{{Out of the Water; Into the Truth }}

[orino]

Orino strained as her foot slipped against the damp of the stone. She sighed in aggravation as she realigned herself, her shoulders tightening as she shifted weight to her arms, heaving the rest of her over and onto the large, slippery boulder. This country amazed her; how could a place so lovely prove so difficult to traverse?

Wiping her hands on the front of her overalls, Orino regained her composure as she balanced herself atop the rock. Everything was immediately bigger, immediately farther away. She cursed her bad luck. She hated the fact that she and her team were forced to split up, to go separate ways in a place that was unfamiliar to all three of them. But whatever. It was their plan.

Orino's nutty brown eyes blinked across the sunny horizon. Mountains everywhere, civilization nowhere. Her ears echoed with the roar of the river beneath her, one of many in this part of the world. That was the only sound.

Until a snap.

Startled, Orino felt herself tip forward and off-balance. Too late did the chakra travel to her feet, and too fast did she fall. With a tiny "Oof" Orino was tripped by nothing but noise and crashed into the pound of the white river. The weight was crushing. Was she up? Was she down? Sideways? There was nothing here but the pump of frothy wetness and a desire for breath.

Another splash, smaller, entered the frenzy. Something warm came around her wrist, and with one quick tug, brought her head above the surface. Orino spat out a throat full of water as she at last felt a contact with the earth. Clutching her stomach, she got to her knees and keeled forward, coughing up whatever else was unwelcome in her lungs.

After a moment, the shaking subsided and she was able to blink without getting dizzy. Much of her bangs stuck to her forehead and temples, obscuring most of her vision. But her mind flashed back and clearly saw the water, clearly felt the hand wrap tight about her wrist. Her rescue was not chance; someone had saved her.

Orino looked up.

[Kira]

Kira had never been the type to seem social in public, but when she was with her friends, her personality changed from seeming cold to friendly. No matter what, though, she still had a nasty temper and had been told before that she had anger management issues, although she denied the fact simply because she was too hard-headed and arrogant to accept what was most likely the truth.

Of course, she used a cold and emotionless mask in public as a form of protection. As a shinobi, you could never be careful enough, especially because you could have enemies that were hidden somewhere. Either way, you would have to be careful. An enemy can strike at any moment's notice, and you had to be ready.

Kira was simply passing by the river, enjoying the sight, yet, keeping to herself. It was then, that she heard splash.

She looked towards the area where she heard the sound and noticed a blur of motion rush into an uprising of water and when gravity took hold of the water, pulling it back into the river, she noticed another girl inside the water.

At first she simply thought the girl would be fine, but seconds later, she realized that this girl was having trouble getting back to the surface. In moments, she could run out of air in her lungs and could possibly drown.

Kira didn't give her actions a second thought, as she rushed towards the area. She stuck her left arm in and pulled the girl by her wrist, and back up to the surface.

The glimmer of emotion that was on Kira's face was gone in a blink of the eye, and she, once again, looked emotionless. Her voice sounded cold as she asked in a some-what rude tone, "You okay?"

If someone thought about it logically, they would put two-and-two together and realize that Kira saved them and had been worried about their safety, but most people didn't take the time to think like that and judging from her rude tone, they would simply become angry at her and think she did it out of pity or something, leaving quite angry.

[ken]

Izanagi completed the finishing touches to his camouflage - a myriad compilation of leaves, moss and twigs, all gathered from the surrounding mountainside forest, tied onto a sheet of tweed netting. He took the sheet by the corners and brought it up in front of his face, glancing over it. Satisfied, he threw the fauna cloak over his shoulders.
Dressed predominantly in white as he was had it's disadvantages when stalking mountain brigands; they may not possess what could accurately be described as an 'intellect', but it didn't take a well-schooled individual to spot a white, man-shaped silhouette in a world of green and brown. His new camouflage would correct this.
To complete his handiwork, he draped part of the leafy netting over his head, obscuring his own pale features and white hood, but still leaving enough room to see.
It was time to time to get going.

