Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Ah." The man said with a soft sigh as his eyes looked the boy over, the fact that one of his arms catching his notice for the first time. For a long moment he stared at the missing portion of the boy's body as his mouth gaped unknowingly at the sight. "Ho-how did that happen to you?" The man said, trying to compose himself and avert his eyes but only managing to stop his mouth from hanging open. Eyes never shifting, he collected a pile of documents and laid them before the boy. "These will be necessary for you to be verified as a citizen. You'll need to take a test on your knowledge of our laws and procedures at a later date. Also before the end of the day you'll need to be Q&A by a Jounin. These papers will ask a long list of personal info, from your family background to much more and you'll need to answer each truthfully as a background check will be ran."

As the man acknowledged Notwen's statement, his gaze lingered over the area where the crippled Uchiha's arm would have been. Notwen picked up on it but did not say anything to prevent the customs agent from being put in further discomfort. Finally he asked how the injury had come to be, managing only to close his mouth which had been gaping a few moments before.
"I was attacked on the road between Fire and Rain Countries by a pair of men from unknown origins." replied the Uchiha, trying hard not let the memory consume him. Notwen watched as the man gathered a stack of papers without his sight leaving the empty space next to his body. I guess this may be his first time seeing a crippled person... After arranging the papers, the customs agent placed them in front of the dark-skinned blonde and explained that they would be necessary for him to be verified as a citizen. Next he said that a test on the laws and customs of Lightning Country would have to be taken on a later date, which Notwen nodded his head to confirm his understanding. The man also said that he would need to be put through a Q&A session with a jounin by the end of the day. Finally he explained that the papers would require a lot of personal information to be filled out completely, and that the questions should be answered truthfully because a background check would be run. Notwen looked down at the small stack of papers. I'm so lucky that i'm right-handed. he thought. "Excuse me sir, may i borrow your pen?" he asked. Once the man handed over the writing implement the crippled Uchiha went to work filling out the information. After filling in the basic information like name and age, the section dealing with family background came up. Parents: Necrai Uchiha and Naomi Uchiha. Status: Deceased. Siblings: Novvussor du Sokkulor. Status: Deceased. Any other relatives: Dharo Sima Uchiha and Pathik Uchiha. Status: Living. Location(if Known): Wind Country.

After finishing the stack of papers and going over it twice to check for mistakes, Notwen returned it to the customs agent along with the pen. After a long pause he asked,
"How long do i wait until the background check?"

Sorain sucked his teeth in defeat, as it seemed the only way he would be able to get his hands on his prized sword would be to play ball with yet another random set of cloud shinobi. But it was just as well, if he was going to put up a proper facade he was going to need acquaintanceship that could vouche for his residence in Kumogakure. Erasing all senses of aggression from his face, Sorain proceeded to put up the mask of falsehood for the sake of his two new 'team mates'. Although he could not see any physical features of either of them, he could however see the chakra being emitted from their bodies, which lead him to the instant realization of just how tall the second female was. Standing at around 5 foot 10 himself, even he was made to look short in comparison. This female was easily four or five inches taller than him, something that he haddent seen since his...mother..a moment after she came to his mind all senses of contempt washed away from his demeanor, taking a moment to speak before either of them realized his fluctuating moods that were most likely plastered all over his face, he kindly told them his new name. "My name is Rizu of the Uchiha clan. It is nice to meet you both" and with that he returned Zagula's bow. Turning his attention back to Meistu he spoke in a much softer voice, in an attempt to keep his true nature hidden. He had already decided that he was going to fully commit to being Rizu, and would need to cover up any traces of his previous self to avoid compromising his own agenda. "Could you please read the mission scroll aloud for me..my escort neglected to read it for me..these guys are good for many things, but reading is not one of them" he said into a awkwardly casual laugh. This much was not a lie, Sorain was completely illiterate to visual writing, and could only read brail. Something that admittedly was just about the only thing he felt handicapped about.

