Tailed Beast Blues

[Scribbles]

The Festival

"Say cheese!"

"Ugh, cheese."​

A beep, a flash, and the photo was taken. There on the rectangular screen of the camera the image of a sour looking, mocha faced boy, crushed by the grip of a slender almond eyed woman was shown. The woman, in her red kimono, towered over the boy. Porcelain skin, black hair held in a sloppy, yet appealing bun, and a statuesque poise all contributed to this woman's regal air. The youth on the other hand, was dressed in typical attire. A sky blue hoodie, and tan cargo shorts. The strange duo stood before a statue of a royal guard, who held the tattered headband of a defeated ninja. The giant marble edifice was created as a testament to the Royal Guard of old that helped fend off the ninja threat.

“Do you have to take so many pictures Kai?” The boy grumbled before he threw on his hood. With a sort of loathing he eyeballed the crowds that began to gather on the streets. For the first time in years, the rain in Ame had let up. It was a beautiful night. The kind of night where a calm and warm summer’s breeze gently caresses your cheek. Paper lanterns floated on the skies, and fire flies danced about. Yet somehow, he felt uneasy. Something in his gut told him things here weren’t right.

The boy wanted to go home.

“Come on Taro. Quit being such a downer.” Kai-Lan flicked him on the forehead. Taro just turned red and sighed. “Wow...more people are showing up huh,” She gave the boy’s outfit a distasteful look. “Maybe you should have cleaned up a little more? Especially those shoes...” One sharp looking finger pointed at his worn out red high-tops. He swung around on his heel, away from her.

“They’re from mom. I like them.”

Kai-Lan did a sort of dreamy smile. “You’re sentimental, aren’t you?”

“Shut uppp..” The boy cooed.

“Come on, the parade’s gonna start soon! The Lords themselves are supposed to come out!” She grabbed Taro by the wrist and started running. He was too weak to resist her.


* * *

“Come try our delicious grilled eel! Sir! Would you like to try one?”

Solo turned to see a starry eyed little girl standing outside a hastily made eel stand. Despite the heat coming off the grill she stood in front of, the girl was still full of life. She grinned wide at the tall man and pointed up towards her father, who poked his head out the stand. He handed the wanderer a stick with the fattening thing stuck on to it. Solo smiled weakly, he hated eel--but it was the least he could do. “Eh..how much?” He was trying his best to sound cheery.

“400 ryo sir!” Both of them cheered. The vagrant’s mouth dropped.

“400?!” He screamed in agony. The father and daughter just kept on smiling.

“Finest eel in all the land! That’s underpaying honestly.” The little girl informed Solo in a tone full of condenscent. She was a shrewd business woman already.

“Damn you’re good. Here.” He chowed down the entire thing in one monstrous bite--it was actually delicious.

Solo didn’t know it, but around that same time, the father had pulled the same stunt on a pair of roughnecks. Their layered clothing caked with sand indicated that they were from somewhere in the Wind Country. They weren’t as accepting of the price as he was though.

“How about we just bust up this stand instead old man?” The two men from the Land of Wind shared a husky laugh. Solo couldn’t help but realize how cliche this whole scene was as he stole a glance at the girl again.

“Please sir, can you use that sword to help papa?” She pointed at sheathed Saika that hung from his back belt loop. Solo smirked.

“Three free servings and I’ll do it.”

“Two!”

“Four.”

“Fine, three!”

“You’ve got yourself a deal.” Solo adjusted his tie. With both of his hands shoved into his pockets, he calmly walked to the other end of the booth, where the brutes were. “Excuse me...”

 

[Hazen Gregory]

"Ugh...what a stupid festival!!!"

The loud buzz and drone of so many people had started getting on Koete's nerves hours before the music had really started to pick up. These kinds of events were always so loud, just what was with people wanting to jump around and act like fools was beyond her. As her eyes moved from left to right in a simple glance she could see countless chakra signatures with her open eyes and most of them amused her. They were so small that the amount of power that could potentially come from them was so small that the woman pitied them.

At twenty-five years of age Koete found that life had changed dramatically, she hated ninja...she hated the thought of them. All of their hate had caused her to hate.

People were pushing and showing past her but nothing really mattered to her at that point. For the most part, Koete managed to ignore all that was around her and keep to herself while the hustle of the festival continued...albeit not at all to her liking. After several minutes of solitude there was a tug on the side of her leggings and a small voice sounded right afterward.

The voice was shrill, "Hi. Are you one of the performers??" The small child had green hair in a double bun and a tan outfit on with ribbons that matched her shoes.

"No." Koete said, "I'm not."

At first the girl just stared at her but then rolled her eyes..."Come on with an outfit like that you've GOT to be one of the performers, please just show me one trick." Her friends that were behind piped up and added in a loud spray of questions and requests too.

"I said no." Her eyes started to glow a bit and the kids started screaming and laughing. I t was more than obvious they all wanted to see more. That was when the first child lifted up and was tossed into the crowd, knocking over a bunch of people. The another, and another after that.