The midday sunlight shone bright through breaks in the forest canopy above, and a nearby waterfall drowned out the twittering of birds in the small forest. Izanagi, now decked in his make-shift camouflage, stood from his nesting point amidst the branches of an ancient tree. He listened. He was waiting for any tell-tale sounds of the currently 'gone pillaging' bandits he was hunting.
Fairly happy that he was still alone in the forest, he stepped onto one of the outlaying branches, crouched, and then hurled himself into the the air - landing a few metres away on another branch. He continued moving through the trees, pausing on occasion to listen out for the noisy return of his quarry, and stopped upon reaching the forest's edge.
He peered out at the scenery beyond - a small waterfall and rushing river, it's banks covered in lush grass. Across the river however, only a few trees had sprang from the ground before giving up and surrendering to the mountainside's otherwise remote nature. The distant rocky hills and towering mountains were all but desolate. It was no wonder that this rare forest haven, with it's clean water and comfortable scenery, was popular with travelers and merchants. It was also, as a direct result of this, popular with bandits.
Izanagi sighed wearily. His hunt for petty thugs had only started due to a lack of success in searching for a possible demon worshipping cult, that was apparently based somewhere in these mountains. He comforted himself in the knowledge that he might get some decent information regarding them - if they existed - from his soon to be bandit hostages. He was about to pivot on the branch he was perched upon when something caught his eye a little ways down the riverbank.

Izanagi flinched.

Two girls. One soaked, coughing up water and down on all fours; the other - very dry girl - simply glaring at her.
A thousand things passed through Izanagi's head. Why were these girls out here? What had happened? Why did it happen? Why was the wet girl wearing clothes like that? Did that last one really have any bearing on the situation? Probably not, he decided. And suddenly found himself holding his breath. He exhaled, but quietly, controlled. For all he knew, these girls - or the more morbid one at least - were a part of this demon worshipping group he had been told of. Izanagi didn't even have the decency to laugh at himself for that last thought. The simple fact was that no-one was outwith the Inuukubi's keen scrutiny - both sexes, the children and the the elderly alike.
Nevertheless, he didn't want to draw attention to himself just yet, so he quietly, slowly, completed his turn on his perch - making sure to keep his eyes on the girls.

And then, proving that the gods themselves did indeed possess a sense of humour, the branch Izanagi was on snapped.

[orino]

[OOC: Yes! Finally, some people who aren't afraid to post good, long stories! I'll replace this with a response later this afternoon; I just had to thank the two of you now.] =DDD

"You okay?"

Orino blinked, rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Someone was there, and they spoke.

"Uh… yeah, I'm fine," answered Orino, still a bit breathless. How embarrassing. She'd been a full-fledged chunin for nearly three years, an example of perfect ease and balance. Naturally, it was only in the presence of others that she chose to perform acrobatics like falling aimlessly from rocks.

She looked up into the face of her rescuer. A girl hovered before her, an expression of what could only be called indifference resting on her pale face. She was definitely at least a year younger than Orino; her figure strong, but immature. Hair the color of deepest ebony fell about most of the girl's features, completely hiding one of a pair of startlingly citrus-green eyes. In these eyes was the only hint of emotion kept, the only remnant of memory. Regardless, she was a girl who had become a momentary savior. A lifesaver, nonetheless.

Orino, still slightly embarrassed by her condition, tried a small smile. "I'm sorry about this," she admitted sheepishly, wringing droplets of water from her once-joyful ponytail. The ribbon holding it was crumpled and thin. "I'm not normally so helpless, I swear. In fact," she chuckled at her own expense, "I'm quite responsible."

She looked up to the girl again. "But I guess that I should tha—"

Orino felt it before she heard it; a presence in the trees. There was a violent snap of a branch, then, and a muffled thump—a fall or a landing, she couldn't be sure. With another quick and confused look to her yet-unnamed rescuer, Orino managed to lift herself safely from the damp ground and tumble to the forest.

Pushing the last of her bangs from her face, Orino stepped into the underbrush, close to where the crash was heard. Silently hyped, she began to pick at the rim of her stockings, waiting and watching for possible ambush. But what if someone was hurt? Surely taking her sweet time wouldn't help things out.

But as she walked on, she saw him. A young man paler than the moon.

[Ikara]

[ooc - ^_____^ long posts yays!!!!!!]

