Picking up the scent [GRADED]

[Zao]

A man with a dark brown cloak moved through the narrow alleyway of a more remote part of Amegakure, more removed from the hustle and bustle associated with the heavily populated and modern city that had grown here after the war due to the commerce of the great five and their payments. Though with the large hat covering the majority of his upper face the Suna bannin carried something in his left arm that was just underneath the plain looking rain cloak that didn't put him out of place in the normally rainy city scape. 'Here...' There it was, the man's sense was awakened as a tinge of maroon light could have been seen within the normally bright blue crystal eyes of the older man, it was because of the remnants of thick spirit chakra. But it wasn't just the chakra of normal spirits that still lingered within the air, invisible and odorless to most, but that of some of the most powerful spirits that humankind had ever managed to capture and tame. The true weapons of the village, that spiritual power of the Genma.

With what appeared to be a slow walk, unhurried in any manner, the man with long white hair walked through door that had been partially left open that led up a creaking set of wooden stairs before finally dumping out at the top of a two-story building. "Grrr..." an almost adorable grow slipped between the sides of the cloak as a tiny dark nose poked out of the cloak. "Smell something?" The gentle voice of the older man spoke out as he spoke to the little demon dog that had been sleeping comfortably within his arms at the moment. "Mm... a yummy smelling dog and a weirdly fragrant dog-like smell, something close to a dog. A close species I guess, is that what you were looking for?" There appeared a half smile on the man's lips, yes, it was just what he was looking for as the man extended his prosthetic arm from within the cloak exposing the dark furred puppy with violet hue wings to the rare sun light within this area.

Stretching front to back it shook a little before leaping softly down onto the hard stone rooftop with its railing surrounding them as he began to sniff around, if not for the cute wings on the demon pups back one might have just thought it was simply some exotic dog. "There were a decent group of people, only those two scents really stick out though. Wait...." The puppy like dog suddenly stepped back and snarled up its lips, using one of its tiny paws to wipe at its nose. "...there is another strong smell, one that smells like...poison?" His enhanced nose picked up the scent of another smell, one that smelled dangerous that caused a tinge of fear in the small, bodied dog, but this only confirmed the Suna-nin's thoughts. "So, they really did come here, and that old man was here to, I'm sure." Zao knew a bit and the smells that the puppy named off gave him a good idea of who the three unique smells belonged to. The fox clan member and genma host from Kiri, the Inuzuka clan member and genma host from Konoha, and the dangerous one must be the other Kiri host known as Shinji...two of which he had seen their strength firsthand during the international chuunin exam. A pity more of the genma host hadn't shown up to foolishly show off their skills....

"Master, there is a weird smell here." Almost lost in his own thoughts Zao turned his eyes down to the little puppy that was moving back and forth, curious he replied in kind. "How so?" The dark furred, young-looking dog turned its golden eyes to meet the bright blue ones of its current master as it spoke to him like a normal person would. "This one seemed to disappear and appear different places without leaving an actual trail through the air. Almost like he's teleporting or going underground?" It confused the dog as it could blatantly see that the ground was solid stone here but teleporting also seemed a stretch. The slender man simply shook his head, "It must be the other Konoha genma host. He is a rather difficult one to pin down due to the power of his genma." Another fighter whom he had scene go all out during the tournament scene, though he seemed to have a rather unique piece of equipment to supplement the already impressive powers of his genma. "Jou, I need you to memorize these scents as they will be our prime objectives when we leave this place..."

Zao reached out his hand and the tiny pup flapped its cute wings and flew back across the stone roof and landed gently in the soft skinned hand of its master, snuggling back up against the man as the arm withdrew itself back into the folds of the rain cloak. The bannin laughed a little, for the demon dog to be so unfiltered and baring a number of grudges he sure liked to act like a regular dog most of the time, enjoying being petted on and sleeping. Shaking his head and holding back any out loud laughter at the spirit dog's antics that man slowly turned in a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree motion as he took in the surrounding buildings looking for specific things.

Off to the south of the two story building he stood atop of is where he spotted what he was looking for in the form of a three story building. Across the top of the building appeared to be a number of plants, almost like a small garden and he could see an old man tending to the plants with one hand and supporting himself with a can in the other as there gazes met. Zao smiled and waved but the old man's face didn't seem to move and his attention went back to the work before him. 'That old man, I wonder if he wouldn't mind some company." Turning on his heels the bannin retreated down the stairs and went across the street to the three story building.