Koete snickered and moved forward through the crowd without looking back, and laughed to herself while hearing even from that distance; how the kids were talking about what had just happened to her. "Hpw's that for a trick?? stupid kids."

~~~~~

Daaku was one of the men standing on the side of one of the numerous food stands around at the upbeat festival and he was enjoying himself. Not only was Arashi there and his search now near complete, but the atmosphere was productive and lively. He was amazed by the different faces and people who'd come from afar that were near. He hadn't seen Arashi for an hour or two but he'd figured that everything would be fine so long as his soon to be pupil didn't act out too much in front of people.

"Oh boy, I wonder how things will turn out here?? With all of this noise any number of things could happen and this is just the place to do it." Why anything like that was on Daaku's mind was out of the question, just in his line of work and with everything he'd experienced both as a ninja and the Raikage at one point, you could never be too careful with things. He looked over the shoulder of a man that was around seven feet tall, a giant in everyday and frowned.

He saw Koete moving through the crowd...

Daaku's reasoning changed right away. Sure maybe Koete was just out to enjoy the festival but it was very likely that sh was there for other reasons that had a lot to do with the Hand. "I hope she doesn't cause any trouble, a place like this isn't the right area for battle." He was almost right, there was a contest for martial artist and other fighters taking place near the edge of the festival grounds but that wasn't the kind of battle that Daaku meant.

Throughout his thoughts Daaku had continued to keep moving toward Arashi whom he'd also located after another scan and to his obvious liking the boy was right in one of the most recent matches and was winning. The only thing Daaku had need to worry about was the use of too much applied force on Arashi's part, or the accidental use of a jutsu. Anything like that would turn into a nightmare for everyone around, and that was the last thing that needed to happen.

 

[Kazem]

"Lights...laughter...fun...games. This is what the festival is to those who don't look at it for what it is." Koniru's cloaked figure walked among the crowds with his arm across his wooden clone, two fingers being all he needed to make the puppet walk. While his own face was covered by the shade from the hood, his decoy's face was bare, and for anyone who couldn't detect the condensed and thereby invisible chakra threads that connected the two, or Koniru's own chakra, it'd seem like it was two real people walking down the street. This festival is just really about... "Having as much fun as possible!" Waving around the cup in his right hand in cheer, he continued his hobby of experiencing this city's culture. Already he had Koneru's face decorated with paint in the form of two red spirals on its cheeks and several stars all over.

The capital lived up to its fame, the festival was no cheep and pathetic little celebration. It was huge, with stalls, games and shows around almost every corner. So many things to taste and toys to play with, too bad this doesn't happen every day. Oh well, a guy can dream. Catching a unique smell on a random breeze, Koniru's and Koneru's heads turned towards a stall that was obviously worse in quality than some of the others. But just because the stall is like that doesn't mean the goods are the same!...Most of the time, anyway. A flashback of an unpleasant experience Koniru had after trying some under-cooked chicken briefly floated to the top of his mind, but it was quickly washed away by a wave of sights,sounds and smells.

Arriving at the stand, he downed the contents of his cup and threw it blindly behind him, landing on a random passerby's shoulder, who was too drunk to even realize his shirt was on backwards and one of his feet was missing a shoe. "Two of whatever that heavenly smell is, please. One for me and one for my friend here!" Patting Koneru's back and turning its head to the side in pretend lack of interest, Koniru unleashed a full grin at the father and daughter team. However, due to the distraction happening to the right of him, Koniru was left there smiling for a moment before he cracked an eye open to see what was going on. Following the stare of the girl, he finally acknowledged the situation. Before he could do anything about it though, another man walked up to the pair of disgraces that were unfortunately from Koniru's homeland, judging by the traces of sand and outfits on the two.

Not quite the one to do something that was already being handled, Koniru stepped aside and supported himself on one of the beams holding up the booth. Koneru maneuvered to Koniru's side, its hands clasped behind its back as it seemingly intently watched the scene. Ah...of course, the more rowdier crowd. Too bad it includes some of my own Land of Wind. Violence runs strong in this calm we celebrate tonight, it really makes me wonder what the public doesn't know. Or maybe what they don't want to know. Their choice. Shrugging indifferently, he continued to watch the man, hoping both that the sword perched on his side wouldn't be drawn, and that there would be something for himself to deal with, a random wave of boredom overtaking him.

 

[Hazen Gregory]

Date stumbled through the crowd that had even enveloped one of the many side streets of the capital as the festival went on and on. He had no idea where he was or what was really happening, just that he had been drinking too much and something within the last four or five drinks had made him feel a lot worse than he was already feeling from the heat and combination of being stupid drunk. His words weren't slurred just yet because date was a man of very good composure regardless of the occasion but he knew that things had to wind down soon, or bad things might start to happen. "Ha...I'm so frickin wasted right now. I wonder where Daaku is?? I haven't seen him all day." He began laughing and moved by a few teenage girls that were in the street dancing, the rhythm of the music causing them to dance wildly and shake whatever they had to show off.

The girls were quite lovely to watch and yet he found the liveliness of their dance a bit awkward and then realized that they must've had other motives because as they continued to dance and draw the attention of many men around the area, Date was quick to notice the men whom looked to be from the Land of Wind, pickpocketing any man that drew too close to the dancing girls and what seemed to be the use of some space compressor to take the items and hide them away without anybody else noticing.

"Those bastards, that's bonked up!!!" In his drunken state Date yelled hi words out a bit louder than he wouldv'e liked but nobody really knew what he was saying, and then a man moved closer to the stand to buy another drink, he was met with amazing disappointment however because his his pockets were empy and his wallet had gone missing. when he poked his nearby friend to ask if he'd taken it, the friend responded and saw that his money and a chain he'd purchased were also missing. It looked like this was something the other men had been doing for awhile now because of motioned to another and a man that had a sword on hi shoulder began to edge away into the crowd. He didn't make it very far however, since Date grabbed his shoulder and tripped him, and the man smashed his face hard onto the dusty street.

He immediately got up and cursed Date and pulled his sword, pointing it at the the Uchiha whom was dressed in a simple tee-shirt and some jeans. "How dare you make a mockery of me like that you punk!!!" Already the crowd had started getting frantic as many more noticed that their belongings had gone missing too, so Date just started to laugh and laugh harder as the man with the sword got angrier and angrier. "You fool, you think that this is funny??" Without thinking, the man quickly lunged at Date with his sword, but date moved out of the way and in doing so, turned and kicked the man in the back of the head...making him fall and smash his face into the dirt again.

"No, I think what's funny is that you and those two other guys are so pathetic that you are stealing things from drunk people such as myself during a festival like this and using technology I helped invent to do it." Date reached down and punched another man from the Land of wind who was running over to attack in the gut, he dropped to his knees and Date took the space compressor and opened it, allowing the stolen contents to spill on the ground. This instantly sent the crowd into a frenzy of getting back what was theirs and also made many of them start to attack the men whom were near their belongings on the ground out of drunken rage and when the crowd began to disperse from the beaten men, Date fell backward while losing his balance and right into a man that had his face painted by the stand selling drinks.

~~~~~

The matches looked rather boring to Daaku, one of them was a girl versus another girl that looked like a grown man but even as the two tussled and beat each other up, Daaku wasn't impressed by anything he saw. Just the simpleness of such a fight bored Daaku and he could tell that part of it had been staged because the larger girl had already picked up and smashed the smaller girls head into the ground several times and she got up like nothing had happened to her at all, bleeding and the entire nine yards.

"Tch...figures, these kids will do anything for a buck these days."

He turned his attention back to arashi whom had flipped over and kicked a man so hard in the chest that they were knocked out of the ring. "Ouch, that was nice." The style was well used but lacked any real disciplinary traits, it was something that reminded Daaku of his nephew from long ago, even though he'd been killed by Normatsu in a tragedy and afterward used by Seru as a puppet though his soul was never able to be brought back. It was a sad chain of events for sure.

The announcer spoke up and raised his voice for the crowd to hear. "Well well, is there anybody else who wishes to fight this newcomer Arashi Namikaze?? he's floored every opponent to challenge him so far today and his stamina is amazing, his style unique, fresh and full of power!!!"

Daaku stepped forward, still wearing his robes and hood, then walked directly into the center of the ring and faced Arashi, who couldn't see his face. "I will." Daaku smiled underneath the hood and his hand moved to the side of his robe where he held a small clip, and when the hand rose a spiral pattern could be sen across it, though the detail was partially obscured because of the robe itself. All you could see was a small handle that was a brilliant red color resting in Daaku's palm.

The announcer and the crowd loved the tension that had started just from what daaku had done by stepping up and the deep voice behind the megaphone sounded very excited. "Who is this new challenger and what is he going to bring to the ring?? Does he have the balls to face off with Arashi after what he's done, or is he just a nobody under a hood that is drunk and wants a beating??"

The hood shook a little, but didn't come down, the only thing that happened that made any bit of noise was when the red handle that Daaku held was lifted up, and a blade extended from it, it looked like something out of a sci-fi film but it wasn't that much of a surprise to the crowd, as many people in the world now could purchase such weapons and even have them custom made by companies like the one Daaku was the CEO of.

As Daaku stared from under the hood at the young man, he felt a warmth in his heart, he looked so much like his favorite nephew that it could have brought him to tears very easily. Right now however, he had other motives and could rejoice later on when the time was right. "Kotaro is mine." Daaku turned away from Arashi as he said this and laughed.

"Come child..."

 

[Von83194]

"Man this is a beautiful night!!!" Kamenoko shouted into the night sky. He wore his shirt open at the top, and his collar flipped up. He roamed the festival, moving without purpose, swaying from side to side. Surprisingly, he wasn't drunk, in fact, he had never had a drink in his life. He made sure to stay dry for his work, which had greatfullly paid for his vacation. "Ahh, mom loved festivals. Really wished she could have come."

