[Plotboard] Wait, you're who?

[Willoria]

[Plotboard] The Reaper and his Omen The mission was complete, her target was dead, but Haruna was having a hard as hell time getting home. They had set dogs upon her and she'd barely managed to get away. In her Head Hunter's Outfit still, she made her way through a field to a barn she thought looked abandoned and snuck inside. Blood was running down her left leg from a deep dog bite in her upper thigh. Blood dripped from under her mask down her chin as she periodically coughed up blood. And blood stained her abdomen where an arrow still protruded though she had snapped the shaft off so that she might still run. Haruna crawled her way into the upper part of the barn and laid down on a bale of hay, taking deep breaths to try and steady herself.

Her eyes closed behind her mask as she listened silently for the dogs, but heard the barks and calls fading away. 'Thank god for that river...' she thought to herself. 'All this blood, I never would have been able to shake them off my scent without it...' She felt unconsciousness pulling at her, but with a small groan she fought against the urge.

[Zao]

Within the very same barn that the young woman had found herself seeking refuge now, a tall man wrapped in dark clothing slowly pushed open the door and stepped inside but their was no sound to his movement, not even the sound of breathing could be heard coming from the rather large man who stood around seven feet in height. Bright yellow irises flashed briefly as the faint moonlight outside reflected off them before they once more went dark as he stepped inside having planned to use this spot to hold up for a little bit as he could tell that their was some storm clouds pushing in from the west along with the gusty winds outside. Yet, only a half step within the building and the rough looking, crimson haired man stopped now as the oh so familiar scent of blood could be found lingering within the air of the barn as it actually caused a sensation of excitement that stemmed back from his time when he was known as Kiri's Black Reaper.

'This blood, it is definitely human just from the smell over it.' The veteran shinobi took merely a moment to 'sniff' the air now before determining that not only was the smell of blood very fresh but it was human, taking the time to make the distinction now after all this was a farm were animals were most likely slaughtered often for their meat. Soundless steps carried the man through the barn and up a latter as he no longer had to follow his noes as experiences eyes were able to catch sight of the dark blotches found on the ladder that led into the upper portion of the bar were the hay was stored to keep it from getting damp and molding. A man like the Reaper was curious whom the owner of this blood was, not that it meant he would help who was ever injured unless it just struck him to as their were truly few people who held any such weight in his life like that any more.

The man's body seemed to float up not even using the ladder taking a few seconds to ascend into the loft area of the barn were his eyes fell upon a woman who had been injured in her abdomen but had yet to fully stop the bleed. 'A rookie mistake...' Seeing what he had come to see he started to turn away before he noticed the woman's clothing, it was a uniform and one that he was immediately able to recognize even in the darkness of the loft were only a few streams of moonlight could be found. 'A hunter...' For a moment the man had flash backs of his time in the Head Hunter Division which was were he had made most of his name from within the village, a name that was well known up to around ten years ago. Shaking his head lightly a half smile crossed his lips as he truly hadn't come across another Kiri-nin in nearly three years after leaving the village to seek out his purpose in life after being forced into retirement, but he didn't blame the village for their decision as the blame fell solely upon himself. "Child, it seems you have gotten in a bit over you head."

Both feet now touched down upon the wooden slates that made up the floor of the second floor loft now as he spoke with a whisper like voice that had the tone that sent a chill up the spine of those who heard it in the past now swept through the darkness toward the woman. Slowly the bearded man began to advance towards Haruna, he would help the 'child' as a sort of payment for his own failures in the past as he would also protect the village and those within it despite no longer being within its ranks as a ninja. That was what had been ingrained in the man's mind from the time he was able to walk, a true Kiri shinobi down to the core and their was very few things that would ever be able to change that. "We need to fix up that wound before you lose to much blood."

