Northern Gate

Gate Use Registration Ticket wrote:
Name: Ashitaka Inuzuka Senju
Sponsor: See above
Origin: Konohagakure no Sato
Reason for Visit: Returning from mission.
Duration of Stay: Until further notice.

"So you're saying you know Ashitaka Inuzuka... Senju?" the guard asked, incredulous at the hulking armed man and his bizarre choice of credentials. The last he heard, the character in question was a child, and at best a Genin. And this two-meter tall behemoth could hardly pass himself off as either of those things.

"I am Ashitaka Senju." he replied, growing increasingly irate with the stubbornly moronic (or obscenely well-played as such) gate guard who was refusing to let him into the city.

"Buddy, I've seen that kid around town, and I can assure you he's exactly that: a kid. Now you're gonna have to come clean as to who you really are, or we're gonna have to remove you." the man threatened, backing up his warning by holding his right hand over a belt-mounted kunai and preparing a flare justu with his left.

Now it was Ashi's turn to look incredulous. With a movement faster than all but the most gifted eyes could track, he snatched the tiny ball of chakra from the guard's fingertip and crushed it in his hand. The resulting flash of light only alerted half of the intended three dozen shinobi on perimeter watch, but it was enough to get them to pass the message on to command before arriving on the scene, surrounding the menacing not-quite-stranger.

"Look, I really don't want to hurt you guys. But you're being unreasonable here. If you don't believe me, just call out an Uchiha or a Sensor and they can confirm it for you. I can wait."

Curiosity killed the cat, as the saying goes. Ikomiki couldn’t help herself. A scene was unfolding. Really, the only reason she noticed was because something very shiny happened over in the direction of the gates and it caught her eye. A big burst of light that only lasted for a second. Was it maybe a shooting star? Unlikely, since it was the middle of the day, but that was her preferred option. Of course, since she was well aware of the Chakra Flare Technique, given that she could use it herself, that was a rather silly thing to hope for. The Chakra Flare Technique, or … Was that it’s real name? She couldn’t remember. It was just the ‘Flashy-Ball Blast’ in her mind, a name that she came up with herself. The names of these things didn’t matter anyway, learning them was a waste of time. Her mind had wandered, thinking about the flash ball jutsu instead of looking for that shooting star. It wasn’t long before she was on the scene though either way.

Appearing nothing at all like a shinobi at the moment due to wearing a more casual outfit lacking any sort of armor or battlegear, Ikomiki didn’t exactly look the part of a Jōnin, but appearances were deceiving. In that comfortable beige sweater she was wearing, a bit too big for her in a way that looked especially cozy, a first glance would likely peg her as a civilian who just happened to be wandering in the area. That, if it wasn’t for the odd addition of cat ears and a tail that was swaying back and forth behind her… The crowd of shinobi that surrounded the young Senju was approached, although none would peel away for her to enter.

“Uchiha…” She didn’t meet either of this person’s qualifications for someone to confirm his identity. This would be a job much better suited towards him, but… Of course, relying on someone else to solve all your problems was a rather immature way of engaging with the world. Even though calling for him would have been easy, she didn’t.

A hand of hers would be pressed from behind upon the shoulder of one of the goons surrounding the newcomer, and he would be peeled away from the formation with a quick pull and shove. One that would elicit a quick protest in response, the Chūnin guard about to make a few angry comments until he saw who she was. Those cat ears of her were easily recognizable, and the status of “Uchiha Clan Leader’s Favored (Only) Student” occasionally made others a bit more permissible of her oddities.

“Bitch…” The grumble would come out anyway, swore under his breath by the man that Ikomiki had shoved to the ground.

“Who are you supposed to be… a tourist?” Her eyes scanned over the man who towered over her. It was a sentence characteristic of her, a ridiculous conclusion stated plainly in a cold voice with a naturally contemptuous expression.

(Did we always host such amateurs in our ranks?) The shinobi were closing on him and Ashitaka did not like that. A single area-of-effect attack would have wiped them all out and they wouldn't have had the maneuverability to evade it, given how they were denying each other space to move. (Absolute morons.)

