[Graded][Social] Become The Shadow, Become the Light.

[Sia]

What an exciting month it had been, thought Cros to herself as she lounged about outside of her hut. She had decided to ditch the chair on the porch and instead opted to lay in the grass, letting a nice calm breeze wash over her as she stared upwards towards the night sky. Certainly, what with her encounter with a member of the Zenchou organization and with the recent invasion, things were a bit more heated than they usually were for her these days. Even still, the current night was rather tranquil, though dozens of thoughts ran rampant in her mind.

Should she do as The Shadow had said? Should she steal scroll information from the village? That wasn't exactly something she wanted to do, but it was definitely something she could do. But would it be worth it? The powers they could potentially give her were a nice bonus, but she wasn't particularly fond of betraying the village in such a way. Stealing for her own gain was one thing, for she could easily hide her trail and prevent anyone from ever knowing it happened. On the other hand, giving away the secrets to jutsu that had been guarded for many generations was something that would take a great deal of convincing to get her to accomplish.

She wanted to spark change and perhaps even create a new world, but this wasn't the cost she wanted to pay to do it. It was true that she had isolated herself from the rest of the village, here on the outskirts of Fire Country, but that didn't mean her loyalty had wavered to the point of not caring. She had isolated herself because she felt just that, isolated. It was a self-banishment in a sense. She was known throughout her entire clan for being the kin-slayer. It was something both respected and feared, for it was not without reason that she performed the tasks that she had. Those whom betrayed Konohagakure had to be dealt with and at the end of the day it just didn't feel right to her that she might become the very thing she used to hunt.

Cros had a lot of thinking to do.

[Niro]

Kawa had been travelling through Fire Country most of the day as he had been chosen this month to be Awai, Cros' liaison to the village. The woman was among one of the older ninjas in Konoha's ranks. Some people considered living until nearly 40 a miracle for a ninja and they were right. Many didn't make it past 25, even fewer to 30.

For now though, Kawa had to meet up and inform Cros on the status of the village and ask about her previous month. It was routine. Usually a squad of jounin were sent out so they couldn't be ambushed as easily.

But today everyone was busy rebuilding after the invasion. The Hokage monument was fixed within a week as it was easy to rebuild with the use of Doton. The loss of life wasn't too bad. Less than a thousand, actually. There was a definitely greater number that were injured however. Some were critical, some not. Most of the fires had been diversion and quick thinking had led to a great majority of the population being secured before the two intruders were removed from the village. The majority of the damage was to the buildings that had been struck by explosions or caught on fire.

Kawa had left a few shadow clones back at the village to help but for now he had been sent out and given some other orders. Kawa stepped onto the lawn of the Awai and looked around, noticing the chair on the porch. Not there.

Ah, lying on the grass.

"Hello Cros. How has your month been?" Kawa asked with a smile, his forehead protector used as a belt showing off his allegiance clearly.

[Sia]

It was in the middle of that said thinking that Cros was snapped out of her day dreaming-like state by a sudden gust of silence from the critters of the fields. A few rustles of the brush and before her was a figure she hadn't seen in several years. Before her, in the midst of the night was the recently appointed Bannin. Tei, Kawa. Bannin was a highly exalted rank among shinobi, equal to that of a Kage in many regards, save the paperwork anyway. Cros recalled that the last time she'd seen the young man before her was only a few years ago, back when he was a Jounin. She didn't know him by name then but managed to put two and two together when she like many others witnessed the Bannin ceremony.

"Well well, Mister Kawa, I've had quite the eventful month actually. How about you? Are you enjoying your new title?" She asked, not yet choosing to sit up from the pasture. "I don't think we've actually met in person yet, but I remember your face. You've turned into quite the handsome young man." She spoke out with a smile across her face. In the dark of the night, most shinobi wouldn't be able to appreciate his features as well as an Awai. The Kussetsugan was truly a marvel to wield. "How goes the village recovery project? I assume things are progressing smoothly."

She spoke the words, but they were half-hearted, for her mind was elsewhere. Zenchou. The Shadow. It was impossible to decide what she should do. She still had the slip of paper that was given to her, but the time to decide whether or not to utilize it was not quite upon her just yet. She sat up, and focused her attention more fully upon Kawa.

[Niro]

"Eh, you know. Invasions and all that kinda crap." Kawa laughed a little before shaking his head. "I'm enjoying the title and political clout I now wield. It's nice to have my opinion valued by the council now. You're right, we have never met face to face. I usually keep to my own little group and deal with my shenanigans within it while dealing with some of the others a lit bit more...personally?"

"Village recovery is going smooth. The Hokage monument was already fixed thanks to our expert Doton users. No crops were truly destroyed during the invasion so in short all we need to do is rebuild some buildings and clean up the streets. It could've been much, much worse." Kawa told the older nin with ease.

"But I do have ulterior motives for my visit here today. Y'see, we had reports that the two perpetrators had passed through this part of the country. Did you by chance see any missing ninja lately, Cros?" Kawa asked. He really needed this lead to pan out because the two were wanted for sure, now.

[Sia]

A smile found its way across her face yet again. Something it seemed she did a lot more of lately than usual. Kawa mentioned the council and politices and though Cros knew all to well about them both, it was something she didn't particularly care about. But she had asked and so she listened attentively.

He then proceeded to give her an update on the progress being made to restore the village. The Hokage monument was already fixed, which was good. No crops were destroyed, also good. It seems the invasion had come with a smaller price to the village than Cros had figured it would. That was very good indeed. She thought about the devastating impact that would befall the village should she go along with Zenchou's plan.