[Willoria]

Haruna groaned quietly, her head listing back and forth as her eyes fluttered and she fought to stay awake. She had no idea the man was there until his whisper of a voice pierced the silence and sent a shiver down her spine. Her body reacted on instinct as she sat up suddenly and lifted the dark grey, almost black, ironwood bow that had been at her side and took aim at the man standing so close to her with a black-feathered arrow. She had stood with the motion, taking a step back and nearly stumbling. The wound in her side ran fresh blood down her side as she moved and weakness flashed through her limbs as she whimpered. "Who are you?!" she hissed, demanding from behind her mask as she tried to keep the arrow trained on the man. She hadn't registered that he had tried to help her, or what he looked like.

Her vision was blurry, blue eyes behind the mask fixed on him as she tried to understand what was happening. 'This must be it.... gods... I'm so sorry, Kuro... she thought to herself as her fight to remain steady failed and she dropped to a knee. Yet somehow she kept that arrow trained on the man, albeit weakly with shaking hands.

[Zao]

'A true shinobi, even in such a state she was able to draw forth a bow, nock the arrow, and pull it to full draw despite the pain such a wound causes...' Their was a bit of admiration in the man's golden eyes as he looked upon the young woman, able to fight even at the end as he could tell by her movements that it was likely she was about to lose consciousness but she continue to fight in order to not pass out. A rare, faint smile managed to form upon the bearded man's lips as he moved with such speed that she wouldn't have been able to even notice that he had moved before feeling the cool skin of the large hand close around the hand grasping the bow. The hand was large enough to not only grasp the hand but also the notched arrow incase her hand gave way from the string the arrow would be accidently launched. His grasp was strong but not over bearing as the man now stood on the opposing side of the body from the woman who wielded it looking down at the shorter female whom was nearly a full two feet shorter than himself to begin with before she had dropped to a knee.

It was like David standing beside Goliath, as the woman may or may not have noticed that their was no warmth in the man's hand as it grasped her hand, the bow, and the arrow simultaneously now. Again the man spoke with his whisper like voice only it was even softer then it had been before, "I'm just an old relic of the past, but come now child and calm down. You've proven that you are still a shinobi even under such desperate straits. Do you have anything to cover that wound with?" Kasai was actually showing a bit of kindness to the woman, in his own way of course, as he controlled the situation as he had some thoughts of his previous adventures as a young shinobi which had landed him in many dire situations, some not so different from the ninja knelt before him. Wither or not she started to cooperate he would bend down himself now to take a knee urging the woman to sit back down as the sudden movements would have most likely reopened the existing abdomen wound.

Though the man was much different than before, his elemental body (currently of a suiton composition) truly did not feel pain or the likes but it still carried the 'scars' and his memories were still able to recall the sensation of pain which to a point he missed sometimes. This new body which he had finally accepted as his own had allowed for him to rid himself of the lingering pains of the body and mind which had driven him into such a sorry state that he was forced to retire. But it also took away many things from the man in return that he sometimes wishes he could still do or feel. Yet, the man did not regret his decision as it had already been made and one had to live with their decisions and their were many other decisions of his past life that he would have changed long before this one. After urging the woman to set he didn't speak anything about himself still, who would even remember such a name. Honestly he believed that even a Hunter like herself would have probably only read about him in old reports which she probably couldn't recall anyways.

[Willoria]

Haruna gasped as she felt his hand close over hers and turned her head to stare at him from behind her mask, though eventually unconsciousness began to finally take her and she released bow and arrow alike. From being on one knee, she fell to her side and rolled to her back with a groan. "I don't..." she whispered, coughing as she tried to fight against the dark again. "...I don't have a medkit." she admitted, blood running down the side of her face and into her hair. "Who... why do you want... to help..." she managed weakly, somehow grinning behind her mask.

"I didn't fail my mission this time..." she said, as if talking to someone else. "I need them to know that... I didn't fail them. Kuro. Yuri." Darkness swirled in her eyes before she finally blacked out and her body went slack.