He continued walking, passing several different game booths. "Enjoyed a good drink mate?" Said a man in a game booth. Oki looked over at him and responded, "Actually, I'm sober." "Yeah sure you are, step right up and have a try at this game." He waved his arm behind him, where a large pyramid of blocks sat on a table. "So what do I have do do?" "Just knock the blocks over, get a prize. Easy enough?" "How much?" "Three balls for 400 ryo." He scanned the wall, looking at the prizes, when he saw one that stood out. A blue fish, inside a back pack filled with water. "Is that?" Oki started. "Yup, a real fish. Genetically engineered to survive without food and to be immune to disease."

"I want it." He sad placing the money on the counter. The man handed him the balls with a sly grin, but kept quiet. Oki took aim towards the bottom of the pyramid. He threw the first ball, and it hit blocks with a hollow thud and bounced off. "What the-" He zoomed in with his eye looking for a better place to throw. He wound up for the second time and threw the ball straight at the middle and produced the same results as before. He looked at the man, who was trying to hide a gigantic grin. Again, he zoomed, switching threw his visions. His heat vision revealed that the blocks seemed to be stuck together by some type of glue. He shook his head Classic scheme, he thought.

He put another 400 ryo on the counter. "Three more?" "No, I had another idea." He pulled one of his swords off his belt and threw it in a boomerang style smacking the entire pyramid to the ground. The man stared at the blocks, still in they're formation. Oki hoped over the counter and picked up his sword. "I do believe this is mine." He said, taking the backpack off the wall and walking away.

 

[King Naruto]

~Arashi~

The young ninja was throughly gracing the crowd with his finesse and agility. The fighting tournament was always held during the festival and it let people show off their skill in combat. This year though was Arashi's year to shine since last time festival, he had gotten beat by some hyuuga with stupid silver hair. After all this time, the twenty year old was showing just how far his prowess with his clan's sword style has come. Not many could match Kotaro as it cut their weapons in half and a fist left them planted in the ground. He felt like no one could stop him and he wouldn't let anyone get past him. He didn't know just what was coming next as the annoucer screamed at the crowd.

His black eyes fell upon a hooded figure that had taken the spot as the next challenger. Arashi's burakkurai weren't even focused on the man and Arashi cocky attitude was up in the clouds along with his ego. The hooded figure seemed almost majestic and regal but, such things wouldn't stop Arashi. The man brought out a red handle and a blade extended from it. Laughing, the young man could only think of how he was gonna cut straight through it before kicking the man square in the chest. "Kotaro is mine." The man uttered those words before turning away and telling Arashi to come child.

"Kotaro isn't yours. Now taste my family's hundred art." Arashi stated with a grin.

Lifting his blade to his chest, chakra was gathered. Once completed, he swung his wakizashi with swiftness while yelling "DEMON FANG!" A small wave of transparent chakra was shot across the ground at a rapid speed. This man would pay for trying to proclaim that Kotaro was his weapon.

~Renzaku~

Standing within a crowd of people, Renzaku was having the time of his life. People were dancing around him and happiness was everywhere. He loved to see smiling faces especially the women walking around in their arousing attire. Before he could take another step, a child came flying through the air at him and the crowd. His reactions kicked in and leapt forward, catching the child easily. Setting the boy down, Renzaku wondered who would actually throw a child. His eyes caught the culprit within seconds as she spoke her last words. He knew of her from his time as a commander in the past and he almost hated interacting with her for fear of Heaven's hand coming after him. He took several steps toward her with his hands crossed across his chest.

"If it isn't Koete. It's festival time and your being mean to children. Sounds about right. How are you?" Ren asked with a clever tone.

 

[Hazen Gregory]

Daaku's smile only got wider as Arashi's ego manifested for all to see. His heartbeat sounded in Daaku's ears even from across the way and he could feel the intentions of the man with eavery breath he took, it was like his entire soul was talking to Daaku, but that was because in a sense it actually was. The Namikaze had already switched his focus into using the Tenga-Ryu as assumed from the start by the old man in mind but not in body and his excitement rose to another level when Arashi spoke to him.

His words were thick with the cocky attitude that his ancestor held all those years before and even so, it was welcomed immediately by Daaku. "Kotaro isn't yours. Now taste my family's hundred art." Laughter was the price Arashi paid for the claim to an art that he more than likely knew next to nothing about but that was fine with the one of the last remaining Raito's to exist. His concerns were only for the technique that was used by Arashi next.

"DEMON FANG!"

The ground trembled slightly as the wave of chakra moved along the ground with a speed that more than likely already awed the crowd, but what happened then sent the onlookers into an uproar. "Oh??" The robed man kicked off the ground and flipped over backward, missing the attack Arashi had mustered completely and extended his sword Tanmatsuken and slashed over the wave of chakra, dispersing it while still flipping around. Without the hood falling Daaku landed and dashed at Arashi, using his blade to strike three times from the left, right and center at he who would claim the Tenga-Ryu...all without actually moving his arm to do so. Tanmatsuken merely got slightly wider or thinner and shot itself forward to strike at Arashi.

Daaku threw back the hood to reveal his face and pitch black eyes and once again the crowd went into a screaming frenzy of excitement and the announcer called out to the masses...."What's this?? This is an AMAZING turn of events!!! It looks like our hooded challenger is none other than DAAKU RAIIIIIITO, CEO of the world known company SenShisei(Beam Comet) Inc!!!"

Now that he'd exposed himself Daaku didn't say anything, only turn and smile at Arashi as he drew his word back and jumped forward, the glow of his weapon already intensifying as it lengthened and was pulled behind his head. The sword slammed down from a distance in front of Arashi which released a large wave of energy that was followed by a second when Daaku drew the blade back up that towered taller than the last. By then Daaku had leaped high into the air and and slammed his blade down to the ground which produced another large wave of chakra as he uttered two words....