Notwen was bemused when the man had said that he didn't know exactly how long it would take for the background check to happen. He had been hoping everything would have been taken care of in one day, but who was he to complain. The customs agent returned to the paperwork he had been working on earlier, and told the dark-skinned blonde to submit the application to the front desk.
"An hour or two. Got it. Thank you for your time, sir." With that being said, Notwen walked over to the desk by the door and gave the stapled papers to the woman sitting behind it. Once that was done he followed Rose out of the building. The whole process had taken just about half an hour.
"We'll be heading back to the house to finish unpacking and have some lunch." said the black-haired woman as she turned left. It was harder for Notwen to keep his balance because he still had the sensation of being aboard the Matsuri Yasuragi. He stumbled a little but caught himself on a street lamp. Rose looked over at him with an expression that showed she wanted to laugh. "Still at sea?" she asked. The dark-skinned blonde detected the pun and stared at Rose with a not-too-amused look.
"Very funny." he said as he followed after her, taking care to watch his step in case there was uneven ground that could trip him. As they walked on, Notwen thought back to the first reason in which he wanted to come to Lightning Country. One of the Seven Swords of the Mist were said to be here, but that was weeks ago. Anything could have happened in the time he spent with Rose in Fire Country and on the cruise to cause the sword to vanish from the radar again. Someone could have found it and made off with it. There was only one idea that came to the dark-skinned blonde's mind, and it was to ask a local if they'd heard anything about it, but that would rouse suspicion and spur anyone who was still searching back into action. Who to ask... he wondered, scratching his head. After a moment of thought, Notwen turned to Rose. "Hey, Rose, you wouldn't happen to know anything about one of the Seven Swords of the Mist being located in this country would you?" he asked, making sure to keep his voice at a level that only the black-haired woman would hear.

With each passing moment Sorain felt himself molding deeper and deeper with his new persona, as if two images of his personality were being overlaid for the first time. There was something almost peaceful to it, to be someone else. To be someone not bruised and battered on the inside, to be someone whose only worry was trying to figure out if their clothing colors matched. That refreshing feeling soon left his body the moment Zagula asked for his description. "s**t...did I change clothes yesturday!?" the truth of it all was, by the time he had woken up he was already dressed, he had not even bothered to ask what he was currently wearing, for all he knew he could be laced with kirigakure symbols from head to toe. His heart thumped violently in his chest, was this going to end so soon? Would he really have to strike down his new teammates five minutes between meeting them? Sorain sighed, exactly how long was he going to be plagued with the beast that laid dormant inside him..

"I uh.. Sorry if im not dressed properly, I have a bit of difficulty with that sometimes.." he said while rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. At that very moment another wave of chillingly coldness washed over the area, perhaps due to Sorains sudden surge in emotion. It was defiantly something that has happened before, and yet something that Sorain still found some way to ignore. "Dont worry about the bears. If any of them give us s**t ill take care of them no problem" he said while holding his hands out in front of him to rest Zagulas needs. "Holy ******** what was that? Your supposed to be an average genin'. Taking down the bears no problem? Sounds kinda cocky dont you think?" Sorains eyes blinked rapidly in confusion. Whoes voice was that? It rang out so loudly in his head that he could have sworn that someone was standing right next to him, screaming at the top of their lungs. Reaching up to his forehead Sorain pulled the white bandage down over his eyes and secured it tightly before deactivating his sharingan. "Maybe my eyes just need a rest" closing his eyes behind the cool shade of the bandages, tiny trickles of red could be seen seeping through.