[Kira]

Kira watched the surrounding area cautiously. Half expecting someone to jump out for an ambush and half expecting to see someone just clumsily fall out of a tree.

Kira simply shrugged and nodded at the girl's words, she didn't want to speak if it wasn't necessary, but she didn't want to seem like she didn't care about what the girl said either.

When she heard a sudden snap of a tree branch and a thump, her eyes flickered over to the area where the sounds seemed to come from.

She got up and trailed behind the girl, and that was when they arrived at the area of the sound and noticed another guy. Her face remained emotionless and her eyes were hardened, because she had a suspicious feeling about his guy. It seemed as thought he was spying on them, but she wasn't positive...she just trusted her gut feeling.

[ken]

That had hurt. His camouflaging cloak had caught on a branch on the way down and ripped off, exposing his very noticeable white attire. He had managed to recover and land on his feet, but it didn't stop the shock of the awkward landing hurting. He stood, wincing at the ache in his feet, but kept his head down.
Quickly, Izanagi gave the equipment on his belt the once-over: utility pack, shuriken holster, medical pack, knife - everything was intact. The drop-leg kunai holster on his leg was still there too. Good, nothing out of place.
There was rustling, very near him. Izanagi dropped to a crouch, keeping as low and quiet as possible. It was the girls, it had to be, they were the only ones in the area. If he was spotted, he'd have to give up his search here and go elsewhere, and he didn't want to have to explain to his Brothers and Sisters in the Inuukubi about how he was forced to abandon his task thanks to some children. He didn't know why the girls were out in the mountains this far up the pass, but they could easily go back to wherever they came from and tell their folks about him - and he wasn't exactly the most typical looking of people.
Anything could happen after that - hunter-nin even, and he really couldn't have that. The Inuukubi wanted to remain firmly a secret for now, and Izanagi wasn't about to jeopardize this by murdering a high-profile ninja squad. But he was getting ahead of himself.
Izanagi, pulling his hood up, was about to stalk away when the foliage near him parted. He turned.
Two girls were staring at him. He stared back.
'Oh,' he managed eventually. And in a burst of energy forced himself off the ground and into the air. He grabbed an overhanging branch, swung on top and hurled himself to another tree, pushing off that with his legs and propelling himself further into the woods. He cursed himself viciously for hanging around, he had been spotted now!
Izanagi continued a zig-zagging movement through the forest until he arrived at the dirt road that bisected it's way through the wood and down the mountain. He landed in a cloud of dust at it's center, catching his breath.
'Oi!' Yelled a voice. Izanagi sighed explosively. Not again. He turned his head slowly, facing down the path and into a group of rag-tag and dirty men, all carrying weapons. Not only that, two of the biggest and outermost men were carrying women over their shoulders. His quarry had finally returned.
'There you are,' Izanagi growled.
'Who the hell are you?' The shortest of them demanded angrily, waving his rusting katana in a vaguely threatening manner. The five or six other men in the group were now smiling and chuckling stupidly.
Izanagi reached behind himself and unsheathed his knife slowly, taking a kunai from his leg holster with his off hand and crossing the two weapons across his chest.
He couldn't silence the girls by brutally killing them, but he could destroy these miscreants to ensure their quiet; plus he'd be killing two birds with one stone.
His escape would have to wait...

[orino]

"Oh," and he was gone.

Orino shook her head in a quick spasm of confusion. What the heck?

"Hey!" she shouted at the man's quickly diminishing form. "Hey, stop!"

She looked to her company again, then back to the trees. Everyone knew this basic conduct of the shinobi: never disown suspicion. The look was in both of the girl's eyes; if this strange occurrence was not classified under suspicion, then what was? The man's presence had been in hiding—yes, so he did not wish to be seen. He was close enough for the girls to hear his fall—yes, he had probably seen Orino's untimely incident in the river. Above all, he had turned and split away the moment he realized that he had been seen—so yes, he was definitely not interested in becoming friends.

"Come if you want," called Orino over her shoulder. "I've got to go after this guy." If he possibly had any information that could be used against her or her team, Orino wanted it back.

