Picking up the Pieces [IO,P]

Spoiler:

Miyamoto sat outside in a meditative state as he continued to train his body to grow accustomed to the new limb that his mentor had given him.  There was also an influx of natural energy coming into his body as tried to decipher what it meant, now the first hybrid that he knew of in his family he held the bloodlines of two extremely strong bloodlines within him.  He just wished he knew what had happened to his mentor since that training incident, in fact, the village was eerily quiet made everything that much more odd.  After a break in the cloud cover caused the suns rays to shine on him once again he broke from his meditation as he felt refreshed and ready to take on the day.  His team had been out of commission as well since they arrived back, and Miyamoto felt as if a meeting was in order.

He stepped into the house and got ready for the encounter to come.  His Customized Chuunin Flak Jacket that looked like a military uniform rather than a vest was attached to him as he filled the pouches with various items for battle.  He made sure to take the sword that Tsume left him as well as his personal weapon, the Titans Wrath, across his back.  He then used the manipulated fabric to create a cloak around him with the crest of the Terumi Clan on his back, and on his heart was the symbol of the village.  Of course, he wore his headband, and his father's items were with him as well.  He looked to be making more of a show of force rather than a friendly meeting, but one never knew how talks would go.

He walked around the village, most notably the mission area as there seemed to be a commotion between a few higher ranking shinobi and some priests.  It was none of his business as he continued to walk on.  As he passed by he heard them lower their voices, then a peculiar line could be heard just barely.

"Documents were stolen, civil upheaval and war inevitable.  We need to retrieve the documents."

Miyamoto stopped in his tracks as he silently walked over to the group and chimed in.

"I think that I may be able to help you here.  If you would allow me?"  He asked as the group looked at each other.  Then in silent agreement, they looked at Miyamoto who stood stoic, waiting for their answer.


"You get 48 hours to do this quietly before more are brought in to do this loudly.  We will assemble a Jounin to go with you to be head of the mission."  The mission counter shinobi said as Miyamoto nodded, his day just became a whole lot more interesting.

WC:465

Satoru awakens slowly, begrudgingly. The night has been more kind to him than it ever has been prior, providing him with much needed rest. Sleep, the Nara has found, is an effective distraction from things one would rather not think about. All that is needed is for them to put it away, act as though the problem does not exist, and escape reality by dipping into the bliss that is nothingness. Yes, it is effective, however short lived.

What Satoru has realized, as though he did not already expect to run into the problem, is that one must always open their eyes to once again face the very thing they were running from.

“Running…” The Nara thinks. He opens his eyes and sits up. The covers fold down as they slide off of his upper body. “I’m not running. Don’t call it that.” This is in more of a defensive tone. "I’m avoiding, something I will admit to. But I’m no coward. I have my reasons, it’s my particular case.”

Anger knows a place within him, a warm stay.

Satoru shakes his head as though to say “no”. He won’t talk to himself about this.

“Time. I deserve it at least.”

He finally rolls his body out of bed. This entire time, the room has been too dark to see anything. The blinds on the windows are shut, the door is closed. It is only by memory that Satoru can walk a few paces and flick a switch without visual resources. The lights blink on and the door opens.

This is of note: there is a roll of paper upon the floor just in front of the door. Satoru picks it up, knowing that it is likely from Miyamoto. While it is only a hutch based on a few factors, it proves correct. A mission has been acquired and squad is being assembled.

“Fine.” Satoru thinks. There is no emotion tied to this word. A simple response.

On the way out the door, the Nara passes by the room he knows to be Tsume Chokyoshi’s former sleeping chamber. He pauses next to it, lets his mind argue with itself, and moves on.

“No.”

The destination is known and Satoru has prepared himself for the work of a shinobi. He exits the house.

(382/382)

It was annother sunny day in Hoshigakure's training grounds as Hikari was laying down on her back on a bench, reading up the mission summary she had been found in her mail box earlier this morning. Her long hair was pulled back into a pony tail, her manipulated fabric had been manipulated into a tight fiting black body suit which lacked sleaves in order to give Hoshigakure's Fuinjutsu Misstress of Light the ability to have freedom of motion of her arms so she could more easily form handsigns.


Reading over the assignment, it seemed like a simple enough mission, a few bandits had stollen an important scroll of religious teachings from a saint. It seemed simple enough, however, there was a slight warning at the very end of the message about the team she was being put on.

'Miyamoto's team....' the chestnut haired girl thought to herself, she had read the report about Tsume's death. If only Hikari had given the boy more training that one day in the training grounds rather than Running from Kenshin.... prehaps things may of turned out differently.


Anyways, there was a side note to keep tabs on the shinobi on the team and evaluate the phycologial state. (Something that Hikari was going to do anyways even if she had been told not to. She cared deeply about every last person in the village, so she was going to make sure they were all Ok anyways.)

Finishing reading up the mission report, the Kunochi would fold up the peice of paper and place it inside of her weapons pouch, before rushing off to the village gates.