Then there was another ruckus outside of the circle of ninja surrounding him and a familiar face made itself known to him. (Marvelous. I get one person who might have a chance of recognizing me, and it had to be her. Then again, since apparently this is some kind of isekai, she might not be the psychopath.) Ashi looked Ikomiki over, then slowly raised his hands so as not to startle anyone and lowered his hood. His face, while significantly more mature than it was the last time she saw it, was still definitely his. Also, her heightened predatory senses should be able to identify him too, even if she wasn't a proper Sensor. And while he didn't know the exact details of the Rinnegan, it was a spectacularly powerful Dojutsu, so that should help her sort things out too. In spite of being in a position where he'd benefit considerably from her help, he regarded her with the same expression she greeted him with. Between them one might have felt the vibe of a bitter old couple who only stuck together because nobody else would tolerate them, even though they barely knew each other and were never in anything resembling a relationship.

"Oh, it's you. Hello again, Ikomiki Ots- ...yeah." (Gotta remember they're sensitive about that.) he thought, before deciding to gamble on the idea that this universe wasn't too different from the one he'd just an hero'd out of. "Hey. I know you're not going to believe this, but I'm Ashitaka Senju. We've met... not exactly on the best terms. Uchiha Akihiro's your Sensei, right? Can you let me meet him, please? We need to talk."

The dual stare down was a familiar interaction for her. Two people sizing each other up. This guy, whoever he was, was absolutely huge. Tall and broad, with impressive shoulders that would clearly allow for brute physical strength. She imagined he could have probably picked up one of these guards and thrown them around if he wanted - Or maybe she was overestimating his strength because he was very tall. She had just thrown a grown man to their ass, and this visitor was maybe twice her size, so he was probably at least twice as strong. That flawed mental math of strength worked in her head, but it was so ridiculous that if she mentioned it aloud to someone else she surely would have been laughed at. Sometimes muscles were just for show as well. It was hard to really tell without seeing them in action.

But then he said her name. Her name, and the first syllable of her last. She was dense at times, but not that dense. Her eyes widened for a bit, and that normally naturally scowling face would be wiped into an emotionless, impassive expression. Had he… No. Definitely not. That would be impossible. Even excusing that slip of the tongue as just her hearing things, the fact that this stranger was claiming to know her and knew these things like her name and that Akihiro was her teacher… They were definitely troubling.

"How did you know that? I don't recognize your scent at all. How would you know that Akihiro..." She trailed off.

Most frustratingly of all the things she had been thinking earlier were now thrown back entirely in her face. This really wasn’t an issue she could deal with on her own. Or at least, she had no idea what to do here. Her partnership with Akihiro was rather straightforward in that she was the brawn and he was the brains. A complicated problem like this that likely required thinking wasn’t something she was suited towards, and definitely nothing she could brute force with power.

“Of course, relying on someone else to solve all your problems was a rather immature way of engaging with the world. Even though calling for him would have been easy, she didn’t.”

That neutral expression turned into a rather sour frown, along with something close to a pout. “That’s not fair at all.” She would grumble to herself. The fates appeared to have consorted to make her feel like an idiot today.

“Alright. All you are dismissed.” A clear glare was given towards the shinobi that had been surrounding Ashitaka. Narrowed eyes and an already frustrated face signaled danger, and unfortunately for everyone this version of Ikomiki was indeed as much of a psychopath as the last one.

“Dismissed? You - You can’t do that. We can’t just let this imposter in on your orders anyway, you don’t have that sort of authority.” The one who had been interrogating Ashitaka earlier was quick to object. Maybe he was some officer here who was supposed to be in charge- The power structures of Konoha were honestly beyond Ikomiki’s knowledge so she just didn’t know. It didn’t matter either way.

She couldn’t resolve this issue without Akihiro. She couldn’t summon Akihiro without flashing her Rinnegan. She couldn’t do that with so many people surrounding her, eyes staring everywhere. People would see.