At once, she had lifted up and into the trees, the strange pale man nothing more than a small speck among the patterns and shadows of leaves. He kept going, going—stop. He had descended, it appeared.

Orino dropped in nearby, careful not to make a sound or an introduction. A group of mean, bedraggled men stood together in a clearing—all armed. The pale man stood before them, his body tense with the apprehension of a fight. Orino watched as the man reached and drew two long swords from holsters at his side and cross them against his chest—a stance common in weapon combat.

Orino could feel it; there would be bloodshed.

Taking a deep breath and adjusting the band at her arm, Orino wondered if she should really stick around for this. Would the man need help? Most likely not, since, based on his speed, he was obviously a ninja. And these men were nothing but petty thieves made rogues.

But if the man were to survive the fight, then the chase would be on again, and his life would be of service to Orino. In the meantime, she would wait.

[ken]

The Chainbara no Shichi fighting style is an art that has perfected the use of twin weapon combat. It is a unique and sacred style that all Inuukubi ninja are trained in from the moment they are accepted into the order - and it is a brutal training regime. Comprising of three tiers, the first, the so-called 'basics', is taught internally without weapons at all, only the fists and the feet, and is arguably the hardest of the tiers; upon completion of this initial tier, practitioners are awarded their first weapon - a simply made single-edged, one-handed knife, it's blade twelve inches long and it's edge keen. On this second tier, users are made Agents and sent into the field for training - hunting the war-mongers, the thieves, the heretics, the false leaders, anyone who would look to upend order - all the while practicing their art, training hard for the third and final tier.
Izanagi sits on this second tier.
Since becoming an Agent, bandits, brigands, thieves, thugs, pirates - whatever one would call them - have been his prime targets, those he would train on and kill for the greater good of the lands. The group he faced now, comprising of five armed and nearly all heavy-set men, would be just another days work for him. His Inuukubi knife was drawn and gripped tightly in his right hand, it's blade shining brilliantly in the sunlight; but in his left hand was a kunai, an ugly and pale imitation of the weapon he would be given once ascending to tier three. Nevertheless, Izanagi had found the kunai adequate as a stand-in in the past, and it would serve him well as an off-hand weapon in the coming confrontation, especially against such clearly untrained individuals.
'Are ya deaf, freak?' The short bandit hollered again, swinging his weapon. 'Come on! Answer m--!'
'Are you responsible for these men?' Izanagi asked levelly, weapons still crossed against his chest. The bandits appeared to look sideways at one another, trying to comprehend if the white-clad ninja was referring to them. The short one with the mucky headband spoke up once again.
'Y'mean am I the leader?' Well, yeah - ah suppose I am. What of--?'
'Are those two men with the unconscious ladies responsible for their condition?'
The leader opened and closed his mouth like a fish, lost for words. The two bruisers hefting the women were beginning to look nervous.
'Eh,' the leader said eventually, looking back at his thugs. 'Ye--yeah, I gue--?'
'Then as their leader,' Izanagi concluded, 'you die first.'
The leader frowned hard as if mis-hearing him, and was about to protest angrily when a kunai buried itself bloodlessly into his skull, piercing the filthy rag around his head. The little man remained standing for a moment as his brain caught up with recent events - then crumpled to the floor amidst the wordless shock of the cronies. Before the gang had time to gather their wits and retaliate, Izanagi pulled a second kunai from it's holster, readied it, and charged flat-out towards them. One of the bigger men turned just in time to be punched in the stomach, doubling over breathlessly, and granting Izanagi an elevated platform to launch his next attack. He hopped on top of the doubled over man's back and jumped hard, sending his makeshift platform face-first into the dirt and viciously kicking a second man in the face, snapping his head back. Not one to pass up an ample kill opportunity, Izanagi landed behind the second man, twirled nine-hundred degrees to build momentum, and finally lashed out with his knife, beheading the thug with a single sweep and sending his bewildered head into the air.
By now, one of the men that had been carrying a woman had put his prize on the ground, drawn his sword and charged, screaming with rage, while the first bandit to take a blow was pulling himself off the ground in a daze. Unable to evade, Izanagi brought his knife up and parried two heavy blows from the charging thug, and, feeling that his blocking was tiring him more than the bandit, avoided the last by ducking low and slashing furiously at his attacker's legs. The man wailed in agony and fell to his knees, dropping his weapon and clutching at the painful lacerations. Before the crying thug had time to take another breath, Izanagi kneed him on the chin - then rammed the kunai into his exposed neck, where he let go and left it to choke the man to death. Wide-eyed and distressed, the last man hefting a woman panicked, dropped his prisoner and bolted down the trail. Cursing, Izanagi gave chase, finishing off the finally recovered first bandit with an unsympathetic slash across the throat as he did.
As the survivor continued his escape, Izanagi - keeping pace -drew the last of his kunai and threw it hard at his target. The projectile hurtled through the air and dug into the back of the man's shin, toppling him to the floor. The panic-stricken thug, sweating furiously, was still crawling across the hard ground when Izanagi caught up. He bent low, grabbed the gibbering man by the collar and flipped him over, where he held him tightly by the neck. To Izanagi's amazement, the bandit was praying.
'Let me save you the trouble of praying, sir,' he whispered to him, holding his temper. 'If you truly believe in a god, I will tell you now before your death that you will not be joining him in the afterlife - not where you're going.'
And with that, Izanagi raised his blade high into the air, ready to strike the killing blow...