[Zao]

'Oh course not...kids these days seem to forget the basics we were taught back in my day.' The man let out an audible sigh at the mention that she didn't even have a medical kit. Wasn't that something that taught at the academy? As for her second question the man didn't answer and instead was visually inspecting the wound he had noticed before to see just how severe it actually was when the woman fell back. Yet, he didn't attempt to catch her as he wasn't exactly the sympathetic or empathetic type of person for just anyone. The last person he had shown any such emotion to was his own daughter that day when he should have killed her but instead simply smiled, kissed her on the forehead, and told her to run far away from the village and its hunters. To simply continue living.

"Then you haven't failed..." The man knew all to well what failure meant, especially within the ranks of the organization that both of them were part of, at least the man had been part of the group when he was still a jounin. But something that one rarely saw was that look of surprise within the eyes of the man who almost froze when the name from the past was brought back up by this young kid: Yuri. A woman whom Kasai had worked with an even had been intimately involved with at one point in time. Was this one of her students? For once the man became rather curious about Haruna as he set aside the body and arrow within his grasp and pulled out an old medic kit of his own. Most of the items were gone but some bandaging and some antiseptic cream were still hidden within the bottom of it, he was actually surprised anything was still in it since he no longer needed such things for himself. Inspecting the wound of the unconscious woman he began to carefully treat the arrow wound which seemed to have missed the fatal areas of the abdomen luckily.

She had simply allowed for to much blood to seep from the wound by not having anything to cover it with to help with clotting, after several minutes the man had removed the arrow and packed the wound with most of the gauze before using the rest to create a thin wrapping to help hold the plug of gauze in place. It wasn't the best patch job by any means but it should be enough to help get her back on her feet in the near future and back to the village. With that task completed the man contemplated leaving, but knowing that this young girl knew his former comrade made him question who she was to the other woman now. Shaking his head the man had never been one to overly involve himself in these kind of matters but he decided to at least take the unconscious chuunin somewhere a bit safer and closer to the village. But he was still not quite up to returning to the village just yet himself.

With only the faint sound of rustling hay the man picked up the woman into his arm in a type of bridal carry now, making sure that the least possible amount of evidence of their presence had been left before slowly floating down from the upper level of the barn to the dirt floor of the first level now. Carrying Haruna in tow the man then exited the back of the barn heading in the direction of the village. His knowledge of the country was built up over several decades of living here and conducting missions here an abroad so it could have been said that this man knew these lands like the back of his hands. Only advancing at a normal walking pace he continued to hold the tiny young woman in his arms, his arms not able to experience the feeling of muscle fatigue being one of the perks of his elemental body. Soon night would slowly fight the daily struggle to maintain its grasp upon the countryside but would ultimately lose like always to the glowing ball of fire we called the sun, as an orange and yellow tint started to spread across the horizon and the sun slowly rose over the eastern direction. All the while the man had been recalling his memories of Yuri and the others whom he had worked with at the HHD...

[Willoria]

Haruna was hardly aware of anything as the man carried her along. She felt like she was floating, her eyes fluttering open from time to time, just enough to catch a glimpse of the man over her and his scarred face before she blacked out once more. She had no idea where they were going, but when she finally started to come to completely, the sun was rising. Her head rest against his chest and almost immediately she realized something was completely amiss. She heard no heartbeat. Kuro had once carried her out of a cave in a similar state and she remembered to this day how comforting the sound of his heartbeat had been, the way it had gently awoken her to the rising sun. In a similar contrast she almost snapped awake here, the absence of sound unnerving entirely for the girl as she blinked, turning her head slightly to glance at the arms that held her.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly, groaning as one of her hands came up to touch her side and she felt the bandaging. 'He helped me? Why?' She looked up into his face and realized something seemed so very familiar about him. Yet she couldn't place it. "I know you. Don't I?" she asked, lifting a hand to do what she knew most members of her organization would never do. She removed her mask. 'He bandaged my hurt, he seems to be carrying me away from whats chasing me. I can at least show him this respect and let him see my face.' She looked up at him with her blue eyes, looking over his facial features as he carried her and she tried to understand.