Ikomiki squinted. If this jerk didn’t want to leave, there was only one solution. She had to make sure nobody would see.

“Alright then. Fine. One second.”

In her hand a tiny little ball of chakra would be formed. The same from before, the flare gun jutsu. Or whatever it was called. Someone’s first instinct was that she might use it to be calling for help, but her intentions were much more chaotic. Rather than sending it upwards, as flares tended to be shot, it would be detonated point blank into the ground below as she pointed her finger downwards. Immediately arms would be thrown up in shock, guards covering their faces and backing away in an attempt to stop themselves from being blinded.

In that moment, those eyes of her flashed from green to purple. Just for a second, and Akihiro would be called for. Of course, if this summoning failed and he chose not to come her magic trick would end up failing and she would look especially stupid. If that happened she might just take the opportunity to flee in the other direction.

[Summoning Akihiro[

Akihiro had been at home, ready to get in the shower after a morning and half an afternoon of training a new Uchiha student. Now one might be tempted to think this meant he had been summoned naked, but this was not the case. Whenever Ikomiki summoned him it wasn't exactly an automatic process. Her summon echoed in his mind, a whisper at first and it grew louder and louder with each passing second until it became an immensely powerful voice in his head demanding an answer. So he could technically say no. But this was Ikomiki we were talking about and she wasn't in the habit of summoning him for needless reasons. So despite being in underwear, he tanked the increasingly loud voice and rushed out of the bathroom to get dressed. This could be an emergency after all!

He put on a shirt, then a metal net over it like it was standard protocol for shinobi, then he grabbed his cloak and placed it over his shoulders, it should cover him down up to his ankles. The voice was getting louder and he had to close his eyes to tank it for a moment, before grabbing his boots and finally saying yes to it. Still, he couldn't help but think he was forgetting something.

The sudden chill on his legs immediately told him what that was. Pants. He'd forgotten pants. Luckily his cloak made it possible for him to not necessarily need pants in this situation since it still covered his legs and made impossible for anyone to see what he wasn't wearing, but it was still a tad bit awkward. He blinked twice, his long hair usually tied on a pony tail hanging completely free on his back.

"What's going on?" He asked, clearly confused. Many guards were covering their eyes and a couple had even fallen on their butts. Tensions seemed to have risen a bit too much but immediately calmed down with Akihiro's arrival at the scene. Despite his tendency to travel around and be absent a lot Akihiro was still a well respected member of Konoha's military and outranked every single guard in this place. His eyes shifted from Ikomiki to the tall man whose face was familiar to him, and then back to Ikomiki. He hated to admit it but he was probably the one most in the dark about the situation at hand here.

"Sonofa-" Ashitaka was among those who closed and shielded their eyes in reaction to Iko's flare jutsu. His Sensing Field wasn't active, but it didn't take a Sage to identify the tech, and his hands were just a bit quicker than hers. (Wow, that flare really is annoying at point-blank range. Now I understand why that Kumotsuki wanted to stab me so much back then.)

As soon as the flare dissipated, Akihiro was present. There was something odd he couldn't place about the man's expression, stance, and the sound of the breeze as it passed over him. But that wasn't important right now. What was important was that he somehow managed to convince a man he had every reason to hate to let him into the village.

"Well. That was quick. You sure get around, Sparrow." he said with faux charisma, then sighed. "Look, the short version is that I am, in spite of my appearance... Ashitaka Inuzuka Senju, Head of the Senju Clan, and former disciple of the Nanadaime Hokage: Uchiha Nyguyen." (For all the good any of that has ever done me...) not for the first time, he really wondered if returning to Konoha was worth the trouble. He had sacrificed a lot for the village, and never received the barest modicum of respect from the majority of its people, least of all the Hokage in exchange. "The long version... the long version is we need to have a talk."

