This was the time of day they called the hour of the devil. The irony was that this time period actually covered two hours rather than one, but anyhow it was just peeking to an hour past midnight. Branches crunched under the feet of not one, but two beings. Birds necks snapped violently as they squawked at the two intruding upon their territory, when in actuality this land belonged to one of the marching beings. Rumor has it he was the reincarnation of Momochi Zabuza and Suigetsu Hozuki. The original Demon of the Mist and the one to give the village Kirigakure the title Bloody Mist.
The title didn't inflate this ones head the slightest bit, for there was no room in his already enlarged cranium to fit anything that wasn't his own ego. This was obvious given the fact he was a wanted man in this countries Bingo Books, yet he was only lurking about the villages outskirts.
His white hair flickered in the minimum amounts of moonlight that slipped pass the leaves that were overhead, still loyally clinging to their branches, unlike this one. This made number two, first his home and original village Kirigakure, now he had defected from the village hidden in the snow Yukigakure. He wasn't one to roam however, so he now found himself under the wings of an organization known as the Akatsuki. He wasn't sure what the hell they were doing or were trying to accomplish, but he did know that chaos was something frequently associated with them, so he could care less.
He, Junpei, licked his slightly dried lips as he noticed his destination was just beyond a couple more branches. It was evident this place had been forgotten or maybe exclusive to a few, for the path leading to it showed no training or loyalty to humans. Thick branches reached out where ever they chose, the vines below were thick and reaching up at the knees of the ones marching. None of it bothered Junpei however, all that mattered was the goal that was ahead and the teen had just exited the forestry into the clearing that surrounded his goal.
This goal being the hideout of Zabuza Momochi. Keeping the title he had been blessed with in mind, he wondered if the place would appear familiar to him, but it didn't. It was all very new, but what was familiar to him was the undeniable scent of fire and meat. It wasn't his preferred cut of meat, but regardless it was food. "Geez, this is the quietest you've ever been, having an epiphany or something?" These were the words of his young companion Hikaru, another run away from Yukigakure, but not a member of the Akatsuki. This one was not too young for the organization, but he wasn't personally interested in their antics, more so just curious.
"Shhh, there are people here . . ." Junpei's ruby eyes were soon hidden behind his mask that harbored the face of an Oni. Hikaru sighed and rolled his eyes, for he knew exactly what Junpei was up to. Same old acts of murdering people before asking any questions or caring for their reasoning. " I can only wonder how many people have died with no good reason thanks to you . . . Don't you ever get tired off killing people?" The young ninja ignored Junpei's words and continued to make banter. Junpei was used to Hikaru disregarding his words and just like how he was ignored, he ignored the young nin.
The hideout had two paths to enter it. One in the front and one in the back. Both were bridges held by ropes leading up to the hideout which was built around the trunk of a tree. The bridges lead about 15 meters up, to a wooden platform that made a ring around the trunk of the tree and the establishment. Junpei ignored the bridge for it could easily be cut or squeak and give away his position to the group of people still unseen. Given Junpei could hear them meant they were outside, so he assumed they would be on this wooden boardwalk that circled around the actual hideout.
Racing to the trunk of the tree, he slowed down not a bit as he poured chakra into the soles of his feet and ran up the base of the tree. Hikaru did likewise, but on the opposite side of the tree and with a kunai in hand. Once they arrived underneath the circular boardwalk, Junpei equipped his Wakizashi, Kiga. The short blade was held in a back handed grip in his right hand as he counted with his left hand to Hikaru. Once his fingers counted up to five, the duo sprang into action. Both leaping from the trunk of the tree to allow their fingers the grasp the edge of the boardwalk, they hoisted themselves up and found seven men huddled around a fire eating a meal.
Junpei's mask hid his identity, while Hikaru pulled a thick scarf up to cover his nose to his neck. Junpei was the only one noticed, with his garments harboring white and his hair also being the snowy shade. "Woah woah, it's a demon! Mo-move out the way!" One of the men stood and shouted in utter horror in response to Junpei's presence being noticed. Others followed his lead and stood falling over each other trying to escape. One poor bastard was shoved off the boardwalk and fell the 15m's to his noisy death. Leaving six remaining, the group of men were even more startled upon discovering Hikaru whose silhouette was barely lit by the camp fire and moonlight. They would fall back onto their asses, with the exception of one soul who ran for a door to the hideout. "Don't . . ." Junpei's voice was much gruffer and distorted from the effects of the mask. The simple command was enough to create silence and also obedience.