"Something about you is just so familiar..." Of course, she had no idea as of yet that this was the very man she had spent time studying, and even took the time to ask her mentor, Hirehito Yuri, about. He was the Reaper, her own namesake who had inspired her when she joined the Head Hunters initially.

[Zao]

"So you are finally awake." The older man seemed to have ignored her first question much like the last time she had spoken to him wanting to know whom he was, not expect her to know he didn't even see a reason to offer even his first name to the still groggy young woman. Aside from the absence of a heartbeat the woman would have also been able to notice that his body, despite the look and feel of the clothing he wore was a bit cooler then a normal body should have been and their was a lack of any kind of normal sounds of life from Kasai. The lack of breathing or a heart beat was not something a shinobi normally encountered unless they had been around for sometime. Even within Kiri its wasn't common site to meet someone with such a body. He spoke simply though his words almost seemed to hint at concern but perhaps it was just the way he spoke with a soft tone of voice that was now somewhere between a whisper and a normal tone and volume of speech.

"Probably not, we've never met before." The Reaper's words were somewhat blunt in their nature, not that he was trying to make a point or even be aggressive in any manner towards the words spoken by Haruna now, it was simply the manner in which he spoke due to his life experiences. Though he had never met the girl he did know of the woman she had mentioned when she had been fighting to remain conscious. From his own experiences in such matters with others when one thought they were probably not going to make it they often spoke about or to those whom they cared about the most. Considering the situation Yuri must have some strong connections with the woman or she is truly someone the young girl admires. "Familiar?" The next words to come out of the girl's mouth caused for the man to actually let his bearded chin drop now looking at her for the first time after she had removed her mask, someone that was truly a show of respect coming from a hunter. A very few of his opponent had ever been given such a show of respect and the ones that lived to tell about it could easily be counted on one hand.

"You may call me Kasai. But I do have a question for you, child." Lifting his golden gaze back onto the walking path they were now traveling upon and off the young woman his lips parted as he spoke to the chuunin. For the entirely of the current engagement she had been the one asking him all the questions but not he wished to ask her a question. With a brief pause between his statement and question the monster of a man let his previous words sink in before he began to speak again. "This Yuri you spoke of when I found you in that barn, would she be of the Hirehito family?" The name Yuri wasn't a completely uncommon name and thus before he started to jump to any thoughts or conclusions for himself he needed to ask the direct question to the female chuunin now. Each step brought the pair in the direction of the village and the mountain range that surrounded the Lake in which the village itself was concealed within.

[Willoria]

Haruna stared up at him, groggily resting her head against his chest again as she tried so hard to listen and yet heard nothing. It was strange, unlike anything she had ever experienced. She even brought a hand up to touch his chest and feel the lack of heat emanating from him, staring at him like he was some kind of puzzle. But some of the pieces began to come into place as he simply gave his first name. She recognized it immediately and her eyes went wide. In her shock she jerked, and if Kasai did not tighten his grip she would tumble from his arms, barely managing to come up to her feet before falling to a knee again. Yet it wasn't that she had tried to get away from him, and it wasn't fear in her eyes. If anything, it was fascination of the purest kind. "Kasai... as in The Black Reaper?" she asked, stunned, not even registering the question he had asked of her as she seemed to gasp in surprise as it all clicked. "I... I studied you..." she said quietly, blinking rapidly as she tried to understand. "I... I even took a name to emulate yours, the day I took my mask. The Reaper's Omen."

After several moments of staring, his earlier question clicked in her head and she nodded fervently, almost falling over again as she suddenly found herself dizzy. But this time she steadied herself well enough and cleared her throat to answer. "Hirehito Yuri, yes. She is also called the Shi no Tenshi." she said, swallowing hard as she tried to understand why he would ask such a question. "She... she saved my life a long time ago. I have my life, and my village, even my clan again because of her actions..." she said quietly. She once hated Yuri for saving her life, but over time she had come to be grateful for it though she had yet to voice any of this to Yuri herself. Through Yuri she had met Kuro, and Kuro had cleared her name with the clan. It was something she could hardly forget, and would likely never get a chance to repay.