[Kira]

Kita sighed inaudibly and decided to follow...she still felt suspicious and just couldn't seem to shake the feeling off. She quickly got onto a tree branch and started chasing after the mysterious man,jumping from branch to branch, and keeping enough focus on the chakra that was gathered in her feet, to help her keep her balance.

She arrived at a branch and spotted the guy, except he seemed to be surrounded by what seemed like bandits, carrying women over their shoulders.
Kira had a look of disgust in her eyes, but kept watch, keeping silent. She noticed the guy quickly finish off the bandits, and there was one left.

She felt a little pity for the last bandit, but not enough to help him. Kira disliked bandits anyways, because they reminded her of missing-nin, bringing back bad memories. Besides...it was everyone's fate to die someday, and it just seemed that this bandit's life was ending a early. It was just life...survival of the fittest, basically.

Kria watched as the guy raised up his blade, getting ready to end the life of the bandit, and she had no intentions of stopping him. It may have seemed cruel, but bandits were not good people...the death of this one would mean one less person in the world...a bad person who had probably hurt other innocent people before.

She stayed standing in the tree branch, hidden by the leaves, but if you looked carefully enough, you would've seen her, and if you concentrated, you would've sensed her presence, for she didn't try to hide it. She evaluated the skills of the guy, in case she would have to fight him for some reason, later on.

[orino]

Orino could barely keep her pulse still as the fight commenced. This man—whoever he was—had no mercy. His swords slashed in sparks and trails of white light, mapping out paths of death with no chance of turning back. Blood. Blood everywhere; in the air, on the ground, on the disfigured faces of slaughtered men. They fell in turn, each with a cry, each with no hope.

Orino's breath was strained with anxiety, and yet the dark-haired girl, who had decided to follow, remained still and serene at her side. Like she had no problem. Like it was okay. Fine. Natural.

And maybe it was—in this profession.

Everyone was dead, now. But one. A lone survivor struggled in his escape, the mysterious man having just thrown a kunai into his back. Crawling now, crawling. But no, he was not fast enough. The pale man grabbed him forcefully by the collar and lifted him up, prepared to kill.

And perhaps Orino would have left a job to a job—if not for what she heard next in a whisper.

A prayer. The injured man was praying, praying for help, for a miracle, for life. A life. He was praying for another chance to live.

Orino wondered suddenly about the poor man's life. His history. Had he a family? Had he a goal? Had he been forced down a path he had not wanted to take? These she did not know, but that wasn't the biggest case.

This man had God.

And that was enough to pull the heartstrings.

Without warning, without second thought, Orino leapt from her position in the brush, running full speed at the pale man and his victim. In a quick motion, her own knife flew out of its holster and out at the man's drawn sword. Forceful enough to knock it out of position.

And there she found herself standing. Right in the middle. Cast between a victim and his pursuer. Between knife and knife.

She brought her eyes slowly to those of the pale man. "Don't do it."

