renji would be having a good time conversing and joking  around with Komon and Sakana when out of the corner of his eyes his sees another kumo ninja judging by his headband, run up to them. “Hey, where’s the fire!” Renji would jokingly say while the ninja was catching his breath.  

“Nice to meet ya kaori, I am Renji Hyuga!. And yep your in the right place if your looking for the Hoshigakure excursion squad!” Renji would say pumping his fist in the air out of excitement for the coming journey!

Komon looked over to Sakana and tried to joke about how he was knocked out. The gennin’s joking tone tunred serious as he said, “You know I would’ve tried to help if I was there. And I met Renji on the training grounds a few days ago.”
 
Renji and Komon started to speak to each other about being Hyuuga and those messed up white eyes. He also explained that he had to use the bathroom and such things as that. He also asked him if he would like to pick up in Hoshi. “Maybe, I have a feeling I’ll be pretty busy though.” Sakana would say, almost telling Renji about the monster inside him but he stopped himself remembering that Senshi told him he was a prime target for assassination. That was his burden to bear and he didn’t want to get more people involved than he had to.
 

Another ninja would approach the gates, being super out of breath. The shinobi started to ask if he was In the right place. The gennin was going to answer but was stopped by Renji answering first.  Sakana would wait to see what Komon wanted to do next.

Max would head to the gates, his pack a little extra large today. Not only did he have provisions for the trip, but he also had some spare clothes, a few books, a few of his tools and his puppet pals. The weight was more than the boy had expected, but he had been able to manage. 

Max would turn back, gazing over what he could see of Kumo and giving it a bow. This was the first time he had left the village and something inside kept clawing at him. He had a bond with Kumo that no other village would ever be able to match, though not entirely a positive one in every regard. Still, he was going to miss his home while on the trip. 

As he continues to the gates, he sees some familiar faces all standing around as well. Looks like there are more folks heading off than Max had originally thought. Who was going to protect Kumo? The same feeling of dread washed over him as had happened when most of the forces were sent out to the war front. This time though, he would not be in the village either. This would be leaving its protection in the hands of.... who?

Trying to shake such things from his head, Max would wave at the collection of Kumo nin. "Hi," he would say as he approached. There were a few new faces here, and so Max would introduce himself. "I'm Maximillian Yamaguchi, but my friends call me Max. Nice to meet you!"
Seeing Komon, Max would smile and nod to his friend. Renji was here too, and already seemed to be questioning the senior shinobi on his bloodline. Silly Renji... Komon is a Hyuzuki... Max would think to himself.

Standing there, he would happily greet any who approached the young blonde Genin.

Komon would sigh in his mind as Renji began to sputter out questions in a hitori like speed. But outwards he’d show no sign of it. Besides, he remembered how cool it had been to see another hyuuga when he had met yugure, he couldn’t blame the kid for being excited, and then he’d begin to answer the boys questions as best he could. “The byakugan’s been a part of the hyuuga clan for forever I don’t really know where exactly it came from. I wouldn’t call myself a master just yet, my mother died at a young age and wasn’t able to teach me much about the clan before that. Most of what I’ve learned has been guess work. And no the scar is from a training accident, nobody has tried to take my eyes as of yet.” He’d shudder on the last part remembering what had happened to his mother.
 
Sakana also answered his question with his overly serious tone. “Of course I know, It was just a joke” Then the boy and renji would converse for a while before Komon overheard them talking about training, and heard his name mentioned as well. “If you want to sure, I can teach you some stuff when we get there”
 
It was about this time that Kaori would come rushing around the corner. Asking if they were leaving to hoshi. Komon would give a simple nod as Renji confirmed it. “You’re welcome to join us if you’d like, were just waiting on a couple more people.”
 
Where the hell is Komori
 
Komon would think to himself as he shot his brother a telepathic message. “Brother you’re keeping these poor gennin waiting”
 
As he finished the message yet another member of their expedition would manifest itself. Luckily it would be another familiar face, and one he trusted in combat as well. The puppeteer max.
 
Instead of conversing with max he’d give a simple nod in response to the gennins own.
 

“Should just be a moment now”  

"Thank god i'm in the right place. I'd rather die than miss going to Hoshigakure. I need to see Takumi..." said Kaori as he sank to the ground in relief, still breathing heavily. Not a moment after he sat down, another stranger walked up. Kaori honestly didn't know how to feel about travelling with strangers, but at least they were all trained ninja. As long as I get to see Takumi, I'll be fine. These guys won't slow me down. Thought Kaori as he observed the group. It was true most of them were genin, but at least they looked like they were up for the trip.