Freezing half reach, the mans head slowly turned to the direction of Junpei. "I have a proposal for you all . . . I can kill you all here and no one would ever find out . . . or you can live and complete a task I have in mind." Hikaru's head tilted in confusion on what this task was. He normally knew all of the things that Junpei had in mind and was usually consulted for advice on how to carry them out. An-anything you want, just let me live!" The man dropped to his knees and bowed deeply allowing his forehead to touch the wooden floor they stood on. "Me as well! I want to live!" Another followed suit, then another and eventually all six were bowing.
Junpei nodded and grinned underneath his mask. "I'm gonna guess you guys are residents of Kirigakure and know about the legendary Seven Swords of the Mist." The six stayed in their bow, but looked up and nodded to the mask flickering in the campfire lighting. "Good . . ., then I task you all with obtaining these blades for me. Sadly a worker fell off early . . ." Junpei looked down on the soul who had fallen to a grotesque death and didn't dare think about eating the battered and mutilated corpse. "With there now being six, you can work together or separately, but regardless I expect these swords to come into my possession eventually. This will be our base of operations, here is a bit of compensation for your troubles." Reaching his left hand into his Yukata, he retrieved a pouch of Ryo and dumped it onto the floor in front of them. Each of their eyes lit up at the amount of Ryo, it coming from Junpei's many missions, assassinations, side habits, and grave robberies. "What you do with the money, I don't care, but I expect those weapons. Clean this place up, then tomorrow you are all to leave on your journey. Return in a month and if there is not a weapon in your possession, you will each lose something dear to you. May it be family, a limb, anything . . . questions?" Each was sweating intensely at the spontaneous change in pace their lives just experienced.
"Wh-what about our families . . . sir?" Junpei shrugged and chuckled. "As long as I get my weapons, I don't care, now make yourselves useful, clean and stuff. Fight for the money or divide it, I don't care, but it's all you're getting from me. You . . . lets go."
Junpei originally hoped that the Executioner's Blade would ave been placed here in sort of a memory for it's most renowned wielder, but he was sadly mistaken and thinking about it further he wasn't surprised. It may have been here at one point in time, but some drunken bastards or rejects just like these could have came here and stole it before Junpei could have. "That was new coming from you, hiring people. I didn't think I woulda ever saw the day bwahahaha!" Junpei gave Hikaru a sharp punch to the shoulder which the nin yelped at a nursed with rubbing. "Eh, I can't hope to find all seven by myself, I can't even find one . . shit, so maybe these monkeys can be useful." The teen removed his mask allowing his voice to return to normal, as he opened a random door.
The room was dark until a light switch was hit and to the duo's surprised the light actually turned on, revealing a skeleton littered living room. Live rodents, spiders, skulls, meatless bones, even some carnivorous birds that had made homes in the chest of decaying bodies. Each life force that ad made shelter of that room seemed to come alive all at once and collectively showed resentment towards the two. Junpei's face lit up with shock as did Hikaru who had jumped back far enough to nearly fall off the boardwalk. Slamming the door and turning off the lights, Junpei made mental note to levae the rooms alone until they were cleaned. "Yeah, that's why we stayed out of the rooms, it's gonna take more than a day to clean them." Junpei nodded to his new worker and took a moment. "You all have three days to clean this place up, after that, your month starts, understand?" The man nodded sharply and ran to inform the others.
"Oh god, a monkey giving orders to monkeys, this is going to be hysterical. You really think they'll find you a sword?" Hikaru giggled as he took a seat on the edge of the boardwalk. Junpei hadn't understood the joke was meant to offend him and thought the monkeys were the workers, but sadly he was one of them. "I'm not too sure, but it's better than nothing or searching by myself. Who knows I may recruit more scrubs and start a company to find these damn weapons." Junpei sat on the edge of the boardwalk also and watched in amusement as his goons mourned and awkwardly disposed of their friend who had fallen off the platform. "Just try to get the body out of here, nature will take care of the rest!" Junpei shouted down to them and they nodded and picked up the body as a unit. Hikaru simply shook his head and sighed. "Well . . .at least you're doing something to chase your dreams. Some poor fools are just wandering this world aimlessly looking for those damn swords." Junpei nodded, much more mellow than usual in bliss that he felt progress would be made.