"Sky Fang."

~~~~~

"Really??"

Koete looked behind her to see a man that was startlingly attractive but not a man she really had or needed to care about. He was Renzaku Hyuuga, a man that had once worked for the hand and had gone under the radar. To be honest with herself and the Hand as a group, they hadn't really tried that hard to find him, only because it meant an apparent waste of resources because Ren would more than likely slaughter any number of Hand agents that were sent his way.

At first Koete wasn't even going to bother turning completely around but when he commented on her being mean to children, her tasteless tone lowered in aggravation and she turned around, running her hands down her sides and stopping at her hips. She'd been aware that Ren had been trying to get with her previously while he was still a commander in the Hand but she'd always ignored his advances. "Screw those little bastards, coming up to me and acting like I'm some damned circus act, they deserve what they got," her mouth slowly curled up into a sly smile, "So why are you even speaking to me?? I have the mind to drag you back with me to the hand right now I bet that ass of yours could use a good squeezing on the way..."

Koete snorted cutely and licked her lips before rolling her eyes and stalking off, leaving Renzaku to watch her backside jiggle as she got further way.

"Stupid Renzaku, that guy makes me sick, he's almost as bad as Normatsu...and he's REALLY annoying because he never shuts up about taking Daaku down, ugh. Lord knows how he has managed to stay alive so long, I swear its got to do with that life energy he draws upon, shyt, it must keep him young. Oh well," she laughed to herself and kicked a girl's puppy that was in her way, "One of these days Daaku will probably chop him in five."

 

[King Naruto]

Arashi was stunned by how the man had effortlessly defeated his attack. No one that day had faced his demon fang and defeated it. He couldn't just let this guy beat his attacks like nothing. Arashi would face him head on but, without completely giving himself to the Heaven's Hand. Before he could made a decisive move, the hooded man was already in the move for his attack. The man's blade lashed out at the young man three times. Tracking the sword's attacks with his burakkurai, Arashi rolled to his left to dodge the first blade. The second time was blocked by Arashi but, grazed his shoulder. Arashi winced in pain which got him caught by the third slice across his leg. Standing up, he wasn't truly suprised by the attacks since people always had weird hidden talents.

Suddenly the man's hood flew back to reveal it was Daaku. The announcer made it clear to everyone who it was and Arashi was stunned. This was the man that his father had sent him to search for before his imminent death. He couldn't believe that the famous CEO had arrived to a fighting tournament and that Arashi would get to challenge him in combat. His shock was overturned once Daaku set into motion his next big attack. Waves of chakra were shot forward at Arashi before the words Sky Fang were said. His mind couldn't wrap around the sheer ferocity of the Sky Fang. His father had spoke of techniques that surpassed his own knowledge and this was one of them.

He didn't know what to do as his brain had failed him. He couldn't just throw out anything nor could his ninjutsu or his faithful fuuma shuriken Hanzo be of any help against something so grand. The first wave knocked Arashi off his face, causing him to smash into the ground. The second wave crushed Arashi before lifting him back up into the air with a bounce-like effect and then the third knocked him out of the ring. Arashi could feel pain rush over him before he felt his left shoulder out of place. "Damn can't believe I lost." Arashi commented as he sat up. His eyes never moved from Daaku and the burakkurai that was in the man's eyes.

"AND THE WINNER IS DAAKU! It seems our young champion was not ready to face Daaku." The announcer said.

~Normatsu~

Staring at the festival, Normatsu was laying upon the railing ontop of a building. The night had been going for so long and he had yet to interact with the people. He didn't really feel like it after the day of crap he had. He slept till three, trained with Koniru and the puppets, and then had to train the recruits. Now he just wanted to sit back and watch the fun to be had. His eyes though had been taken in by two things. One was Koete which was usual since she was pretty damn hot and most men would take a look but, the other had more of an interest and that was the young boy fighting in the tournament. Normatsu knew exactly who it was since he had captured him two years ago but, he felt no reason to do it again.

It was when the hooded man arrived that Normatsu sat up. One wondered how Normatsu kept himself from falling over but, balance was life. He had a strange feeling about the man but, he couldn't put his finger on it. It was soon that the man's hood fell off and his face was revealed. "DAAKU!" Normatsu yelled out while crushing the rail in his hand. If there was one thing that got his blood going and made his lazy nature disappear then it was Daaku. He was sorta like Vegeta to Daaku's Goku. Jumping forward, Normatsu fell toward the arena as Arashi was defeated. Flipping forward, he landing right in the middle of the ring. The force of his drop shifted throughout his body without hurting him or destroying the area.

"So your Daaku. Easily beat that kid. Let me be a better opponent." Normatsu said with his hands in his pockets while taking a more relaxed stance.

Raising his head from the ground, Normatsu's eye was directed into Daaku's burakkurai. His body blurred as he made his way beside Daaku. He faced the opposite direction and stared at the crowd. "IT SEEMS WE HAVE ANOTHER FIGHT! DAAKU RAITO VS THE BUTCHER OF HEAVEN NORMATSU!" The announcer yelled out in excitement.

 

[Hazen Gregory]

"Oh man."

Daaku wasn't amused by the fact that Normatsu had showed up. Not one single bit, not even the idea of him being so near made Daaku comfortable at all. His brazen behavior was so completely rash that in all the years they had known each other, never had there been a time that Daaku had really liked him, even when they were children hundreds of years prior. The man not only had fallen onto a dark path he even went as far as taking control of other people's bodies to accomplish it. The horror of that having already happened to him was more than enough to continue his disdain for the man even after the world had become modernized and full of things ninja from the past never would have expected.

With those thoughts lingering on his mind, Daaku looked at Normatsu and sighed, "You're still as obsessed as ever aren't you?? Your laziness once again melted away as soon as you saw me, is that it??" He rolled across the ground like a rag doll just for show, all the while causing Normatsu to go blind from the increase in the intensity of light flooding across his vision. "You think that maybe after all this time you'd stop trying to stalk me man but I guess not..."

Daaku's fingers sparked with lightning and then went out, "You're not even worth it, can't you just leave me alone for once?? You agitate me so much that I just want to tear off that smirking goofy face of yours and wipe my ass with it...come on then Butcher, you might as well show me if you still have it or not, why else would you drop down into her like a mad man for no good reason other than to clear your head..."

A punch came from Normatsu's left and right simultaneously, striking in a way that caused immediate disruption in balance from both strikes being either defended against, or not, as the first blow was made for Normatsu's right thigh in the dead center, while the other was aimed for an area right above the left breast area. Daaku knew better than to just make any kind of fight with this man a ploy, so he'd of course ebbed his strikes full of black light, to instead of build up, explode of contact with flesh and release kinetic force for heavier material like any of the blades Normatu's might pull out.

"No jutsu for this, I don't need to use those in a place like this, people could be hurt and for what?? Nothing other than you having a good time...screw that."

 

[Ðari]

Rayex sighed.

Festivals were supposed to be fun, exciting, and an upheaval of joy and merriment. Having been eluded once again by his daifu to go mingle with the women as his nature often caused him to be so bold. A twinge over his brow, he'd originally only even been convinced to go by Arashi to see him fight in the miniature competion held every year. Rayex was more of a nerd, gear head, and techno-geek to really even be such an adept combatant.

"Is that light?" the white haired teen came to recluse over the ring.

Hands in his pockets, he took a step off of the building as if he were on solid ground. He quite literally walked down the expanse of air particles with the use of his special greaves. As if he was a comedian, people would surely look up, his eyes were shut as just allow himself to float downward to the ring after a bit.

As he was landing another man had entered the ring in a panic as Rayex placed himself down gently, his hands in his pockets and eyes open. A rather relaxed disposition he wore, beyond that he helped Arashi up.

"Doesn't look like you had fun. Arashi?" Rayex said extending his hand to lift his casual friend up. He did notice the strange individual that fell lower than him into the ring to cause it to shake a bit. Though, he seemed far more interested in this 'Daaku Raito' as he auspiciously shouted for everyone to hear. "Time to go?"

 

[Scribbles]

"Excuse me..."

The Wind goons sneered at this tall, but gaunt looking man's appearance. They brandished their weapons--both wielded scimitars-- and licked their lips. Solo's perfectly creased, clean, and meticulously cared for clothing would lead anyone to believe he was doing well in the money department. The wild look in their eyes suggested that these vagabonds had completely forgotten about terrorizing the old eel chef and now had their sights completely set on robbing this newcomer.

"Those some nice specs, I wonder how much they go for, eh bro?"

"We'll damn sure see!"

At that moment, the first brother lunged forward with his blade aimed right for Solo's dome. Arm elongated, torso completely exposed, it was obvious he had no type of formal training. The vagrant sort of swayed to the side to avoid the attack with ease. The bandit's movement, along with Solo's evasion, left him in the perfect spot for a leg sweep. Like a dancer, Solo's whole body lurched to the ground. Using his hands as leverage he spun himself 180 degrees like a top and knocked the thug to the ground.
In that same instant, his enhanced vision [courtesy of the Demon Eye] caught the other half of the duo trying to move in.

Solo was still in that B-Boy position, held up by his hands just inches of the ground, so he thought fast. He erected his full body, and using his hands quickly lined himself up with the foe, once the Windsman was in range he mustered all his strength and sprang up....Solo now sat on the shoulders of the thug and his knees kept the man bound tight. The thugs face was turning red as he hollered out for his brother--but it was too late. Solo lurched himself and the thug forward. The man was so big that his body left a small crater in the ground.

Needless to say the giant was unconscious. The eel-man and his daughter would have showered him with thanks, but Solo's victory was interrupted almost the second it was obtained. It looked like some man had fended off his own set of Wind dwellers--drunk. That same man had somehow in all his intoxication managed to liberate a number of stolen possessions from them. And...then that same man collapsed into a customer at the eel stand. What grace.

Solo would have been lying if he said he didn't wish for more hype over his triumph. Oh well, free eel for me! His mouth was watering at the thought. Just then though, the brother he had thought to be dispatched with a simple leg sweep came running from behind. He used that same open, amateur stance though which made it all to easy for Solo to twirl around and block the blow with his sheathed blade.

"You sir," The Wanderer began. His arm didn't tremble a bit from blocking the blow, "Don't understand how long its been since I've had decent food." With that said, Solo used his free hand to deliver a classy poke to both of the thug's eyes. The thug stumbled back, and he used that opening to grab him by the neck. With a DDT straight out of prime time wrestling, Solo dropped back and slammed the Windsmen's head into the concrete.

Both brothers unconscious, and his work done, he dusted himself off, adjusted his glasses, and walked calmly back up to the little girl. He crouched down at eye level, smiled cheekily and said: "Three servings please!" She just blinked and nodded.

"Papa!"

* * *