[Zao]

The taller man tilted his head lightly after the woman had suddenly twitched within his arms and had eventually tumbled from them in a somewhat controlled manner and yet even knowing her current condition the man didn't exert himself to catch the tumbling woman who's reflexes still had caused for her to land somewhat gracefully. "Hmm, I haven't been called by the name in a very long time. I had almost forgotten..." A faint look of pride in hearing his old nick name could be found within the golden irises that now looked down towards the woman, responding in kind with her mention of his former name before contently listening to the rest of the chuunin's words. The crimson haired man tilted his head to the left slightly as a few stray hairs fell across his rugged looking face as a quick smile as he only thought quietly to himself at the moment...'The Reaper's omen, perhaps fate is a real thing after all.'

As the woman found herself dizzy a hand would find itself firmly grasped around the thin wrist of the young woman, the gloved hand had the texture that a normal glove should have had but like the body was cool to the touch as though the man holding onto her arm was already dead. 'Shi no Tenshi...interesting.' "Little Yuri did all that, huh?" The large man shook his head lightly, so his younger partner was still making quite the name for herself even now it seemed perhaps she had taken up the position that he once held within the Hunter's after his downfall. At least she was doing well, things hadn't worked out between the two of them those years ago but she had still flourished in her own element, part of him was happy to hear good things about one of the few friends of his that were still alive. Perhaps that was enough to make the old man curious enough to return to the village and see just how things were transpiring within the ranks of not only the hunters but of the village itself.

"Seems you still don't have you legs back yet." It was obvious that it was still far to soon for the injured shinobi to be attempting to move around to much due to the loss of blood from the night prior and so a small stream of chakra seemed to emerge from the hand holding the woman's wrist to stabilize her from accidently falling in her current state. A similar stream seemed to emerged from the palm of the other hand before they condensed underneath the woman forming a very thin but stable platform of water that was firm but not to hard at the same time. It picked the woman up like a chair acting on its own accord as it simply floated in front of the man now before it moved off to the left side with a simple wave of the man's hand now before it followed beside him as his lengthy legs began to move forward one step at a time still continuing in the direction of the village now. "You have peaked my interest, I hadn't planned on actually returning to the village for some time but perhaps things are a bit more interesting there now. Guess I can't really just leave you to fend for yourself out here either." Kasai spoke with a slightly more normal tone of voice which was about as much as one could get the older man to due if he was truly interested in something. The second half had been a bit of teasing directed towards the fellow Kiri-nin as his kinesis controlled platform of water floated with him allowing the young woman to rest easy...

[Willoria]

Haruna was more than a little surprised at the platform of water that swooped her up, not to mention Kasai mentioning coming back to the village. There seemed to be a great deal of rumors and myth surrounding the disappearance of the Reaper, Haruna had never been able to nail down any truth of where he had gone. Running into him was more than a surprise, and the feel of him, as if he were already dead given his cold flesh, was unnerving and yet somehow unsurprising. 'It's as if he is more the Reaper now than he ever was.' she thought to herself, filing her thoughts away for a later date. Somehow all the questions running through her mind seemed more than rude at this moment, not to mention if he was considering returning to the village she didn't want to risk scaring him away from it.

Though she couldn't help a little glare when he teased her about 'leaving her alone out here'. It seemed to come with a little bit of a smirk so she wasn't all that upset by it at least. She had met someone she could consider her idol out here in the wilds, she could certainly stand a bit of teasing from the man. She tried her best to relax on the floating platform of water, though it felt strange beneath her to the point that she couldn't help periodically turning to stare down at it. "Yuri and I still live in the same apartment building, she's one floor above us." she mentioned. "If you're an old friend of hers, she might appreciate a visit from you. She's been completely mission oriented as of late... and acting rather strange." By strange she meant the woman hadn't had as many strange men coming by lately. Haruna had no idea the encounter the woman had had with Karagata Shiv and the way it had left her feeling, and so had no other way to view the woman's behavior.