Entering the door he found that it was a small herb shop on the ground floor and a petite elderly woman was seated in front of a number of different herbs as he wrinkled hands carefully handled each herb as she separated them in preparation to sell them. "Hello ma'am." Zao's gentle voice drifted across the room causing for the older lady to turn and greet him politely. With a background in medicine himself the shinobi opened a conversation with the shop owner about different herbs and even learned about a few that only grew in this area that he took note of. Soon he held a bag of different herb, most of a medicinal nature, tucking it away into his carrying pouch as he asked if she grew all of the herbs in the store making mention of the rooftop garden on the top of the building.

He would discover that her husband mainly grew and tended to the herbs while she specialized in preparation and removal of the important aspects of each herb that could be used and sold to the local doctors. She agreed to show him the garden area and introduce him to her husband of nearly fifty years now. It was a slow trek up the staircase leading up to the roof but the woman refused any help the white haired man offered her, soon enough the door opened and revealed an expansive herbal garden as the same old man from earlier turned to look the younger man standing next to his wife up and down.

A short while later after introductions the trio were enjoying some wonderful tea in the rare weather of Ame as the three drank tea talked about various things. Zao listened about how the couple described the changes that occurred in Steam after the war finally ended. After a while the elderly woman excused herself in order to attend to the store leaving Zao and the man he came to know as Aki to talk amongst theirselves. It was at this point the old man asked if he was with the teenagers who were causing all the noise earler.

With his interest peaked Zao.told the man that he was supposed to be chaperoning a few of the kids and that they had ran off and he had come through here looking to track them down. His new friend went on to make mention of the group, specifically a man with dog like tails and a cute young woman who had strange dog like ears on her head. But what caught his attention the most what when he mentioned that the dog girl seemed to be clinging to a muscular red headed man. The blue eyed man raised an eyebrow asking the elderly man to describe the fellow and before soon he himself added a few details of his own which was confirmed by the other man. It was without a doubt one of his fellow Suna shinobi but he hadn't known that the old man he knew as Souta was involved with the Konoha genma.

Or at least that was how the old man seated across from him made it out to be, it made things a but more complicated but it did not cause the man to waiver in his personal quest. There was to much evil allowed to continue to remain within this world that most were not even aware of, but it had become his duty to rid it to make the world a better place. Those evil weapons, the evil armor, and even the corrupt spirits know as the genma...his companion asked if he was alright as Zao had not realized that he had allowed his demeanor and expression to grow cold and distant. Shaking his head the man sipped the last of his tea and returned to the present putting his ambitions aside for the moment. A short while later he offered a gentle bow of respect to the man for speaking with him and the couple's hospitality to a stranger like himself.

With a cold look held within the crystal blue eyes of the bannin as he turned and descended one step at a time down to the street the man knew that his future actions would lead to others wanting to claim his life. If only they could see the world through his perspective with his experiences with what evil could truly do to this world and it's people. It was a heavy burden to place upon anyone's shoulders for sure, but Zao planned to should this unknown amount of wait all himself without the need to drag others down with him. With that he had his demon canine companion continue to track the main scents as he appeared to just be casually wandering through the grand city.

Though the man had one particular place he wanted to stop at before he went to seek out the allies of his home village for additional information. That place was the market as he moved through the temporary stands that had been erected just for the festival. These were all traveling merchants who moved from place to place to sell their goods where ever the crowds where. These were also the people who knew the countryside better than just about anyone else, Zao conversed with a number of them as he shopped. Listening as he would mention traveling to Fire country and down south towards Water country after the festival ended. This led to him learning what the merchants considered the easiest or safest route back through thaoset area.

The information for both areas and the normal traveling routes through those area was good information, Zao knew Fire country decently well from his travels yet he wasn't as well versed to the south past old Tea country. The tensions between Kiri and the other villages was always to much to allow for him to freely travel in the borders of Water country. So any information he was able to acquire on that area was welcomed happily as he bought a few more items from those shops. After an hour or so he felt that he had managed to acquire enough information on the possible routes that his targets would be taking and now he needed to return to his room at a nearby in to finish his own planning....