This second meeting with the Uchiha Clan Head was only marginally less tense than the first, and even then only because he had much less to lose. If these idiots at the gate were any indication, this Konoha didn't even recognize him. That meant he functionally had no one here. And he'd never seen any of the damages of the Guretodaingu or the ephemeral glory of the Heavenly Emporium during his long walk here back from his final catastrophic mission on this ungrateful village's behalf. He suffered memories of a time that had never come to pass. This reality was both immensely kind and horrifically cruel. Getting an idea, he slowly moved his hands so that his palms were facing out.

"If you don't mind, I'll transform into the body you recognize. The way I looked before..." A moment of grief flashed across his eyes as he mourned the loss of something he'd never had. "...before I was forced to grow up a little quickly."

If permission was granted, he'd flip through the hand seals and use the Transformation Technique to remodel himself in the image of Ashitaka Senju, 12 years old. Then he held out that which he was best known for: his Senju Wood katana, sheathed and available for Akihiro to inspect.

"I'm prepared to go live somewhere else if it comes to that. But for reasons that are beyond me, I'd rather not."


__________________


Used Transformation Technique -1CP
234/235 CP remaining.

Tada! She had successfully pulled an Uchiha out of her hat! Ikomiki truly was a master magician. Akihiro appeared out of nowhere to the untrained eye, and also the flash-blinded eye which was much more common in the surrounding area. The Rinnegan had only flashed for a second, minimizing risk. She had done the correct sequence of actions in this scenario, more or less. She was still rather displeased about it all though, and this moment marked the first time that Ikomiki was annoyed to see her mentor rather than pleased. Although she would be even more annoyed if he hadn’t answered her summons, so really for Akihiro it was a lose-lose here. Dealing with an upset kitty either way.

Her tail swished back and forth behind her, with the sort of sudden violence and spring it seemed she was swatting at flies. Narrowed eyes peered over at Akihiro, eyeing the stiff way he stood. The fact that she was giving him the stink eye was rather obvious, although given how most of her emotions had played out inside her head alone it would likely seem random and unjustified. She would keep those eyes trained on him, glaring as soon as he arrived and as Ashitaka explained himself and his situation. Infact, hearing that story of Ashitaka’s made her smile a bit. It was an incredibly strange situation, with this grown man spinning a tale of some Nanadaime Uchiha before Ashitaka turned into the appearance of a young child. Such a strange situation was sure to make even the almighty, all knowing, legendary, perfect in every way shinobi Akihiro Uchiha confused. That’s right, solve a problem like this with your big, perfect brain, why don’t you.

The fact that he wasn’t wearing any pants would have made her feel a lot better if she had known. Over the years she had ended up half-deifying the man, and that image of him inside her mind, even if it didn’t match up with reality, was beginning to make her feel insecure.

She was hoping for the smug satisfaction of watching Akihiro end up confused and not knowing how to solve this problem. A pretty mean spirited sort of desire and honestly an unprecedented sort of behavior for her to be directed towards him, but she was feeling especially moody now that her confidence had been torn to shreds just moments before.

“That’s right, Akihiro. This man came to the village and claimed to know me, and that we’ve met before. He even knew that you were my teacher, even though I have no recollection of him.”

Akihiro raised en eye brow at the man's first comments. He had been raising his eye brows a lot lately, it was like the whole village had gone crazy for one reason or another. The man knew his nickname but that didn't have much meaning. Lots of people knew his nickname for varied reasons, he'd gotten it when he was still a small child. 12 year old Akihiro had the strange habit of running through the village jumping from roof to roof just to feel the wind on his face, and that had earned the nickname which had stuck with him ever since. If it was up to him he would have chosen something more intimidating but alas, it was what it was. As for the rest of the man's comment, there was literally nothing that made sense about it.

