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Musica watched Saikoro carefully as the boy went through a series of handseals as fast as he could. Which, granted, wasn't all that fast to begin with. I really should practice this a bit more. . . . he thought as his hands came to a rest. The redhead's chest puffed out as he took in a large amount of air. Futtoun Creation! Musica exhaled sharply, spewing a steaming blast of water at Saikoro. Musica didn't really plan on this attack to hit. Rather, it was just to test the waters. If it did hit, however, it would burn the man slowly over time. It was a bad habit to get into, attacking uselessly. But this was a friendly spar, so Musica didn't see too much current harm in it.

"Are you sure you can back up a guarantee like that?" Saikoro questioned from behind Musica, his bright blue eyes staring a hole into the back of his head as he stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. Whatever that had been afflicting his mind had been pushed out from the time being and due to the boy being in the mid of his attack the man believed it was safe to assume that the only one that may have noticed was Koji. "Why don't you try again?"

Saikoro raised a brow as the boy threw caution to the wind and launched at fist at the man. It was an very surprising tactic but that was because for the longest of time he hadn't faced a person who was actually willing to close the distance between him and attack him with in such a wild manner. A wild grin actually spread across Saikoro's lips, his hand quickly moving to grab the fist and turn it into his mid section as his body back and away from the blow but it wasn't enough. An uncomfortable warmth rocked through his body as the punch was actually enough to deal some damage to him and he felt a soreness arrive in his ribs.

Musica stared wide eyed at Saikoro, worry obvious in his expression. s**t. Did I over do it? The boy felt panic at that moment. Would Saikoro be okay? What would happen when they found out he used his Blasting Hand on a human? But what ran through Musica's mind the most was: what would happen to his mother? It was against the law for him to use that jutsu, and now he and his mom would have to pay the price because Musica couldn't control himself.

These thoughts were interrupted, however, by a faint chuckling. "Are-are you alright?" Musica asked. The polite response was a heel aimed at the boy's head. The boy jumped back to avoid the kick and found that he had managed to also avoid the bigger part of the explosion. Musica watched for any movement in the dust cloud, his mind going millions of miles per hour. That was my technique! How did he-? Musica's mind flashed back to when Saikoro had initially looked up. Those eyes. . . . those red eyes. Musica stepped back just as Saikoro launched himself forward. The boy carefully stepped back, leading the man into a spiral formation along the training grounds, redirection each punch away, careful to only make the barest amount of contact on the man's wrist, above the warm glow. It seemed like Saikoro's entire demeanor had been changed, as if a wilder side suddenly took over. Though, despite the sudden adrenaline rush, Musica was able to think. Yes, he was outclassed. And, yes, the man's changed scared him for a bit. But, as Musica diverted punches and dodged fists, he was still fighting calmly. And somewhere in the calm was a fire, a fighter's will, that allowed him to know that this wouldn't be the last time Saikoro and Musica saw combat together.

Musica found himself grinning as Saikoro jumped back, the fight coming to a slight stand still. The watched as the glowing spread from the man's hand through his arm Musica knew that he couldn't block it, even if his limbs wouldn't explode. No, the boy prepared himself to dodge as Saikoro flung himself at him. Musica leaped to side at the last second, to the side that wasn't glowing. But it wasn't fast enough. Musica's stomach was slammed with a force that would easily shatter the earth. However, the impact knocked him away from the fist the moment it struck, so the explosion damage was minimal. But damn did it hurt either way.

Saikoro took a deep breath and with an unnatural eeriness allowed his breath to come out in a heavy sigh, his body slouched over as his arms extended to either side and his neck twisted, giving him a disturbing appearance. "Don't disappoint me now, Musica... We're just starting up..." The man breathed out, wisps of flames now licking out of his mouth as he spoke. A hush of silence fell over the crowd of kids that were watching, a few adults now watching over the battle with a curious interest in the events(none of which planned to take any action as they were familiar with Saikoro and how truly dangerous he was when serious.)

The audience was captivated with the battle, Saikoro was the deranged demon that was out of control and rampaging through their village and their hero was Musica... the young boy with the ability to fight back and land blows against the almighty beast, his abilities seemingly able to do the creature harm. But the creature was adapting to the hero, becoming wise and mimicking the hero's special abilities but now! Their hero would turn the tables by releasing his new technique upon the raging creature. A suit of molten lava, fit for a true knight of the heavens sent down to send all unearthly creatures back to their bed in the deepest cravens of hell. The stage was set and even the legendary sword was set on the side lines to finish the story off with a happy ending, all that was left was for the Hero himself to rise to the occasion and bring down justice on the demon itself.