But then the young man before her raised a question to her that she was half expecting, but wasn't expecting to have an answer to besides a simple "no".

"The two responsible for invading the village? No such luck I'm afraid. However...I did have a rather peculiar encounter on a recent mission I was specifically asked to take on. There was a little incident involving an individual that called themselves The Shadow" She paused for a moment to read Kawa's facial expressions for any sign of response. "I could very easily have been killed, but was spared with the offer to join them and their Organization." That would be all she said for now, unless the conversation between the two of them would continue. Perhaps it was nothing. Perhaps she wouldn't do anything for this Shadow, or Zenchou.

Perhaps.

[Niro]

"The two responsible for invading the village? No such luck I'm afraid. However...I did have a rather peculiar encounter on a recent mission I was specifically asked to take on. There was a little incident involving an individual that called themselves The Shadow. I could very easily have been killed, but was spared with the offer to join them and their Organization."

"What?" Kawa immediately replied, his face shifting from one of hopeful to completely serious. "The Shadow? Someone is running around with a lame ass alias such as that? Poor bastard..." He continued on. "Now that you've mentioned it, Cros-san, I do need you to expand on what happened with this individual. It might lead us to Yaku and Enma or their organization, Henkou, if they're in any way connected."

The look on Kawa's face was on of a superior ordering his subordinate to answer, not one for games at this point. This was something big. If it was another organization? One that could kill Cros easily? This Shadow had to be at least A-rank which definitely put them on his radar.

[Sia]

Kawa's very posture and demeanor changed almost instantaneously as Cros neared the end of her original response. Indeed, he seemed to perk up and become quite interested in what she had to say. He asked her to elaborate a bit and so she would.

"Unfortunately I am fairly certain that the two you speak of are operating independently from the one I met with. The encounter was rather odd, truth be told. I was on a mission to speak with someone that had a hit on a Daimyo's head. I was to interrogate them and if necessary kill them after getting them to call off the hit. However...When I arrived to the designated area, my target and his accomplices had all been killed by The Shadow, whom was waiting there for me. Instead of killing me however, we had a nice little chat about changing the world and she left, giving me an offer to join her organization, Zenchou."

That pretty much summed it up, no further information could be produced even if Cros wanted to. That was all she had.

[Niro]

"Zenchou, huh? 'Harbinger'..." Kawa mused. "Sounds just as lame as 'The Shadow.' The fact that they were at your mission site is a little unnerving. Either it was a coincidence or we have a mole in the village. I'm really hoping it was a coincidence. We don't need any sort of information leak at this point."

"I'm going to give you a mission then, Cros. It'll go on record once it's completed but for now it's between you and I. We have a shinobi looking into infiltrating a group. The same group that attacked Konoha, Henkou. I believe that you should do the same thing to Zenchou. Help them with their goals but relay back to me through messenger bird or if you have a summon, use the summon." Kawa started. "But the question is, Cros, will you accept? Or would you rather stay here in your home?

[Sia]

Cros looked on and listened as Kawa mused to himself, apparently pulling the word "Harbinger" out of thin air. He chuckled about lame nicknames and pointed out the obvious disconcerting fact of Shadow having taken it upon herself to be around during her mission.

"Infiltration is what I do best. Although... I do have one condition." She paused for a moment before she would continue. "I want free range to travel and access to any supplies I may need." Considering what it was she was being asked to do, it seemed a small price to ask as far as compensation.

[Niro]

"Free range to travel is no issue. I expect you to keep up with the current letters back to Konoha, whether it be through an outpost or border town or a bird straight to the Hokage Tower itself. The most time I'll give you to send word back is two months. I can understand sometimes it can take a bit to get a message out without blowing cover or you might be far. But two months is all I can give you without placing you in our bingo book as a missing ninja. Right now, I'm the only one who knows about this. The council will hear once I return.

"You'll need to get supplies before you truly embark. The best I can do when you're undercover is drop you cargo scrolls with the returning bird." Kawa finished as he addressed each of Cros' points.

"When you come back from the mission as well, we'll need to have a Yamanaka scan you, do you understand?"

[Sia]

Cros listened intently. It seemed her life was about to become far more interesting that she had originally thought that it would. That suited her just fine. It would be nice to get out and about and do something new and exciting for a change. This could become something huge. This could become more than Cros had ever thought it would. She could become a part of something bigger. On the other hand, everything comes with a price. Was she willing to pay the price for what she would have to do? She would have to take things as they come, planning when she could.

Only time will tell what happens to her.

"That sounds reasonable enough."

She let out a yawn. She hadn't slept well the past few days, having spent most of the time she would normally have slept, thinking. Her mind raced with thoughts of Zenchou and The Shadow. She needed to prepare, but for now...she needed some rest. "I'm going to make some preparations before I go and don't think for a minute I don't plan on coming back every now and then. This is my home...my village... I'm not sure I can stay away for too long, after all."

She looked skywards again and closed her eyes, a sheepish smile making its way along her face. "But for now, I think I'll get some rest."

[Niro]

"Alright then, Cros. I'll leave you be now, let you get that rest because you're not gonna get a lot of it when you're out in the other countries fighting for survival among those missing ninja. You'll have to sleep with one eye open, or a clone!" Kawa laughed as he turned and waved to Cros.

"Keep in touch but like I said. Two months is the most time I can afford you to give a message back to let us know you're okay. Two months after each letter on the dot, day, whatever.

Night~" Kawa finished as he took to the treeline and jumped away. Within minutes, he was gone.