[Zao]

"Perhaps." The man's response was back to the almost whisper like volume, only showing a slight interest in visiting the woman as when he gave away his physical body for the elemental body that he had now he also had tempered his heart turning it even colder than it had been before. While the few memories of the two together were still within the jounin's mind they held no true wait other then what they were at the time. Truly he had become more like an actual death reaper than he was before leaving the village after his forced retirement, which was something that had left a rather sour taste in the man's mouth but he had no one to blame but himself in that matter. But he was different now, perhaps even stronger then he was back in his prime ten years ago. Though her words about the woman acting a bit strange did peak his interest just slightly. "Strange, you say?" His response was similar to the one before with only a slight hint of interest.

With a slightly gesture of the man's left hand the water seemed to envelop the young woman's slightly making the platform a bit more comfortable, somewhat for the comfort of the chuunin and secondly to continuously test and experiment with his suiton kinesis ability. One was truly never done learning and the old man was no exception to this saying as his golden gaze shifted to briefly linger upon the young woman that was cradled by the fluid form water under his control. Part of him was now thinking that perhaps he had ben a bit rash mentioning that he would return to the village. But he knew that their were a handful of things that he needed to take care of and he did wish to stop in and check on how his couple of friends and peers. In all honestly their was a high probability that he wasn't going to be staying for long after that unless their was an actual need for his services within the village. Kiri had never been a weak place and had almost always had a strong force of shinobi that replaced the older generation, but that could be said about every other major village as well.

Yet, in terms of ruthlessness and true desire to kill many of the other village's would be hard pressed to reach the level that Kiri was at, or at least in the past as things had become a bit more tame then it had been back in Kasai's day. After his gaze had lingered on the teenager for few moments with their ice cold feeling they then turned back to the narrow foot path the two were on now as the man swiped his left hand slightly causing for the ninja to be moved behind him to compensate for the narrow section of the path at the moment. The man's height and broad shoulders would cause the girl to be unable to see past him as they continued to slowly advance in the direction of their home village now...

[Willoria]

Haruna nodded as Kasai zeroed in on her mention of Yuri acting strangely. "She always practices her art... as she calls it." she said with a bit of a sigh, tilting her head a bit as she thought about just how to phrase things. If Kasai knew her well, he likely knew that Yuri's talents lay in seduction, and so would know what Haruna was already insinuating. "But she hasn't done that lately. Even the missions she's taken have been more straightforward, bloodier and more violent than her usual type." Haruna shrugged. "Though I guess everyone changes at some point, perhaps her mission preferences have changed."

The girl couldn't help freezing up a bit as the platform she was being carried on shifted and moved. Her hands darting out as if to grab onto the edges like a startled cat. Of course there was nothing to really hang onto, her fingers went through the water and yet somehow the platform kept her stable and even comfortable. Except for feeling like she was floating where she shouldn't be of course.

Haruna herself fell quiet as they walked, frowning as he moved the platform to accommodate the narrow path they walked on and now she could only see his back. The man was huge, and quite an imposing sight to behold. "You know... there was one thing I never could find out about you, in all my research." she said quietly, almost hesitant to say it. "No one seemed to know why you left, or where you went..."

[Zao]

"Perhaps..." The older man simply had chosen to continue walking with his long, silent strides along the winding dirt pathway as the two shinobi continued to speak about their 'friend' of the older man whom they shared karma with. "...people change over time, some grow tired of the person they were and others change because they find a reason to or are forced to adapt." Kasai's whisper like voice seemed to almost echo in the thick wooded area around the trail upon which they continued to journey eastward upon now. The man spoke with experience on the subject about how sometimes people have to find a reason to change be that an epiphany, loss, even love. Their were many things that could be the answer to the questions that both of them had about Yuri though neither of them would truly know unless they actually confronted the woman about such things. This was something Kasai truly couldn't be bothered with as a person's personal life was exactly that, personal.