The title didn't inflate this ones head the slightest bit, for there was no room in his already enlarged cranium to fit anything that wasn't his own ego. This was obvious given the fact he was a wanted man in this countries Bingo Books, yet he was only lurking about the villages outskirts.
His white hair flickered in the minimum amounts of moonlight that slipped pass the leaves that were overhead, still loyally clinging to their branches, unlike this one. This made number two, first his home and original village Kirigakure, now he had defected from the village hidden in the snow Yukigakure. He wasn't one to roam however, so he now found himself under the wings of an organization known as the Akatsuki. He wasn't sure what the hell they were doing or were trying to accomplish, but he did know that chaos was something frequently associated with them, so he could care less.
He, Junpei, licked his slightly dried lips as he noticed his destination was just beyond a couple more branches. It was evident this place had been forgotten or maybe exclusive to a few, for the path leading to it showed no training or loyalty to humans. Thick branches reached out where ever they chose, the vines below were thick and reaching up at the knees of the ones marching. None of it bothered Junpei however, all that mattered was the goal that was ahead and the teen had just exited the forestry into the clearing that surrounded his goal.
This goal being the hideout of Zabuza Momochi. Keeping the title he had been blessed with in mind, he wondered if the place would appear familiar to him, but it didn't. It was all very new, but what was familiar to him was the undeniable scent of fire and meat. It wasn't his preferred cut of meat, but regardless it was food. "Geez, this is the quietest you've ever been, having an epiphany or something?" These were the words of his young companion Hikaru, another run away from Yukigakure, but not a member of the Akatsuki. This one was not too young for the organization, but he wasn't personally interested in their antics, more so just curious.
"Shhh, there are people here . . ." Junpei's ruby eyes were soon hidden behind his mask that harbored the face of an Oni. Hikaru sighed and rolled his eyes, for he knew exactly what Junpei was up to. Same old acts of murdering people before asking any questions or caring for their reasoning. " I can only wonder how many people have died with no good reason thanks to you . . . Don't you ever get tired off killing people?" The young ninja ignored Junpei's words and continued to make banter. Junpei was used to Hikaru disregarding his words and just like how he was ignored, he ignored the young nin.
The hideout had two paths to enter it. One in the front and one in the back. Both were bridges held by ropes leading up to the hideout which was built around the trunk of a tree. The bridges lead about 15 meters up, to a wooden platform that made a ring around the trunk of the tree and the establishment. Junpei ignored the bridge for it could easily be cut or squeak and give away his position to the group of people still unseen. Given Junpei could hear them meant they were outside, so he assumed they would be on this wooden boardwalk that circled around the actual hideout.
Racing to the trunk of the tree, he slowed down not a bit as he poured chakra into the soles of his feet and ran up the base of the tree. Hikaru did likewise, but on the opposite side of the tree and with a kunai in hand. Once they arrived underneath the circular boardwalk, Junpei equipped his Wakizashi, Kiga. The short blade was held in a back handed grip in his right hand as he counted with his left hand to Hikaru. Once his fingers counted up to five, the duo sprang into action. Both leaping from the trunk of the tree to allow their fingers the grasp the edge of the boardwalk, they hoisted themselves up and found seven men huddled around a fire eating a meal.
Junpei's mask hid his identity, while Hikaru pulled a thick scarf up to cover his nose to his neck. Junpei was the only one noticed, with his garments harboring white and his hair also being the snowy shade. "Woah woah, it's a demon! Mo-move out the way!" One of the men stood and shouted in utter horror in response to Junpei's presence being noticed. Others followed his lead and stood falling over each other trying to escape. One poor bastard was shoved off the boardwalk and fell the 15m's to his noisy death. Leaving six remaining, the group of men were even more startled upon discovering Hikaru whose silhouette was barely lit by the camp fire and moonlight. They would fall back onto their asses, with the exception of one soul who ran for a door to the hideout. "Don't . . ." Junpei's voice was much gruffer and distorted from the effects of the mask. The simple command was enough to create silence and also obedience.