Taro and Kai had both managed to become fixated on the battles being held. These guys' strength was unreal. Until now, Kai-Lan was the strongest person Young Murakami had known, and these guys blew her all the way out the water. Wide and violet eyed, Taro watched in awe as a kid not much older than him dealt with a number of foes with ease. But then his streak was ended. Some guy, hooded and gigantic stepped in. Their fight lasted for a few mere moments, but in those seconds the boy's entire comprehension was human strength was shattered. Where others in the crowd just felt tremors of strength, he saw the source of them--some kind of visible energy.

Kai-Lan knew exactly what it was though, being a User of The Way herself: chakra.

 

[Kazem]

Koniru spent countless days adjusting, improving, repairing and cleaning his puppets, but none more so than Koneru. Koniru treated it like a fellow human being, being careful not avoid it seriously being damaged and even using it casually, like on tonight. Of course, Koniru wouldn’t normally use a human to execute someone who could at the same time perform a few hand signs and turn them to ash, though to be fair Koniru did temper Koneru’s wood to be flame resistant, as well as coating it in a flame retardant layer. But that’s another matter.

As you could imagine, someone knocking into something you’ve worked on constantly for years would make you furious. Koniru isn’t you, however, but he did cringe as Koneru fell down to the ground. Discreetly moving his fingers, Koniru made the puppet stand up and brush itself off as he looked back. Spotting the beaten thieves clutching to the tattered evidence of their crime, Koniru sighed. Why do all of the bad ones come from my home? You’d think all the temples would make everyone peaceful and generous. Though, I’m not exactly a perfect example of all of that either, my job being to capture, execute and occasionally interrogate Users. Oh well, everyone gets to live how they choose. But there are prices for some paths.

Leaving them alone for some of The Foot to take care of instead, he turned back towards the stranger and began throwing his voice to make it seem Koneru was speaking. “It seems like those guys deserved what came to them. I don’t suppose you’re the one who did that to those guys?” A few pulls and points from Koniru made Koneru’s hand bury themselves into its pockets. If the stranger didn’t know of Koniru’s profession from his demeanor, then the clan crest on the puppet’s pants would serve the same basic purpose of a badge. The Maeda clan has had many of those within it complete important tasks for the Coalition, from hunting ninja to serving as government officials. Of course, it was either that, or being branded as traitors and the Maeda name filled with shame from the public for not providing the same justice they enforced three hundred years ago. Simply said, the Maeda are widely known as pets of the Coalition. Of course, if you said that out loud in front of one, you’d more than likely find yourself resembling something between swiss cheese, burnt steak, meatloaf, or a combination of the three one day when you’re taking a stroll through a empty road or dark alley.

Of course, all of this distracted Koniru from another scene that was happening right in front of him. When he realized the two brutes were on the ground and the family duo getting to work behind the stand, it was too late to watch the action. Aw man, I missed out on that? By the looks of it and the time it took, it would’ve been a sweet fight. Oh well, time to get my eel! “Hey, two for me after his order please!” As the words left his mouth, Koniru froze. I hope that guy was too drunk to notice that. Wow, I really can’t believe that happened. Maybe I hit my limit already. Remembering Date’s presence, Koniru slowly pulled in his arm from the cloak’s sleeve and reached down to the pouch on his waist, grabbing a kunai from inside in case anything happened.

 

[Von83194]

Kenshi

The man got quite a few odd looks from the others passing by. Of course you would too if you walked around wearing a gas mask. But Kenshi had to wear it, it was the only thing protecting his nose from the onslaut of smells produced by the food booths. Just taking it off for a second would drive him insane. He continued walking, observing the crowd, when a young girl with light blue hair stepped in front of him.

"What's that on your face?" She asked, pointing to his face. "A mask." He responded, kneeling down to her level. "What's it for?" She poked at it, and he grabbed her hand. "It helps me breathe." "Can I use it?" "No, I need it to breathe." "Will you die if you take it off?" "Not die, but get really hurt." He stood up and continued walking, but the girl followed shortly behind him. "Shouldn't you be going somewhere?" "No." "Aren't your parents going to be looking for you?" The girl sighed, "Yes...." "Then go find them." "Okay. Bye mister!" She waved running off in another direction.

He shook his head. Kid's were always drawn to him, kinda like a puppy, or a dog. The minds of children are truly a mystery, he thought. Kenshi continued walking past food booths when he saw a familiar face. "Koniru," he said placing a hand on his back. "And Koneru." He placed his other hand on the puppets back. "Or did I that mixed up?"

 

[Sean]

This festival surely lived up to the hype.

Fights broke out and the ooh's and ah's of onlookers resounded with the crowd. Essentially it was a battle royal than anything else. But were they really that insane as to break out into an all out fight in such a condensed area full of people? Either way, fighting now was a dumb idea. Sure enough they could be patient enough to take it elsewhere.

Yumei sat at a booth that had barstools anchored to it. Six or seven people at altogether while three more stools remained unoccupied. Another moment, another shot of alcohol down the hatch. The swordsman looked over his shoulder, eying several faces. Some familiar, and some not. And what what a festival be without its fair share of eccentric acts. A boy quite literally literally walking down on air. It was interesting yet expected from the Prince of Storms. Yumei let out a brief sigh before pushing himself from the bar and gripping the sheath of his sword at the base. Fights piqued interest but part-taking in them was a completely different story.

"Hey, you!"

A familiar voice broke out in front of him. The hairs on his arms rose as the grip on the blade tightened. A young brunette, a cute one at that waved off in the distance. A gentle smile warmed her face as she weaved in and out of the crowd watching the ensuing fight. The girl made her way up to just about a foot's length from Yumei's position, and her eyes fixated on the tight grip. "Oh lighten up you bum. Today's my day off so think of it as an opportunity where I don't have to kick your ass, yeah?" She lightly tapped him on the shoulder to bring his nerves down. "So what brings you to the festival, brother?"

Yumei closed his eyes in thankfulness that he would not have a high profile battle of his own to deal with. "Not much, just enjoying the scene."

"Well that's not much like you,"

"I know. But Date is --"

"Oh shut UP! Jeez its been like a year now and you're still rambling on about that guy? Worst comes to worse I'll just break both of you! Hahahahaha!"

"Hmph,"

"Send mom and dad my regards, okay?"

With that said, Tessa reverted back through the crowd to get a front row glimpse of what was happening. Expecting to see some bloodshed Tessa waved her drink around and shouted for either of the combatants. She was surely getting the most out of her day off. Still, some of the Hand's scouts were already in the area. Most notably that of Koete. Didn't she know that she is supposed to be enjoying herself? But Tessa knew that Koete was not the type to indulge in such festivities. A pretty rough past will do that to you...BUT, Tess wasn't going to let that ruin her night, despite having work the next day. Albeit early. From what others could tell, she didn't care one bit.

"YEAH! Let's see some blood!!!"

 

[gene chaos]

It had been years since Xiao had left his dwellings, for all these years he had been content with his research but today he noticed something horrible. A terror never before seen, with in his last few years.... he had fun out of ice cream!!! he had finished his flan deposits a year ago and had mainly been content with just his 23 flavors, but it finally happened it finished.

Thus starts Xiao's great adventure to find Action, Romance, Flan and Ice Cream!!

// The Festival: Town gates //

"Hmmmm, seems like i've picked a good day to rejoin society in my holy quest!" he spoke out loud," seems theres some sort of festivities going on!!" With each passing second his enthusiasm rose," seems my holy quest is on pause for i must examine this festival !!" With that Xiao would march into town ready to see every part of the festival... With in two hours he had hit most of the festival playing games, seeing attractions and gathering materials. At this point in his journey he had on fez( from some game he won), a bow tie, several huge teddy bears in a fishing net that he hung over his shoulder.

Looking around he would find what he was searching for, an ice cream vendor!! He would rush over his face lit up, " Give me as much ice cream as you can fit into this bowl!!!" he shouted at the vendor. " What bowl??!" the bewildered vendor would ask not seeing any bowl that this unusal customer had asked to fill. "THIS ONE!!!" he shouted as he pulled a large sized ramen bowl from his jacket and presented it to the vendor. The bewildered vendor, was unsure what to make of Xiao's actions but filled the bowl quickly.

"More!!" Xiao shouted, the vendor looked in astonishment considering that he filled up the bowl past its brim. He would continue to put more ice cream into the bowl until he couldn't hold onto it anymore. Xiao would take the bowl from the vendor and happily sample the mountain of ice cream. "That will be 20,000 Ryo" the vendor told him. Xiao would reach into his pocket and pull out several bills tossing them to the vendor as he walked away eating some of the ice cream...

Eventually he would reach an fighting event, Xiao found it interesting to watch as he ate his ice cream. Though it became extremely interesting as Users of the way used some of their arts against each other. He was even more interested when a third user came to play, so much that when the two started their brawl he had accidently flung some strawberry ice cream into the ring. He would move far closer to the ring , saddened by his lost, he would push his bowl and stuff into the ring and hop in. Making his way over to the piece of ice cream and determine if it was still good to eat.

 

[Hazen Gregory]

For several seconds Date wore a blank expression on his face after he'd fall en backward and knocked some man over, but something about the fall had been more than a bit awkward, his back had a bit of a sharp pain in it after the fall as he stood, embarrassed and also dusted himself off just as the man had. He was about to apologize for the mishap but the man speaking didn't give Date the chance.

Something was seriously wrong with the situation and still Date couldn't place it. The Tengan was active in both his eyes but it was too dark for the man to see his features perfectly, at least his one golden and the other red eye of the albeit lost Uchiha kekkei genkai. A thought made Date dig into his pocket and take out a small pill that he took and swallowed, his body was instantly nourished, and the circulation picked back up, along with him feeling the effect of being sobered up as well. As that was done with, the Uchiha thought back to his fall and how the body he crashed into didn't feel all that fleshy...

If that hadn't of made things awkward, the man was wearing an emblem that people knew to be of the coalition, a specific clan called the Maeda, which meant that this man was more than likely one of the Hand. 'Wood?? So that guy is a puppet...' A look down confirmed this as Date could easily see the chakra strings which controlled the puppet and the man had even poised himself to attack, it was nothing hard to pick up on. "Umm, yea...that was me, it just seems like people need not to do things like that to others." In the meantime a man who must've known the puppet user strolled up and he placed a visually activated genjutsu upon those around him. If one were to actually see his eyes, they appeared a crisp green color and not of the activated Tengan.

An illustrious smile was now etched upon Date's face as hi eyes went back to the puppet user...

"My my, it feels like I just got my second wind and feel that much better as of now. Please allow me to apologize to you for my previous folly, I wouldn't want you to feel disrespected, how about this??" He motioned for the man at the eel stand. "Heyy, put this on my tab from earlier will ya, give him the most seasoned order you've got."

