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This article, Rivaling Bloodlines Cross, is the property of Superninja55 and his permission is required in order to use, modify or reference this article. |
The diner had been relatively talkative. Lots and lots of sound waves emitted across the small facility. The waitress approached the bar slowly sliding a neatly folded napkin in front of a young man. His face was masked only by the hoodie he wore, but you could still get a slight glimpse. His skin was different from those around him, much more darker than the woman who'd approached him. She leaned against the bar with her forearm and attempted to stare at the man under his hood. She began tapping on her chin contemplating what to do next.
"Hm.." She sighed finally giving up. "You've been here for quite some time you haven't ordered anything." There was a short silence. "Call me when you're ready." The woman took off the the other side of the bar to help another customer.
The young man reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it and laid it out on the bar, revealing it to be a map of the shinobi world. "It seems I'm here in the Land of Rivers. I have two directions I can take to reach my destination. A, I can leave from this land and go by water. Or, B, make my way through the Hidden Rain, Grass, and Waterfall." He let off a slight sigh. "Neither one of these options are ideal for swiftness." Dragging his finger through the option he set as "B" he began to observe the lands. "Although, this way I may be able to gain a few helping hands." He took a deep breath and finally called the woman over to him.
"Ah, so you're ready to order now?" She jokingly smiled.
"I'll take a bowl of fruit." He responded.
"A bowl of fruit? I mean, we don't actually sell anything like that, but I'm sure we can make it work. Give me just a second."
Clear skies, warm weather, a gentle breeze and the sound of cicadas filled the air with a majestic tune. Heaven and Earth were one and nature became harmonious. It was something that one could enjoy and one to see nature in all of its beauty. Clearly a nice day for a shinobi taking a day off.
The sound of water gushing over the edge was a rather calming force, leaves billowed in the wind and the birds chirping was rather reinvigorating. But below the bottom of the ravine laid a red torī gate, standing in front of what appeared to be a cave in. The site looked abandoned and nature was taking action into reclaiming it for her own. Standing on the waters edge was a man, what looked to be dressed in traditional rōnin attire, observing the landmark, hearing rumours of it being a hideout of a rather shady organisation. After investigating the site he came up with nothing conclusive, as it looked like it had been scavenged by looters. He turned his back and in a flash, disappears.
Arriving in a town near the outskirts of a gold mine. The man looked for a place to unwind, but sadly that doesn't seem to be the case.
"I can't believe this place doesn't even have a bar. It begs the question as to what the people here even do in their spare time." He muttered with a sign of disappointment across his face.
After a couple of minutes of walking, he noticed a diner on the corner of a busy street, with the sound of noisy customers within the establishment. Having rather little options, he sighed and decided to enter the place, grinning at the thought of at least looking at somebody pretty waitresses.
As time passed more and more customers entered the diner. However it didn't bother the young man at this point as he seemed to be feasting on his custom fruit bowl. It was filled with all kinds of fruit; pineapples around the rim of the bowl, strawberries in the middle. His face was filled with the residue.
"Not even gon' hold you. This is the best fruit bowl I've had since moms!" After finishing his bowl, he leaned back and began surveying the map once again. "But then again. The sea comes with less problems. What to do, what to do. Tch, what what mom tell me to do?" He began to imagine his mother ranting within his head. "TAKE WHICHEVER ROUTES HAS THE MOST HEADS ON IT TO CRACK!!"
He placed his hand on his forehead. "Yeah, that's not gonna get me anywhere with that thinkin'. Tch, it's running me hot." The door of the diner flung open.The boy swiftly swung his head towards the door and his facial expression changed just as quickly.
The smells of fresh food drenched the air and the noise intensified tenfold. The diner was in peak rush hour, as food was flying off the shelves every second and customers were ordering just as quickly. It seemed like the man would never be able to get a meal with a line like this.
"What a pain... and here I thought I could get something quickly." He turned his head adoring the hot waitresses and just as he was about to turn his head back, he noticed a hooded figure in the corner of his eye. He quickly turned again to reconfirm that he wasn't seeing things and just like that, he was there, in the flesh. Without a moments notice. He barged through the horde of people, angering some customers when he accidentally knocked their food off their hands.
"Hey watch it!" A customer shouted. "You lookin' to pick a fight?!" Another shouted. The normal diner talked turn into a bit of frustration and the young man at the bar could easily tell without turning his head. He could feel the man's chakra approaching him but instead of confronting him he decided to not even turn towards his way. Instead he continued analyzing the map trying to figure out which route would be best to take for his journey, but even that he couldn't do in peace.