[Kira]

Kira watched with a bit curiosity as the other girl saved the bandit. She guessed that the prayer, whispered by the bandit had made the girl have something like a change in heart and want to save the man.

Sure, Kira had felt pity for the bandit, but not enough to force herself into action and save the life of the man. Even if he had been forced down the road of a bandit, it was his own fault that he had not tried to gain his old life back...he had strayed from the path of justice, and never bothered to turn back.

If the man had family, he wouldn't have been trying to basically kidnap the other innocent women.

The word that popped into her head when she saw the bandit, was 'scum'. For she still held a grudge against bandits and those like him. It wasn't what the man, himself, did, but more like what his kind did. Although, she believed she had let go of the fact that her father was killed by a missing-nin, driving her mom to commit suicide, a part of her heart still clung onto the bitter memories and hate she had felt.

She jumped to a tree branch that was closer, and kept a close eye on what would happen next.

[ken]

The most astonishing thing had just happened. Not unexpected exactly - just sudden. He had sensed something nearby, but ignored the feeling thinking he was simply picking up the two girls. Technically, it was the girls he was sensing - but then, he was only human; he couldn't prepare himself for every eventuality.
The girl was quick - surprisingly quick - and was on him a half-second after his knife had been knocked aside by her own missile. Izanagi reacted as fast as his body would let him and jumped back from his prey, kicking up dust and recovering his stance. The blonde-haired girl stood before him, stance defensive and defiant, the man still on the ground behind her continued sobbing uncontrollably - still gibbering away between chokes, shielding his face from a killing blow that, for the time being at least, had merely been delayed. The girl raised her eyes to meet his - slowly, glaring at him with a resolve almost unbefitting of her stature. Those eyes. Izanagi could hardly hold her gaze - this child's gaze no less. She couldn't have been any more than thirteen.
'Don't do it,' the young one said, not a hint of fear in her voice.
Yes. This one was special, no doubt about it now - she was a warrior like him.
'Kunoichi,' Izanagi breathed, unable to contain a wry smile. 'I knew there was something strange about you. It is a testament to my lack of a decent sleep these past few days that I was unable to notice your weapons back at the river - you were lucky.'
He controlled his breathing; he had to maintain his composure, keep his wits about him. Ninja rarely traveled alone outside their village, there could well be another two or three of them out there - perhaps even a sensei. Then he remembered. What about the other girl that was--?
As if on cue, there was an audible rustle off to his right, within the tree line.
Izanagi's smile vanished, his breathing halted. He glanced right to a shadow in the undergrowth. Then back to the girl.
'Your companion is making me nervous,' he said flatly. 'Call her out or I drag her out.'

[orino]

Orino's darkened eyes bore into the man's gaze with a white intensity.

For a long time, neither looked away from one another. Each one calculating, each one wondering. Orino could almost feel the turn of the man's mind; he was judging her. Yet the warrior's goal surged in each of them, fighting; roaring through the silence that wrought the reddened woods. Both of them yearning for judgment: one in blood, one in redemption. It meant that age here had no meaning. For Orino could see even from lack of stature: the pale man was wary of her actions, and she his.

She heard a murmur from beneath the man's breath: "Kunoichi." She saw him form a dry smile. He said something about his momentary lack of observation, but that he knew that Orino was something different. Different, indeed.

Orino remained silent, her eyes hard and cold. A droplet of leftover water trickled down her temple, a reminder of her weakness at the river. What was she doing? Did she dare risk a chance against this guy?

There was a nearby rustle, and Orino remembered the girl who had saved her. The man noticed, too. Carefully, his eyes moved to the trees, and then back to Orino.

"Your companion is making me nervous," he said plainly. "Call her out or I drag her out."

Orino tried to control her breath, which was already heavy enough to inhale. She didn't want anyone else to get hurt, here. No way would she trust this guy to treat a girl with respect. So she called out with caution.

"Hey!" she cried, her voice crude over the sorry whimpering of the bandit at her feet. "I think you hear him, miss. It's best you get out of those trees."

[Kaede]

((( OOC: Just wanted to congradulate you guys on your awesome long posts! You've got a great plot going for you, too. Nice work! Keep it up! )))