Of course. Shorter than 6 feet? That means she was almost a foot taller. Not quite but almost. Thinking about the rest of the description she put together the best mental image she could though she wasnt able to give him a face as it wasnt part of the description. At least not in detail. The part she thought odd though was the white hair. Usually such a hair color wasnt natural but then again she had no room to talk. Hers was naturally purple after all. And it sounded like that he to was younger than she was. This made her feel bad yet again. She was the eldest of the group and yet she had the least amount of training and was currently unable to even put up a good fight against anything really. Granted that was the fault of both of her mentors as both were unable to actually bring themselves to allow her training only but a few months ago. But still she couldnt be fully upset with them. They had only done so with good intentions of not wanting to see her hurt when they felt she couldnt handle it.

Suddenly Zagula felt what seemed to her like a cold gust pass through the area. She didnt mind it though. In fact to her it felt good. She always liked the cold especially when it had come to playing in the snow. She inhaled a bit of the cold air reveling in it and fond memories for a moment before exhaling again. Returning her thoughts back to the present. Though at the sound of the promise of food the purple haired kunoichi suddenly seemed more energetic. Had her eyes been working they would have lit up. If there was one thing Zagula liked more than people it was food. And eating it too. She almost drooled at the prospect of getting to go anywhere she chose but quickly managed to keep the saliva in her mouth. She didnt feel like embarrassing herself in front of their new teammate though she wasnt sure if had seen that or not. Then again he HAD seen her bow and returned it earlier.

Though her focus was quickly changed as it she found herself being pulled in some direction by her friend Meitsu. Apparently their mission was to begin already. Feeling a bit more confident now that the promise of food was involved she was sure everything would be fine. In fact if a bear did get close to her maybe she could startle it enough to go away with some shocks from her lightning that she could course through her body.

Rose made a sound similar to a sigh, but kept on walking. Notwen wasn't sure if it had meant 'yes' or 'no', but he did not repeat the question until they were inside the black-haired woman's house. Musamaru had done of the unpacking in their absence, having left the two crates containing wooden body parts outside. Upon getting situated, Rose announced that she was going to into the kitchen to prepare lunch, leaving the two boys alone in the living room.
"Notwen, do you think you can help me get these inside?" asked the blue-haired boy, pointing at the crates behind him with his thumb. The crippled Uchiha wondered how he was going to be able to get the heavy things into the house, but recalled his training aboard the Matsuri Yasuragi.
"Alright, let's do it." There was a three-foot gap between the crates, enough room for one of them to get in between them and push the first one into position. "I think it'll be best if i push and you pull, Musamaru." The young guide nodded.
"That makes sense. By the way, we are going to need a ramp to get the wheels to go up into the house." Looking at the doorway, Notwen noticed that it was elevated about three inches from the sidewalk. Immediately an idea formulated in his head. Looking around for any form of loose earth, he found a pile of apparently weathered bricks dumped on the side of the next house. The crippled Uchiha closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and formed the combat seal with his right hand.
"Soul Spark." he said. Suddenly an azure fireball blazed into existence next to his right. Slowly it took on the shape of a left hand. Notwen concentrated on its form, then willed it to follow the will of his thoughts. The fiery hand clenched into a fist, then flexed its fingers in a wave pattern. "Alright, time to get down to business." The dark-skinned blonde began weaving seals with his two hands, and upon finishing the set a ring of fire materialized around his body. The ring partitioned itself into eight fireballs which grew to become exact replicas of Notwen. A smile crept up on the Uchiha's lips. My first technique since being injured... he thought. Due to the fact that his Crown Chakra was still disabled Notwen couldn't establish the mental link he was so accustomed to forging, but this wasn't a situation that called for strategic communication. "Ok, i need two of you to bring a few of those bricks over here. The rest of you stand by inside of the house." The clones did as they were instructed and after they carried out their orders Notwen knelt next to the small pile of bricks.
"What are you doing?" asked Musamaru, who had peeked out from behind the crate to see what was going on.
"I'm making a ramp for the crates." replied the dark-skinned blonde. He suspended his right hand over the bricks and made the fiery left hand weave a short set of seals ending with the combat seal. "Youton..." muttered Notwen, focusing heat into the bricks. After about a minute of channeling extreme heat into them from the palm of his right hand, the bricks had turned into a mound of semi-melted rock. The dark-skinned blonde utilized Tai Chi maneuvers alongside his firebending to smoothly shape the mound into a gentle slope that could be easily negotiated with the crates. Finally he placed his hand over the new ramp and guided the heat from it into his stomach and expelled it with a belch. Patting his chest, Notwen nodded to Musamaru. "You can move the first one into position now."
"Okay." The wheels on the rollers squeaked as the blue-haired boy pushed the crate until it was aligned with the doorway. "Is this good?" he asked. Notwen double-checked the angles and nodded.
"Yes it is." Turning his attention to the clones, the crippled Uchiha instructed them to use the chakra threads to pull the crate into the house while he and Musamaru pushed from the outside. The clones did as they were told and each attached three threads to the rollers and two to the crate. With their combined efforts the small team was able to get both crates into the house in ten minutes. The clones gave the young guide a high five before vanishing and giving Notwen their cumulative experience.
"I didn't know you could do all of that!" said Musamaru with an incredulous grin on his face. The dark-skinned blonde smiled.
"It wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for your lessons, Musamaru." he said.
"And what about mine?" The two boys turned around to find Rose standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "That Soul Spark... You've been practicing behind our backs haven't you?" she asked. Notwen started scratching his head and was about to answer, but the black-haired woman held up her hand. "It is of no matter. I commend you for your improvement in my technique, and also have a favor to ask of you." She held out a large paper folded in quarters for the dark-skinned blonde to take. "May you go down to the meat market and buy some fish for lunch? It should be down by the port area, but if you get lost look at this map." Notwen took the paper and put it in his pocket.
"Alright. I'll be back as soon as possible." With that said, the crippled Uchiha was out the door and walking briskly down the street.
"Come Musamaru. We're going to prepare lunch now." said the black-haired woman, beckoning to the young guide to follow her into the kitchen. Upon entering the room Musamaru was surprised to see pieces of raw, breaded fish next to sliced potatoes. The portions were more than enough for all three of them.
"Rose, why did you send Notwen out for fish. We have more than enough in the cold storage." Rose turned on the stove and turned to look at the blue-haired boy.
"Don't worry, Musamaru. I did not send Notwen for fish. Hopefully he can find what he's searching for."