~~~~~

Koete made her way over to the arena. She actually enjoyed watching all the various matches that the combatants produced. I was only because the draw of the power dragged every fiber of her being into it. Such suffering and to be able to watch the pain that those at places like this could inflict upon others warmed her cold heart.

"Shit is crazy. Seriously it is."

A boy next to her nodded, he was surely one of the most adorable kids she had ever seen and his gorgeous silver eyes sparkled in her. Just before Koete was only thinking of what Daaku had just done to the other previous champion. Arashi had been challenged and without knowing what would happen, he was defeated at the hands of Daaku. From what she'd seen, the man had toyed with Arashi and hadn't even used a small percentage of power when he used his Sky Fang technique. "That was really cool!!! I could feel the sky shaking when the tall guy's sword moved up, it was like he was a monster...a good monster though." The kid stared Koete and looked up at her. "Umm my name is Kenji Okotomi. Did you feel that too?? Like there was power showed there on a level I thought only happened in games."

"Uh, yea I noticed it too, so you say your name is Kenji?? That's a nice name." Already Koete was thinking of her husband, he had the same name as the boy and just the thought of him made her head hurt, the boy would probably grow up to be a user of the way and if that happened he'd become an annoyance. No doubt if he grew older his power would be incredible, right now though he was just a child, probably eleven or twelve. "So uh Kenji...do you know what chakra is??"

The boy looked a bit perplexed and shrugged. "Chakra?? Like the stuff that ninja are supposed to use, right." He said this matter-of-factually and didn't really question it."