The four Ninja's would arrive at the village gates at roughly the same time, looking around, she would take note of everyone's presnece before she started.


"Hello everyone." Namikaze would address the group. "I'll be your C.O. for this mission, its been a little bit since I have seen you guys. Hope you are doing ok.


"Anyways, are mission is simple, aproximatly 6 hours ago, at about 4 A.M., an unidentfied group broke into the Holy Church and took the letters that Saint Geroge sent the church during his campain of the Dragon Ravine. We are unsure who stole these documents, or where they are, so our objective is to locate who has them, and at then hunt this group down and bring them back in alive before they can escape out of the country.

We have been given 48 hours to complete this mission before it is considered a failure. So, our first objective is to figure out who stole the letters.

Does anyone have any ideas?"

Of course, Hikari had a few jutsu that should be able to figure this out fairly quickly, but the Jounin wanted to see if the team had any other way of figureing this problem out before she started pulling out her own tools.

WC: 487

(Sorry, hitting writers block and trying to write this and Valen's post at the same time, being an Accountant sucks some times.)

Seeing his team assemble minus Tsume was hard to deal with for the Chuunin, even if the wound was not so fresh now...it was still there. However, as Satoru and Cole did not really say anything about it, he would refrain from talking about it as well, that was until Hikari showed up as the one in charge of the mission and asked if they were ok. Of course, none of them would probably crack to the lady shinobi, but...the fact that someone asked was like the village was keeping tabs on them which made Miyamoto seethe with unseen anger as he answered Hikari's first question.

"It is a mission, as usual...I am doing fine...glad to have you aboard for a mission once again." He would say while the other two would probably give the same answer before listening to her next question.

"Anyways, our mission is simple, approximately 6 hours ago, at about 4 A.M., an unidentified group broke into the Holy Church and took the letters that Saint Geroge sent the church during his campaign of the Dragon Ravine. We are unsure who stole these documents, or where they are, so our objective is to locate who has them, and then hunt this group down and bring them back in alive before they can escape out of the country.
We have been given 48 hours to complete this mission before it is considered a failure. So, our first objective is to figure out who stole the letters.
Does anyone have any ideas?" She said it in one swift go and did not miss a beat as she broke it down for them. He expected this as he thought about an answer suitable for the group as he thought about the locations in question.

"I believe that the person or group in question will most likely be still around the Ravine to ensure that they are not found out easily. That place is a death trap unless you can filter out poison or have a gas mask. As for the documents, I would assume that if the theory is correct about them being near the Ravine, then they are most likely to hand it off as soon as possible. I have something that could help us, but I need permission to bring him out first, probably somewhere nice and open would be good." Miyamoto would say hoping that his Summon would have something to help them all on their mission.

He looked around at his other teammates as he waited for their responses while he pulled out a toothpick from his jacket and slowly he would raise it to his mouth to chew on.

WC:445/910

It is not a product of laziness, Satoru’s lack of enthusiasm for the mission that he has been summoned to complete. His steps are sluggish and his body language as though he is unresolved in what he is doing. He sighs within himself as he turns through the streets of the village. Knowing his destination, Satoru is purposefully taking a longer route so as to stretch out the travel time. Also to his liking, the street is scarce of inhabitants and shops. The Nara is free to walk with only himself and his thoughts.

A frequent reader of Satoru’s narrated affairs would expect an internal dialogue here. Perhaps it would detail the Nara mulling over whatever topic is at hand, kneading it like dough until he either became numb to it or came to some resolution, temporary or otherwise. But, having nothing to say, Satoru is silent even to himself. His eyes wander, his hands feel around in his pockets, his mind looks away from that which is would rather forget exists…

The rendezvous is reached within a reasonable amount of time. The group is at the gates and Satoru joins them in time for Hinata Akari, a jounin whom the Nara is lightly acquainted with, to explain the mission.

“Sorry if I’m late.” He states simply.

Following this, he listens as the team provides options for going about the operation. Having no real ability to search for or locate a particular person, Satoru remains silent. His usefulness comes into play when trying to apprehend or combat one or multiple targets. Most likely, when the perpetrator is found, the Nara will see better use out of his shadow techniques. He sees it fit to state this so as to contribute somehow.

“My shadow techniques will be valuable if we want to apprehend the culprit.” He notes. Any suggestions from the rest of his team are fine by him. He will agree to them easily and follow along unless he finds anything to be less than optimal.

(336/718)

Hikari would listen to the ideas, taking note of what her team had to offer. Cole seemed to not have anything to help in this aspect, Satoru offered help with restraining targets with his shadows..... the Shadow Manipulation technique that the Nara clan was known for? Hikari had taught a few students from that clan, a small young blonde boy not much older than Miymoto came to mind. If he had access to that technique, then capturing these hoodlooms would become much more simpler.