Freezing half reach, the mans head slowly turned to the direction of Junpei. "I have a proposal for you all . . . I can kill you all here and no one would ever find out . . . or you can live and complete a task I have in mind." Hikaru's head tilted in confusion on what this task was. He normally knew all of the things that Junpei had in mind and was usually consulted for advice on how to carry them out. An-anything you want, just let me live!" The man dropped to his knees and bowed deeply allowing his forehead to touch the wooden floor they stood on. "Me as well! I want to live!" Another followed suit, then another and eventually all six were bowing.
Junpei nodded and grinned underneath his mask. "I'm gonna guess you guys are residents of Kirigakure and know about the legendary Seven Swords of the Mist." The six stayed in their bow, but looked up and nodded to the mask flickering in the campfire lighting. "Good . . ., then I task you all with obtaining these blades for me. Sadly a worker fell off early . . ." Junpei looked down on the soul who had fallen to a grotesque death and didn't dare think about eating the battered and mutilated corpse. "With there now being six, you can work together or separately, but regardless I expect these swords to come into my possession eventually. This will be our base of operations, here is a bit of compensation for your troubles." Reaching his left hand into his Yukata, he retrieved a pouch of Ryo and dumped it onto the floor in front of them. Each of their eyes lit up at the amount of Ryo, it coming from Junpei's many missions, assassinations, side habits, and grave robberies. "What you do with the money, I don't care, but I expect those weapons. Clean this place up, then tomorrow you are all to leave on your journey. Return in a month and if there is not a weapon in your possession, you will each lose something dear to you. May it be family, a limb, anything . . . questions?" Each was sweating intensely at the spontaneous change in pace their lives just experienced.
"Wh-what about our families . . . sir?" Junpei shrugged and chuckled. "As long as I get my weapons, I don't care, now make yourselves useful, clean and stuff. Fight for the money or divide it, I don't care, but it's all you're getting from me. You . . . lets go."
Junpei originally hoped that the Executioner's Blade would ave been placed here in sort of a memory for it's most renowned wielder, but he was sadly mistaken and thinking about it further he wasn't surprised. It may have been here at one point in time, but some drunken bastards or rejects just like these could have came here and stole it before Junpei could have. "That was new coming from you, hiring people. I didn't think I woulda ever saw the day bwahahaha!" Junpei gave Hikaru a sharp punch to the shoulder which the nin yelped at a nursed with rubbing. "Eh, I can't hope to find all seven by myself, I can't even find one . . shit, so maybe these monkeys can be useful." The teen removed his mask allowing his voice to return to normal, as he opened a random door.
The room was dark until a light switch was hit and to the duo's surprised the light actually turned on, revealing a skeleton littered living room. Live rodents, spiders, skulls, meatless bones, even some carnivorous birds that had made homes in the chest of decaying bodies. Each life force that ad made shelter of that room seemed to come alive all at once and collectively showed resentment towards the two. Junpei's face lit up with shock as did Hikaru who had jumped back far enough to nearly fall off the boardwalk. Slamming the door and turning off the lights, Junpei made mental note to levae the rooms alone until they were cleaned. "Yeah, that's why we stayed out of the rooms, it's gonna take more than a day to clean them." Junpei nodded to his new worker and took a moment. "You all have three days to clean this place up, after that, your month starts, understand?" The man nodded sharply and ran to inform the others.
"Oh god, a monkey giving orders to monkeys, this is going to be hysterical. You really think they'll find you a sword?" Hikaru giggled as he took a seat on the edge of the boardwalk. Junpei hadn't understood the joke was meant to offend him and thought the monkeys were the workers, but sadly he was one of them. "I'm not too sure, but it's better than nothing or searching by myself. Who knows I may recruit more scrubs and start a company to find these damn weapons." Junpei sat on the edge of the boardwalk also and watched in amusement as his goons mourned and awkwardly disposed of their friend who had fallen off the platform. "Just try to get the body out of here, nature will take care of the rest!" Junpei shouted down to them and they nodded and picked up the body as a unit. Hikaru simply shook his head and sighed. "Well . . .at least you're doing something to chase your dreams. Some poor fools are just wandering this world aimlessly looking for those damn swords." Junpei nodded, much more mellow than usual in bliss that he felt progress would be made.