This response confused Koete a bit, her eyes told an interesting story. Kenshi had chakra pooled within him, it was latent and its potential gave Koete one option. And that was simple, Kenshi had to taken to the Hand. He could be used in the future and that was always good, yet another man who could help destroy the ninja. "Yea, that's right, that stuff." Koete looked up and felt a dense chakratic pressure. It was Normatsu. "What the hell??" The boy was gone and she looked around and saw nothing, he'd vanished into thin air. "That doesn't even make sense." Her thoughts changed to another topic before she pondered the matter further when Normatsu landed in the ring and instantaneously challenge Daaku to a battle, which of course the announcer then accepted.

Koete glared at Normatsu in the ring while Daaku spoke to him and while that went on some guy ended up in the ring looking for his ice cream, which Koete had witnessed falling there. It was a stupid thing to do, and yet the man was also a user of chakra, if he got killed though it wasn't her problem, any body that stupid could get what they got. They were everywhere that day, users that she'd get to either kill or drag back to be questioned and tortured later.

After her thoughts subsided and her focus returned to the ring Daaku attacked Normatsu, Koete didn't recall Daaku using such a style in the past, he must have changed things up, she was waiting for him to use Screaming Lightning. There wasn't anything else better to do.

 

[Kazem]

Koniru's and Koneru's eyes twitched simultaneously as Kenshi named them and put a hand each on their backs. Well, if I had any cover left, I'm pretty sure Kenshi just blew it. Koniru really didn't mind a fellow Eye popping in, but he would've preferred almost any other time than this one. Letting out a sigh, Koniru put the kunai back inside his pouch. Slipping his arm back into the cloak's sleeve, he massaged his neck one one hand and put the other into a pocket that was located in a similar location to that of a zip-up hoodie. Pulling it out again with a decent sum of money, Koniru was shocked to find that the stranger who fell into Koneru was paying for the fried eel. Looking into the stranger's face for any sign of why exactly this was, Koniru discovered....that he didn't really care why.

Flipping a coin onto the stand's little counter as a tip, he reached over after returning the money to his pocket and grabbed the eel he was waiting for and proceeded to take a modest bite after , chewing slowly and letting the flavor sink in. Not half bad! It probably tastes better since it was free too! Now this is my kind of night. Taking another bite, he passed both eels, one half eaten, to Koneru while he took off his hood and took a deep breath of air. "Wow, I've been missing out! I must have missed so many things while I had that hood on! Think of it; all the lights, the signs, the attractions..." Remembering the stranger, Koniru sighed again and transformed the look on his face to that of his usual slightly sleepy look. "Well, since you bought me the eel, I suppose that means you think bribing me will make me okay with you causing harm to criminals? Well, that's a half-correct thought. I'm not on your case for starting that mess, but I will be on your case for...not having more fun!"

After smiling his barely noticeable smile, Koniru pulled on the threads again to make Koneru hand Kenshi an eel and Koniru his own. With a quick bite, he finished it off and flicked away the stick towards a nearby garbage can, the stick flying through the opening and burying itself inside the the interior wall of the can. With a swift, but smooth, movement of fingers, arms and legs, he connected himself, then Kenshi, Koneru and Date together in that order (left to right) with his and Koneru's arms over their shoulders. "Well, since we all met here by chance, and it's a night such as this, let's all go wander together. You know what they say: The more, the merrier!" And this way, I can keep an eye on Mr. Bribery here to make sure he doesn't cause any more scuffles. Well, I guess it'd be unfair to let vigilante #2 over there get away without anything, so I suppose he's coming too. Reaching out with his left arm, Koniru added Solo to the chain. "Nice work with those two! I just wish I didn't miss it all. Come, let's go explore our capital and take in all of this festival!"

Well, there goes all of my plans for tonight. If I had any. I need to figure out how to make Koneru walk and talk on his own so I can have someone I know won't turn on me if I ever get rid of this job that makes me act so serious all the time. If only... Extending another thread for full combat control of Koneru, Koniru had no intention of either of the people that took care of two groups of criminals that quickly being able to wander about during the parade carrying The Lords, which was actually starting soon. Why does it have to be me that has to care about all of that stuff on a night like this? It's just not fair, being born into it, but I guess chance wanted it that way. I'll have to add "somehow find a way to punch chance in the gut" to my to-do list when I get back to patrolling again. Forgetting to tell Kenshi about the plan, Koniru quietly mumbled about watching the two so that Kenshi would get a hint, his enhanced hearing making it so that only he would hear the message, others without that level of hearing having an extremely difficult time hearing what Koniru said over the sound of grilling eel, drunken (and sober) laughter, advertising for someone's business and other festival sounds.

 

[Von83194]

Kenshi

"Wow, I've been missing out! I must have missed so many things while I had that hood on! Think of it; all the lights, the signs, the attractions..." "Yeah man, you should know by now that you can't live life under a hood." Kenshi said. He turned and saw a man he hadn't noticed before. Koniru started talking to the man about something dealing with criminals. Damn. Don't tell me that even on my day off I've got shiz to worry about? I seriously hope whomever decides to attack think about it wisely, not good to piss off a relaxed dog.

Koneru handed him a stick with some grilled eel on it and he took it thankfully. His stomach growling was all he could here as he stared at it. "Thanks, been here all this time and hadn't had a bite to eat." He held his breath and took the whole eel off the stick with his teeth, chewing it with his mask on. "Pretty good, especially for such a small business." He never really ate eel, considering how rare it was in his hometown, but always found it a relatively delicious food.

Koniru and Koneru linked themselves with Kenshi and then the stranger. "Well, since we all met here by chance, and it's a night such as this, let's all go wander together. You know what they say: The more, the merrier!"Then he grabbed another man at the booth, who had just taken out two guys. Wow, quite the party we've become. He didn't know what to think of the two strangers, but he was not gonna trust them. Then he picked up some low muttering Koniru was doing under his breathe. Something about keeping an eye on them. "Yes," he said nodding his head, "Let us view the awesome sights our capital has to offer us!" Together they walked, passing a man with a fish in his backpack.

Kamenoko

"Wow, somebody looks like they might have had too much to drink." Oki said, walking past a large group of men. "Well I can't blame them for being happy." Right now he wasn't the one to talk though, he was having a conversation with a fish. He was looking for a very specific food booth. One with a frozen treat. One with....... "KAKIGORI!!!!!!!!!" He ran towards the booth, bumping into more than a few people. "Let me get one order of your best kakigori!" He shouted, sitting in a chair inside the booth. The other people in the booth gave him weird looks. Who ever heard of a man this excited for a snow cone.

A few minutes passed and a waitress appears with a large green snow ball in a bowl. "Tell me this is melon flavor." He said staring at it intently. "Ummm, yes, it's melon flavored." Kamenoko grabbed his spoon. "Get me another order of this, please." He began scarfing it down, not allowing any of it to melt. Within minutes it was gone. The same waitress came out with another bowl. "Aren't you a little too old to be this excited about a snow cone?" He gave her a serious look and said before digging in, "Why yes, yes I am."

 

[Scribbles]

Before Solo knew it, the third helping of the delicious eel based treat he was gnawing on was in the air, and he was being dragged along with an odd looking group.

"Nice work with those two! I just wish I didn't miss it all. Come, let's go explore our capital and take in all of this festival!"

The man who grabbed him squealed. When the swirl-facepainted man let go of them, the wanderer took a step back to survey his party. All three of them looked dangerous in their own right. Robes and muscles galore. Judging by the complexion of two of them, they looked to be Wind Country natives. The other one...who knows. Solo was the most worried about him. Despite obvious efforts to contain it, there was a low, quiet hum of powerful chakra that seeped from the man. It was a dark, stagnant kind. He didn't need the chakra scanning function of the Demon Eye to tell that.