"Okay sire, first of all there's nothing 'short' about..well, this." Akihiro would gesture at the man, pointing out the obvious giant in front of him. Had Ikomiki really summoned him to deal with a complete lunatic? He glanced at her, then back at the man. "Second, we're still by the Sage's Grace on our first Hokage, Uchiha Kazuya. Unless somehow there were 8 coups in the short time that it took me to get here from home, in which case we should probably go hang this Nyguyen you're talking about. Although at the speed these coups are going, we'll probably be hanging the 20th Hokage by the time we get to Nyguyen. "

He'd just nod at the man wanting to transform into someone else. He knew who Ashitaka Senju was. He was a kid. Just a kid, part of the Senju Clan. A headache brewing on the other side of the village he was sure, but Akihiro had nothing against the kid other than the fact that Senju were always a headache in village meetings. And surprise surprise, the kid showed up in front of him. Of course the change in appearance wouldn't have been enough to convince Akihiro, but the blade he'd shown him had indeed the look of Senju wood on it. Akihiro was legit surprised. He looked at Ikomiki.

"So my conclusion here is Senju are shoving up hormones into their kids to have them grow faster. And clearly fucking up their brains in the process. I swear this village gets crazier by the minute." He'd shrug. These were obviously questionable practices but if the Senju were doing then the village must've approved it somehow.

"Either way, if he's a Senju then proving it should be rather easy. Make a flower sprout or something, and I think we'll have enough evidence to let you in."

(In hindsight, I don't even know why I thought that using one of the most elementary level jutsu in front of this guy would prove anything.) Ashitaka thought as he dismissed the technique and Akihiro instead presented him with a new challenge. "Aki, you've previously revealed that you know stuff about me that was entirely personal information, and now I'm a complete mystery to you? And... what, Nyguyen-sen-" Ashitaka cleared his throat, a bitter expression briefly seizing control of his face. In his mind, that man didn't deserve that word. "He's not the Hokage? What kind of nightmare Genjutsu am I in? Next you're going to tell me that the World War I've spent the last two or three years on the edge of death in never happened."

Once that thought crossed his mind, he decided to try to sort it out by using a powerful Genjutsu: Kai. He was about to kick himself mentally for failing to keep his Sensing Field up, but he couldn't detect any change. He rubbed his face with the palm of his left hand. (So I'm not imagining that I'm in this bizarre alternate reality... I'm actually in one. Marvelous. I don't even know where to begin) to deal with this.)

"Let me at least clear one thing up. It wasn't the Senju who did this to me. It was that miserable old-" (Wait. No... let's not piss everyone off by insulting the icon of the largest and most powerful religion in the world and also present myself as certifiably insane by making mention of actual interactions with him.) All right, look: you want to see what elements I can muster without using your eyes? Fine. I'm going to need some space, though." He punctuated his statement by backflipping out of the circle of ninja surrounding him and landing several meters away from it. The list of people who could have stopped him was pretty short, but if he imagined anyone was on it, it'd be Akihiro. To the scrubs surrounding him, it'd look like he'd just disappeared.

"All right, everyone! Keep your eye on the ball." He'd say, then took a deep breath and exhaled it into the palm of his hand, using Fuuton chakra to condense and spin into a mildly threatening ball of energy. Then he let the ball slowly float into the air like a balloon as it expanded in size, and formed the Monkey hand seal and spat a round boulder into the wind orb, which caught and surrounded it, making the large rock rotate in the same direction as the air, albeit somewhat more slowly. Then, he formed the Tiger hand seal and shot several water bullets into the boulder, shaping it into a lifeless model of the Earth. Finally, he formed the Snake hand seal and touched the orb, causing a large number of tiny trees to grow on the spinning sphere. Finally, he drew his Effortless Perfection and sliced the entire thing in half. The jutsu combination formed two neat hemispheres before sort of exploding.

"I hope you find this performance satisfactory." he said as though he'd just finished washing the dishes, then sheathed the wooden weapon and returned it to his belt.




___________________________

Stuff:

Of course, Akihiro managed to reason things out without seeming all too confused. Ikomiki’s arms crossed over her chest in a rather childish display that mimicked all the childish thoughts that she was having right now. Really, she shouldn’t have been feeling this way right now but it was impossible to help. At the very least her frustrations had been silent, only noticeable if there had been any mind readers in the area. With a deep sigh, Ikomiki would allow those thoughts to leave her body. At least, for now. She was a rather capricious one. Perhaps in time she would plan her revenge.