'She really has researched me thoroughly.' The Black Reaper though quietly to himself as Haruna started to speak again seemed to change the awkward subject of their mutual friend now as the conversation shifted back on to him for the time being. It really did appear that this young girl had truly researched about his life as a shinobi and his contributions to the Head Hunter Division during his time there, but he was unsure if he should feel proud that someone wanted to know about his life as a younger shinobi or unsure of the girl's true motives. "One thing?" As the man walked his hands seemed to come together behind his back now, the left wrist gently grasped by the gloved right hand now as he turned his head just enough to the right to glance back and down with a single, gleaming yellow iris. It was almost as if his eye looking down upon the injured girl showed some intrigue in what she might have to ask him now.

'I see, so master didn't spread that word to anyone. But he understood why...' "Heh..." A faint laugh seemed to briefly slip through the man's thin lips as he turned back toward the trail ahead. Why he had left? Where had he gone? That had been a long journey over many years in which the man wrestled with the darkness of countless losses met with his spiraling downward with his alcoholism. When this had compounded with his failure to continue up holding his duties the man was 'forced' into retirement as a shinobi which only allow things to spiral further into the darkness for the man in those days. The man left only informing a single individual at that time, the man in charge of the HHD, whom should have been the only person to know that he had decided to leave unless the information was passed one echelon higher which Kasai didn't know for sure or not if that had been the case. In truth he had left to die, pure and simple but it would turn out that not even Kiri's Black Reaper was able to take his own life in the end.

"I left because I felt that my life had finally reached its end point." The old man was truly straight forward about the subject with the young chuunin now, he wasn't the type to hold back things or beat around the bush. Being in such a dark place as he was during that time in his life. It was at this point that the path finally started to open back up allowing for the retired jounin to manipulate the water platform back side by side with himself, on the left side, about two feet off the ground now. "As for where I went, that's a much longer story and it is easier to simply state that their are few places that I didn't venture to during that journey of figuring out whom I was meant to be." As Kasai finished speaking he would turn to the left and glance down at the chuunin judging her reaction from facial and body movement. During those number of years their truly weren't to many places that he wasn't able to visit bar the main village areas of course.

[Willoria]

As Kasai admitted to feeling his life had reached an end, Haruna couldn't help it as her mind went back to a moment when she had felt the same. It brought a sigh to the young Chunin as she remembered what had happened, and how angry she had been with Yuri at first. "I told you that Yuri saved my life." she said quietly. "But honestly I used to hate her for it." she added, looking down at her hands briefly as she tried to think of how to explain. He had told her something no one else knew, in a way she felt indebted to tell him something similar. Only Yuri and Kuro knew the full truth of what had happened after all.

"I had failed a mission, the clan and village believed I had caved under torture. Yuri came to find the truth, but also brought another Aisu to represent the clan interests... pretty sure he came along knowing he would be required to kill me." Haruna shrugged a bit, finally looking up at the Reaper's back in front of her. "It was supposed to happen, and I was going to let it happen. But Yuri wouldn't allow it, gave Kuro a direct order and so he couldn't disobey... guess eventually I changed my mind about how I saw that day. Maybe I decided that Fate can change..."

Haruna looked around beneath her, still feeling a bit uncomfortable on the Suiton platform that Kasai controlled for her. "Its a funny irony actually... the same Aisu who was supposed to kill me is now my roommate and... well, and boyfriend. I guess my fate really did change in a way. Things always seem to change."

[Zao]

"Failing the village is indeed a hard pill to swallow." A truth that Kasai knew all to well, having caused the failure of a handful of missions before his retirement due to the state of mind the old man had allowed for himself to fall into after the events of the past. In truth the only way that he had found to rid himself of most of his demons had been to discard everything he had been and forge what he had become today. Even sacrificing his own body for this elemental shell of a body to truly separate himself from the darkness of the past. 'I see...' As the Reaper walked along a winding path that continued to lead up a gentle slope now with Haruna in tow on his left side he silently listened to her tale while had some semblance to that of his own on some part allowing for him to at least empathize a bit.