Regardless, he couldn't do anything about that now--nor did he think he would exactly WANT to. For now, Solo was a part of this motley quartet, so he might as enjoy it, he thought. After all, it was the party of the generation--and he was out to enjoy himself. So, with all that out the way, he grinned wide and hard. With a grand motioning with his arms, he began:

"Well, since we're together in this, we should introduce ourselves, right? Call me Solo. I'm a traveler. Pleased to meetcha! Now...? You all are...?"

* * *

Fireworks all across the color spectrum lit up the night sky. An electric kind of vibe buzzed through the capital. A series of gongs sounded in unison...and everyone knew it was time for the parade. All the goers watched as large, rose colored ships flew across the city’s skies from all directions. From some hidden compartment on the contraptions cherry blossom petals were released. Thousands, upon thousands of the gorgeous pink things danced on down--and then there was a bright white flash. Several of the petals, about a hundred, glowed with some mystic light and when the flash subsided, in the place of those hundred petals were members of the Divine Orchestra. The orchestra touched down on the ground. Their bodies all hunched, heads hung low. With their respective instruments clutched tight, it was as if they were calling upon some sort of spirit.

A single low note from a trumpet, and a dark, foreboding bass line from the taiko in the
drumline and the Divine Orchestra was slowly brought to life. The crowd exploded into an uproar of thunderous applause and joyous cheer.

Showtime!

Everyone in the streets cleared out to the sidewalks to watch as the band took to the pavement. Halfway into their performance, certain instruments began to glow a bright blue. They trembled with power, and as each instrument hit the highest note they could, whimsical looking streaks of that same blue flew out from within. The flecks of blue light soared high into the sky above them all and collided. All music stopped, and from the mass of blue light, a woman was formed. She was dressed in a set of loose fitting, ceremonial looking robes. In her hands, she held the traditional Shamisen, and began to pluck away at the strings.

Her Song

As she played, an ethereal blue stage formed at her feet. A somber mood took hold of the festival and all its people.

"That woman represents the people, right Kai?" Taro had a way of managing to ask a question, and sound completely sure of his correctness at the same time. Kai-Lan just nodded, mesmerized by the display. Suddenly, five men appeared. They wore headbands adorned with steel, and wild looks. They were red, and transparent, just like the stage. As they stepped closer to the woman, the stage they all stood on grew to be the same blood red color as the five men. "The ninja..." The boy indicated in a voice that cursed the name. They drew closer and closer to the woman 'the people', until it looked like it was over for her.

Taro grinned. Here came his favorite part. The retaliation. Just as the five men drew their blades to attack, five new faces appeared. They were solid, clearly no special effects like the attackers. These five were the five feudal lords. With some sort of mystic light, they banished the ninja, and 'cleansed' the stage, returning the ethereal mass to its original blue. The crowd was more wild than it had ever been. It was as if the Lords were rock stars. Taro couldn't help but cheer himself.

Between their waving, the Feudal Lords whispered to one another. "Do you feel it?" Was something each one asked to the other. It was certainly something anyone with an astute knack with chakra could feel. A tremendously powerful and dense chakra. A chakra that felt as if it were screaming out. Solo felt it. His body tensed up and he immediately looked towards that man [Date]. But no matter how strong he was, this man could never hope to match this signature of chakra in power. Or evil. He pulled his sheathed blade from his belt loop and clinched it tight.

"Dammit!"

The Ten Tails

It appeared atop the highest building in Ame. A tall, white skyscraper called Yashirodono. Completely black of 'skin', with one big red eye surrounded by circles, and ten giant tails. That massive beast let out an ear shattering screech that destroyed each and every window of the skyscraper. Shards of glass were released into the crowd and came down like lethal raindrops. Puddles of the red stuff stained the capital. The beast made a noise that sounded like a yawn, and each one of his tails erected themselves.

Little bits of the monster began to 'drip' off. It looked like the beast was made of some kind of slimy substance. Dozens of these drops came down to the streets. One in particular appeared in front of Solo and the others. This thing writhed in pain. At first, it was just a puddle. But it grew, and parts poked out, like a creature was trying to form.

"No!" Solo screamed. He made the gun shape with his finger, and fired off six consecutive shots of his white chakra. He reloaded his attack, and six more blasts were fired. they shook the ground, and from the recoil of each strike, his body shifted backwards just slightly--but the mass of black 'stuff' remained. "This can't be happening...what dad said..." His hand was trembling. This monster was the Juubi. The fabled demon that terrorized the world ages ago.

The thing in front of them took shape. A miniature version of the original, save for the tails. On all fours, it was the size of a large human. It was very humanoid in appearance, but it was made up of slime-like substance that the original was made of. The pupil of its single red eye darted about. It took in the surroundings, and each of the men respectively.


Taro dropped to his knees. The monster had swatted Kai-Lan away like a fly. Everyone around him had scattered in fear. But Taro could not move. He was terrified. So terrified that his body had completely ceased functioning. He had forgotten how to use his legs. He had forgotten how to scream. He had even forgotten how to breathe. All that was left was him trembling. The beasts' 'face' parted, giving way to a toothless, black and oozing smile.

It roared, and ran towards Taro...

 

[Story Keeper]

~- In the city of wonder -~

Katniss glanced around her, taking in her surroundings with little practice. The crowd pressed on, Zero had a hold of her wrist; keeping her from wandering off and getting lost. A smile on her face, she ignored the adults and watched a couple of kids trying to catch a fish or two.

"Um," she mumbled, knowing that this had attracted Zero's attention. Glancing at him, she shook her had and smiled at him cheerfully. The festive music hummed against her skin, it was hard to resist the urge to join in. Accidentally bumping into a woman, Katniss stumbled for a moment; grateful that Zero steadied her. Turning to apologize, she was a little surprised to see that the woman was already gone.

"Huh?"

Shaking her head, Katniss followed her brother's lead and made a mental note of the man that had started to move in the opposite direction. Quieting down, she followed her twin through the crowded streets. Reaching the ice cream stand; her green eyes took in her surroundings, a small smile on her face, she listened to the music and broke down the melody so she could replicate it later.

"Katniss, come on, the parade's about to start," Zero said, a rare smile on his face. Grabbing her wrist, he gently pulled her along with him; and she didn't bother struggling.

~-----~

Katniss stood at the edge of the crowd, watching the show that was being performed. Shaking her head, she raised her left hand to her ear, looking around for the cause of the high-pitched noise. She knew she had Zero's full attention again, but that didn't stop her from jumping a little when he asked, "What's wrong? Is it the Six-tails again?"

She looked at him and shrugged, unsure of what it was; but it didn't quite feel like her dreams. "We need to leave now, trouble's about to break out," she hissed quietly. Zero nodded and the two headed for the closest empty strip, they barely got six feet between them and the show before it happened.

Her head snapped up, locating the Ten-Tails with relative ease, and instantly fear swept through her. She stood frozen for half a second, than she bolted toward the tower; Zero hot on her heels. Skidding to a halt, she watched the creature that fell in front of them. It was about human-size, but pitch black and had only a single red eye; she glared at the creature and quickly whipped out her fan, shifting her stance slightly, she got ready for the fight at hand.