Notwen had reached the port in ten minutes, but couldn't find the meat market. All he saw were kiosks with painted shells and gems and a few fishermen selling shellfish. With a sigh, the dark-skinned blonde pulled the map Rose had supplied him with and unfolded it. The contents on the paper caused his jaw to drop. It was a map leading from the port to what appeared to be an old shack further down the coast. Memorizing the shape of the line which he had to travel, Notwen folded the map and stuck it into his pocket while he ran as fast as he could without losing his balance. Within a few minutes the shack depicted on the map was in sight.
Please be there... Please be there... prayed Notwen as he finally arrived at his destination and knocked on the door. A funny smell permeated from the door, but the crippled Uchiha couldn't place it. A latch was pulled back and the door swung inward, revealing a tall old man. Suddenly Notwen was assailed by the reek of garlic, which was hanging all over the hut. The three-eyed boys eyes watered as the essence of the herb washed over him.
"I know why you are here. Come in." Notwen did as he was told and walked into the hut, wincing as the man closed the door behind him.
How could he live surrounded by so much garlic? wondered the Uchiha, trying to control his breathing in order to keep himself from gagging on the stinking fumes. The old man sat down in a rocking chair across from Notwen and poured himself some green concoction from a teapot, which Notwen could only guess was a tea made from garlic.
"Before i say anything, let me entertain you with a story. At first, there was only Nun. Nun was the dark waters of chaos..." It felt like an eternity had passed by the time the man had finished his tale of gods and royalty. After a decent enough time had gone by Notwen cleared his throat and said,
"Sir, may you tell me where i can find the sword? Please?"