'So that is why she favors my old friend so much, it does make a bit more sense now I suppose.' The large, crimson haired man glanced over at the woman as she continued to speak about the events that transpired that faithful day for the young woman and Yuri and the fellow Aisu she referenced as Kuro. The name of the man wasn't familiar to the old man but that wasn't to big of a surprise as the man had been away for quite some time now and it was undoubtable that new shinobi would be rising up the ranks. Perhaps he would have a chance to meet this Aisu at a later time and date. When she mentioned fate the man let out a slow exhale as fate was one thing that he wasn't able to believe in.

"Fate...it would seem that we have to different beliefs of that word my young friend." Up ahead the path which they were upon was coming to the top of a hill which would be a stopping point for the old man now gazed out as they had reached a vantage point in which one could look out to see the giant lake which held the island of their home village within it. It was a sight for sour eyes for the man as a faint smile subconsciously formed upon his face. "I believe that their is no fate but what we make for ourselves, Haruna-chan. But I can agree that things do change." He silently wondered how much had changed since he left wandering the lands in search of who he was, who he was meant to be. It had taken quite some time and in all honesty the man had never planned to return home but things had changed setting him off on a new path to forge a new self.

[Willoria]

Haruna's head tilted as Kasai mentioned having a different view of fate, but as he went on to somewhat explain she silently had to disagree. She had just stated that fate had changed. She might not have changed it, but Yuri certainly had. Perhaps Haruna had not changed her own fate, but her fate had been changed. Some days it was in her hands, and some days it was not. 'Sounds like he and I see things the same way really.' she thought to herself silently, sighing as she felt her body trying to relax. The pain and the bloodloss had gotten to her and she could feel sleep trying to pull at her, and yet sleep now could mean not waking up.

She sighed, forcing herself to focus on the cool feeling of the Suiton platform beneath her to keep herself away, the cold to keep herself aware. "At the gates, or if we're stopped by a patrol, just ask for Yuri. She'll get us inside." she said quietly, sighing as she found herself wondering a simple truth. 'How do I convince him to stay?'

[Zao]

"Mm..seems like we might have to rely upon little Yuri-chan then. It has been a long time since I've been home." Kasai slowly mouthed the words as he would remember their friend now and the times they had together on missions and other things as well. As they reached the top of the last hill that gave way to the ocean like lake and its island that was the true home of their village the man turned to see that the young woman was still struggling due to her wound. But also he thought about how she was right that his identification was quite old and most likely wouldn't be able to get them both in though if he took her to the gates or a patrol then he could at least pass her onto them to be taken away for further medical treatment. The bearded man was still contemplating his words about going to the village, wondering if he should actually return still a bit conflicted on what the best course of action should be.

An auditable sigh could be heard now from between the man's thin lips as his golden eyes continued to linger on the mist filled island in the distance now as he found himself almost hesitant to take another step as he simply stared off into the distance. Though the veteran knew that he couldn't postpone returning the young chuunin due to her injury now and brought both his hands together forming the dragon hand seal now as a faint blue glow seemed to briefly illuminate around the outline of his massive body now. With his current suiton body the man active his Aquakinesis and his feet started to float off the ground just slightly, it seemed that time had become of the essence now and he could no longer dally around. "I suppose we need to hurry up and get you back. We are going to be moving pretty quickly from now on..." The man's words trailed off as his golden eyes shifted from the misty object in the distance landing on the young woman cradled by the water that was actually part of his elemental body which was why it was so easily controlled by him.

"Let's depart then." After a few second pause the faint glow faded as the man gave a half smile and began to 'fly' across the ground at near top speed as for the chuunin everything would most likely become a long blur as flew just over the tree tops with Harauna in tow wrapped within the blanket of water. They would proceed at near his top speed towards the shoreline of lake before crossing over to the island in the center of the lake...