Slowly he placed his hand under his hood so that it rest on top of his head. Gripping the top his head he began scratching his hair. "Either way, I have to get to the Hidden Mist as soon as possible." Reaching for the bowl in front of him he looking through it for anymore fruit only to be at dismay from it's emptiness. "Excuse me, I'ld like another fruit bowl before I leave!"
The hooded figure... he resembled someone the man had seen before and his chakra resembled that of this man... The myth... The legend... Seigetsu Uchiha. Just as he was about to get to him, an angry customer pulled him over and yelled straight into his ear, having his food spilled by husband reckless actions. It was obvious this customer was looking for a fight and didn't appear like he back down with a mere conversation.
"Hey you bloody idiot!! I payed a lot of money for this meal and you're gonna pay for it!." This customer appeared to be a mercenary, and who appeared to be trained for combat. Grabbing a standard equipment tanto from its sheath and aiming it towards the reckless guy. With a thrust, his intent was clear as day was to incapacitate him. However, the man in rōnin attire was cooler than a frozen cube of ice and moving his arm forward, caught the blade between his index and middle fingers.
"It seems you sir need to relax and cool off a bit." The man grinned and exerted his chakra towards the assailant. A skill of notoriety, the man was skilled enough that only the attacker was intimidated by his intense chakra. To the ordinary civilian, they didn't feel a thing or notice anything off and to them, the scuffle appeared to have ended by the assailant being scared off. Turning around, he approached the hooded figure, who appeared to be enjoying his bounty of fruits.
He lowered his head a bit more just to hide his face a bit more as though he were shy and continued to fiddle around with the map. The small "scuffle" caught just a glimpse of his attention. "That sensation." A sinister voice deep within the young man's psyche whispered. The boy let off a slight smirk at the remark. "Haven't heard you speak, in quite some time." He thought to himself.
With all this thinking the man a finally fully approached him and had now been at his side. What would be the best thing to say first? Should he be cautious? Why'd he'd even approached him to begin with? These were all questions running through his head within a small time frame. He decided to do away with those questions and instead think on his feet. "What." A single simple word which he intended on stating rather than making it a question.
That simple word. A word that one refers to when the recipient is unsure of an event. A word that could also have several other meanings. But of course, he didn't want to waste his time figuring it out. Glancing at the fruit bowl that was on the man's table, he leaned in and grabbed an apple. Smooth, firm and no blemish. It was fruit that one could sink their teeth into, which he did as he bit a chunk of the apple and started to chew. Crisp, juicy and full of flavour. It was fruit that definitely would make a grown man cry for joy.
As he finished the apple, he sat down near the hooded figure, masking his own identity to prevent commotion. But of course, the event that occurred earlier in the diner would have probably caused a lot of attention. He leaned in closer to man to get a better look and as he did answered only one question.
"Are you the child of Seigetsu Uchiha?"
"Are... you... the... child... of... Seigetsu... Uchiha?" These words echoed throughout his head in cringe. Without a second thought he lifted himself up from the seat, dropped his left hand down a kunai came sliding down his arm. He swung his hand around in curve attempting to cut across the man's temple aiming for the one hit instant kill move.
There was chuckling within his psyche, "Oh, that name gets you weary. Well well, you learn something new every day."
This guy, clearly disturbed by question initiated an immediate attack. Of course, he wasn't too worried as even the sanest of children would be predisposed to lash out at the thought of their own parents leaving them in the shadows. Without a thought. He stopped the man's kunai with his index finger and by pressing it and his thumb on the bladed weapon, started making it crack. The force he was casually exerting on the kunai caused it to fall apart into metal shards and without blinking, he grabbed another piece of fruit from the fruit bowl and took a bite.
"My, my. That look of yours suggest you've got some real serious daddy issues. You really need to chill out once in a while." The man answered, taking with his mouth full of fruit.
The dark skin shinobi wasn't amazed at all. In another rather swift motion, just as the man moved his hand away from placing another piece of his fruit into his mouth, he vanished instantly appearing in front of the man, grabbing a hold of his active hand and slamming it onto the table. Such swift movements caused a gust of wind knocking the boy's hood from his head. The bar grew quiet as everyone's attention had been turned towards the two.