The backflip though, that caught her eye. Maybe obviously, Ikomiki was the one who was less impressed with words and more with actions. Talk was meaningless if it wasn’t supposed with real power — Here was the real power. Ashitaka was putting his money where his mouth was, something that Ikomiki could respect. The irrelevant gate guards would undoubtedly be unnerved by the sudden burst of speed, but their opinions hardly mattered. Not to her, at least.

“Fūton, Doton, Suiton… and Mokuton.” She would list them aloud as Ashitaka went through the motions. A short whistle came from her lips. “It’s pretty rare that anyone ever attempts to learn any elements other than what they need for their advanced element. I don’t think I’ve seen a single Senju in Konoha who has.” Not that she was specifically keeping track, but Ikomiki was the type to watch around training grounds in her spare time. Maybe they did things differently in other villages, but either way it was news to her.

“Well. That proves he’s a Senju.” She gave a slight shrug of her shoulders, looking over at Akihiro. It actually didn't. He could easily have transplanted the bloodline, having done the same as she did. Either from a captured Konoha shinobi or some rogue member of the bloodline that was caught elsewhere. She would know, after all, that just being able to use that element didn't prove your heritage. But she kept silent on that. “Are you really going to let him in? Even if he is a Senju. The things he's saying and the way he's acting is sort of...” Not that she would question his decision if that was the case. If it had been her decision alone she would have already let Ashitaka in by now, but… Well. Who knows. Reading his memories was an option, but one she kept silent about. Really, it wasn’t her business, so she didn’t care too much what happened either way. Truthfully, Akihiro could have handled this himself, it seems like. She was mostly only sticking around out of the slight chance he would need a bodyguard, or something interesting would happen.

Yet again the man was saying things that made absolutely no sense. Akihiro didn't even get to understand what he'd said after "miserable old"...something. If he was referring to Senju Clan Elders, Akihiro could completely relate. Miserable old something was but one among a list of many entries referring to things he'd called those people. He'd done it in private tho, either confiding in people he trusted or in his own thoughts. There had to be a certain courage within this man to be referring to his elders as miserable old things. Then again they had turned him into a man or...apparently not? Akihiro wasn't really that convinced.

The fact that the man held senju abilities was pretty obvious however. Even if akihiro had been blind, Ikomiki's description would have him trust her assessment 100%. She did have similar abilities after all, so it was natural she'd be able to recognize one of the bloodlines she had under her control. "..sort of odd?" He completed Ikomiki's sentence, shrugging in the process. "I agree but that's the Senju for you. Plus I find it hard to believe there would be an enemy out there wielding Mokuton. That would imply the Senju lost someone and I'm pretty sure they would've noticed if that were the case." The tiny planetary destruction had been a bit too much of a show off for Akihiro's taste but it proved everything Ashitaka needed to prove. Plus he held a Senju wood weapon and knew the exact appearance of one of the kids living in the Senju Clan district. It was yet again a bit odd to listen the man claiming he was both this kid and the Senju Clan leader, but what would Akihiro do? He had no real reason to forbid entry to this man and even if he did there was always the off chance of this causing a diplomatic incident with the Uchiha's rival clan and Akihiro simply did not have patience to deal with that.

"Well. That proves he's a Senju." were the words that entered his ears as the sounds of the jutsu he was generating left them. He sheathed his sword as he walked calmly back into normal earshot of the assorted collection of miscellaneous shinobi who had opted to greet him at the gate.

"Does it now, Ikomiki? Does it really?" he asked sardonically as he gave her an expression and tone one might expect from a parent who knew their child had just lied to their face. Then he sighed and rubbed his face with his palm. "Whatever, it's not like I can do anything about it. Look, I know this is all weird, but I've served this village for years and if I'm going to resume doing that, it would help all parties involved if I could get things established inside. I want to talk with you in particular-" he said, gesturing to Akihiro "-more about this mess, because out of anyone I believe you'll have the best capacity to understand my situation. But maybe we can schedule a proper meeting for that, so you'll have the opportunity to be better prepared."