Anyways, the possibly soon to be deputy kage would nod at Miyamoto's request, "Yes, Cole is right, we are right by the gates, let us step out and we will have some room. However, lets get off the main road so we don't get in any traveler's way..... actually, depending on what you are planing Miyamoto, we might want to go even further than that and out of eye sight. We don't want o scare civilians." While it wasn't a law by any means, it was an unwritten rule of thumb for a shinobi to try to not use their "Dark Magic" in front of civilians, since it bothered them so greatly.

The team pretty much agreed with what Miyamoto said, which did not strike him as odd since he had been a team leader more than once as he started to make his way outside the village gates as he knew what he was going to do. Once outside the village, he would walk into the surrounding forest to find a clearing so that his next move was not seen as a hostile gesture to his home. He walked some ten meters before finding a five-meter radius clearing. After taking a deep breath he took his hands and made the hand seals needed for the summoning jutsu as he, at last, pulled his summoning scroll from his pocket and slammed his hands into the scroll as a large explosion of smoke filled the area. Once the smoke cleared it revealed his summon, the Komodo Dragon and Prince of the Dragon Ravine, Tatsu. He appeared in all his glory, standing on his hind legs as he towered above the forest at about four meters in a spectacular display of power. As Miyamoto smiled as he looked up into the sky at his friend, the Komodo looked less than pleased.

"So you summon me for the first time since the contract was made and here I am in a forest with an area too small to actually maneuver through...what do you need Moto?" Tatsu asked as Miyamoto laughed and scratched his head if the others followed they would most certainly see the pair as Miyamoto prepared to ask his favor.
"I need you to take us to the Dragon Ravine, I have business there for the village that requires the best speed and navigation in the area. Sorry about not paying much attention to the ravine since I left, I will be spending time there shortly anyway for an experiment and to train." He said as he placed a hand on Tatsu's large leg.

The lizard understood all too well the importance of the duty to one's home as he looked at Miyamoto as if he needed to tell him something, but the words just could not escape his lips.
"Fine I will assist you and the ones that you harbor as your team in your endeavor, but you owe me one," Tatsu said as he tasted the air with his large forked tongue, the air was different here...salty, yet fresh. He liked it outside the ravine so far, despite the reasoning he was there was to be a taxi for the team.

If the team followed Miyamoto, he would turn to them as Tatsu would come down, still standing in the treeline, but on all fours now.
"Everyone, this is Tatsu...the Prince of Komodo Dragons that dwell within the depths of the Dragon Ravine. He will help us skirt the edge of the toxic wasteland and get us to the target as soon as possible." He would finish as he would feel the tail of Tatsu snake through the clearing as if to offer them a way up and onto his back.
"Once we are all on, he will take us wherever we need to go as fast as any shinobi worth their salt, but his length will allow us to get there quickly. Our element of surprise is gone, but for shock and awe, I would say this is pretty effective." A smirk would crawl across his face as he was anxious to get going now.

In his head, he began to run through the scenario as if they were to happen upon their target at the edge of the Ravine. The air would be heavy and fresh air would be scarce, but the movements of Tatsu would allow them some breathing room as long as he wafted the toxic fumes away from them. If the target was in the hands of a group there would be a fight no doubt, but if it was possible...Miyamoto would rather just grab the files and obliterate any trace of intrusion into the village. It was a scar that would tarnish the name of the village if word got out that spies were able to infiltrate and get intel so easily. He saw himself towering over his opponent, with Satoru and Cole throwing the others down into the Ravine with a brutal toss of their broken bodies...they would be dead before their corpses would hit the ground below, Miyamoto would interrogate the person responsible and then after he was satisfied and the target was retrieved...he would let Tatsu devour the man alive as he would watch. Miyamoto was becoming increasingly bloodthirsty since his training and disappearance of Kyousuke Snow. There was the rumor that Valen would become the next Kage, but that did not matter to him, as people in his life became just another hurdle as they came and went...he was beginning to show signs of callousness towards the people as a whole but wanted to make sure his new home was protected under any circumstance. Even the former dreams he held to his heart when he started the journey was starting to wear away as if it was an aside to a minor character in a play.

The thoughts would only be a second in his head, the other members would not know that there was anything wrong, but there was...deep down inside of his soul he knew that there was a dark side that he tried to keep in check, that "red" voice that would show up in a book, that devil on his shoulder...his pride and ego...Yet he did not show that to anyone else.

"Unless any of you all have any other ideas, I think we should fill in my scaly friend here and we should get going lest we lose the trail to the Ravine and our mission is deemed a failure." He said as he waited for Cole, Satoru, or Hikari to speak up. Her words from earlier about scaring civilians made him almost chuckle then as he thought of what the village would see when he summoned Tatsu, there might even be a task force sent out to investigate. However from Miyamoto's knowledge...the giant attack, the tournament of power, and the existence of his mentor and the queen herself having the "dark magic" that the civilians called was becoming more commonplace than everyone thinking the village a kingdom.

WC:1,065/1,975