His face became clear. His hair was spiky but shaved on the sides, creating a mohawk if you will. Those facial features only proved to show he was still relatively young. If physical appearance alone wasn't enough to give away who he was, then surely those unique eyes would. The majority of his eyes were red, with three black tomoe deep within; the Sharingan, Ninigi of the Uchiha clan.
Ninigi store the man in his face with a look of curiosity filled with anger, "Seigetsu Uchiha, how do you know him?"
"A sharingan eh? Haven't seen one of those in a while." He grinned, seeing this turn of events rather amusing. As far as shinobi goes, this young man was pretty quick on his feet. But his rash actions meant that if he was fighting for real, he would have been taking out by one swift taunt. Clearly a shinobi shouldnt let their emotions get to them.
Brushing his hand off his, he laid back and decided to tell this young lad what he wanted to know, seeing as he would've been on his case all day if he didn't.
"Ah Seigetsu... I remember it like it was yesterday. He was quite the, um... How should I put it? Eccentric. He was quite the figure head of Yamagakure, involved in local and international politics. But when you're trying to keep up appearances and you've got problems heading your way you needed someone to get rid of those problems immediately. That's where I come in. Seigetsu would pay me to eliminate potential threats, while keeping the whole village out of the picture. This way, the village wouldn't have been implicated if somehow they'd come to light. Since I'm a freelancer, I have no political association with any of the important nations, hence I'm the perfect guy for the job. But a couple of years ago, that guy just up and disappeared, leaving the village to send me out to find him since the village didn't want to expend any manpower and resources in case a scuffle broke out between another nation. Hence where I am now.
Grabbing an apple, he declared to the child. "My name... is Fushinoma Senju." As he took a bite out of the fruit.
"Fushinoma, Senju? So there are people that even mom doesn't know about who were in contact with Seigetsu." Ninigi began to calm down and sat back down at the bench. Patting the seat next to himself, he signaled Fushinoma to sit down next to him. "You're of Senju blood, and you're out looking for Seigetsu? I'm looking for him as well, but not as his son, but there's a lot of stuff I'd like to ask him. Once I get those answers, 'imma be sure to kill 'em right after. " He let silence build and reached into his bowl of fruit to grab a strawberry.
"Alright young man. Since we both have the same goal of finding Seigetsu, how about we do a bit of a team up. You can have you beloved father-son bonding time and I'll get that 500 Ryō that guy still owes me... uh, I mean, catch up with a casual acquaintance." He handed Ninigi change for the fruit he had eaten and asks him another question.
"So what's your next plan of action?" He asks as he pulls out his sword and polishes it with a rag.
What a change of events. "Tch, should I really trust 'em? Travelling alone 'ill make it easier on the stealth side. But with someone with me, dealing with situations with larger groups would not be bad. Besides, if anything were to happen... I could just go 'crazy'." Snapping back to reality he watched as the shinobi cleaned off his blade. Ninigi pointed down to the map sitting on the bar next to the fruit bowl.
"Kirigakure. We'll go by land to see if we can find any information on Seigetsu, then meet up with a boy of mine in Yugakure. After meeting with him I'll be debriefed on my mission, which will also become your mission."
Examining the map, the pathway choosing seems to go around the perimeters of the Land of Fire. While this seemed like a security measure, since the Konohagakure have a well armed military force compared to the lesser nations, it also seemed off someway, somehow. Nevertheless, Fushinoma agreed to the terms from the Uchiha and finishing the polish, retracted his sword back into the scabbard.
"So. When are we leaving?" Was his only real question.
"We move tonight." Ningi responded pushing up from the bar stool and heading towards the exit. "For now, we'll crash at a Inn and you'll tell me anything else you know about Seigetsu. We'll share our abilities to figure out how to fill in one another's weak spot. Meeting you and having you join me gave me a bit of an idea. On our way to Kirigakure, it'll be ideal to gather two more members to help us. I have one person in mind." He waved his hand signalling his comrade to follow him.
Getting up from the diner seat. Fushinoma sighed and payed the waitress for the meal, having seen that Ninigi forgot to pay for the food and headed out, tailing the young uchiha. He was running at blazing speeds, was that guy on a sugar rush? Did he eat that much fruit? These thoughts pondered him but in the end it didn't really bother him, nor effected their overall progress.
By dusk, the pair had gotten to an Inn on the outskirts of town. It was a rather lavish place, even having it's own private hot spring. But this wasn't a young, newly wed couple on their honeymoon. It was two guys that just met up and were plotting something that some would say was sinister. In the private of their hotel room, the duo further discussed their plans.