All that said, Ashitaka headed for the gate, and the collection of ninja were visibly both of mixed feelings on the idea and hesitant to act on it. Abundance and diversity of chakra were not common things, and although the most notable person present hadn't given his explicit permission for the man to enter, attacking the big stranger meant fighting a serious threat and turning a powerful apparent ally into an equally powerful enemy. Plus, Akihiro had identified him as a member of the Senju Clan and that was good enough for most of the guards. So rather than outright moving to stop him, they all looked to the Uchiha for an indication as to whether or not they should.


[Attempted exit.]

“...” Being addressed so suddenly like that caught her off guard. Even if someone claimed to know you, being addressed so casually and by name was a bit off putting. Then there was the fact that he had already seemed to know certain things about her. Ashitaka was here to see Akihiro, after all. She had realized rather quickly on that she was a third wheel in this conversation. It was a natural sort of experience, given her status as following around Akihiro at times as his student slash bodyguard, and it was an experience she was well acquainted with. Inserting herself into situations she didn’t belong, remaining an aloof watcher who occasionally made comments, it was now commonplace. A moment where Ashitaka addressed her, and specifically her by name. A strange and cryptic message. Did it not prove that he was a Senju? Had she said something stupid? Was Ashitaka not a Senju at all?

She narrowed her eyes. They became just little slits, pupils shining through. That tail of hers whipped about behind her, to and fro in an agitated pattern. Today apparently just wasn’t her day. Those following actions by Ashitaka would be watched closely. Not that there was much to gleam from them, especially not with her mediocre intelligence. Akihiro seemed to at least be on the same page as her though. This man was odd, even if there wasn’t any real reason to refuse him entry.

Her eyes darted to her mentor once the Senju mentioned wanting a private discussion with him. Instinctually she was against the idea. A private meeting with a suspicious newcomer just felt wrong. At least, if Akihiro was alone. She wanted to be with him like she always was, regardless of the role. Especially if there was even the slightest chance of danger, she would serve as his loyal guard dog. Or, guard cat?

But doing that when she had started this scenario in such a bad mood already maybe wasn’t a good idea. Her tail hadn’t stopped that swaying back and forth behind her. Her shoulders drooped in a slight shrug.

“Alright then. Problem solved then. If you need me, Akihiro, you know how to find me.”

Giving the entire situation one last scan, Ikomiki would peer at the various figures involved. Annoying guards. Ashitaka. Akihiro. Then the girl would turn tail, disappearing back into he village in a plume of smoke.

[Exit]

Well there really wasn't much to be done here anymore, was there? Everyone had left and pantless Akihiro still had a shower to take. He'd wave at the guards still recovering from the shock, take one last glance at the cat girl disappearing in a puff smoke and finally he too would vanish from that place. If only all matters in the world could be so easily resolved...

[exit]

It came as a certain degree of surprise to Ashitaka that the City Gates had no established check in/out policy or system, but in hindsight, he guessed it really shouldn't have. The world was at peace, after all, and newly-acquired enough so to be treasured. Still, he didn't want there to be any unpleasant responses to his arrival or return, so he left a note with the guard stating that he was going out to perform reconnaissance and that he'd be back within the year, if not the season.

With that, he headed out on a journey to retrace the steps he'd taken as a child warrior, hoping that seeing the places he'd been in person would help him to exorcise the mental demons that had been born in them. Thus his first stop would be on the border between the Land of Waterfalls and that of... Iron, if this map was to be believed. Well. There was already another significant difference here. He distinctly remembered the Meteor Conflict being one between Waterfalls and Bears.

That could present an issue if his presence was taken as a shinobi incursion into the Land of Iron, so he opted instead to skirt the Waterfalls side of the border once he got into the region. For now though, he had some walking to do.


[Exit to Land of Fire, Destination Fire/Waterfalls/Iron border.]