Saikoro let out a demonic growl from the deeper section of his throat as tongues of flames flicked out from either side of his mouth. "PREPARE YOURSELF!" The man growled, his mouth opened wide so the rolling flames could be easily seen within the belly of his mouth. Enjoying the play all too much, the man flicked his head and roared to the heavens as a true demon, his hands preforming the necessary seals as the crowd focused on his acting. Without hesitation the man charged foreword at Musica, his hand raising up in an 'o' position to his lips as he launched himself yet again to the air and spun around in mid flight, the flames of his fireball now descending in a rather large circle upon the training field. But the attack wasn't over as the rumble of hungry beast could be heard from within the flames...

The audience gasped in awe as the crimson flames crashed upon the scene and engulfed both their hero and the evil beast he was fighting. What had become of the two was left to the imaginations of each that viewed the scene but somewhere within the crowd a cheer weakly called out. The cheer was followed by another and another until the crowd was raised into hysterics, the passion and enthusiasm of their calling forms as powerful as the flames themselves as the repeated words could be heard for a distance and distance beyond that.


Without warning, the flames erupted outwards in a dramatic fashion to reveal Musica and Saikoro escaping from them as they unleashed blows after blows against each other. Both warriors were covered in burns from the flames but it was unsure of if there was truly any real damage upon their bodies. However it could be tell that neither were giving an inch as they launched one assault after another at each other, until Saikoro leaned more then normal into his backwards dodge and continued to back up quickly before dropping into a low stance. With eyes locked upon the molten warrior before him, he lunged out without worry of the lava that coated his form and speared his opened palm to the boy's chest. If he could be successful with this one strike, his finger tips would stab straight through the coating and pierce the upper layers of skin... the attack would be sharp and deadly and would leave no hesitation for Saikoro as he would close the entire distance between the two and stab his index finger through the boy's armor and into his naval where his chakra system was located. It would effectively disable the defensive technique at very least and possibly stop his entire chakra system at best. At which point the fight would practically be over if successful with his assault and he would allow the boy to fall in his defeat to a gentle ground.

As the boat finally came in to dock, Drake felt a shiver go down his spine. All around was a light fog, and it was alot cooler here than when he left the Fire Country. The fog that sat like a blanket around the village gave it almost an creepy feeling. Though he could see the homes and the other establishments of the small village clearly, the fog was there, like a constant reminder of where they live. Drake turned around and looked up at the captains cabing, seeing Thomas looking out toward the village as well, and called to him "Is it always like this?". "No," said Thomas, "This is common in the country of Water. Fogs start up in the morning, and because the country is sort of cooler than other places, the fog can last all day sometimes, from a heavy fog to a light one". Drake turned back to look at the village one more time, and tried to see if what Thomas said was true. Unfortunatly, he couldn't see too far. Drake turned his head around to look at Thomas again. "Thanks for the lift." he said to him. "No problem. Just know that I'll be leaving in a few hours after I refuel. If you got buisness here that might last till tommorow, or longer, then I would suggest staying at a hotel or something till your finished. I make the same rounds everyday, so I can take you back around those times when your ready" and with that, Thomas nodded his head and went back into the cabin. Drake looked down for a moment, lost in thought, then turned back and went down the ramp that a dock worker had just placed on the boat.

After spending only a little while in the village, Drake immediatly felt like an outsider. All around him, as the people of the village walked along the streets, he felt as if dark eyes were watching him, and hushed whispers were being spoken in shadowy corners. Everytime Drake tried to see where the eyes were, he'd only find an empty alleyway or a rat running by him. 'No wonder people from other countrys hardly come here. I feel as if someone is going to come out of nowhere and just wring my neck,' Drake thought. As he continued to walk along what seemed to be the main road of the village, he would look around to see if there was anything of interest to note. Drake saw that there was alot of import/export buisnesses, and that many of them were either the same company, or smaller ones that looked like they might close down at any moment. Drake got the feeling that most buisness around here was a constant battle, and that only the succesful ones would devour the smaller ones, like hungry sharks. Drake kept walking along the road, till he saw that the villaged had just ended about a few steps back, and that he was now on the main road for Mist, or he hoped he was at least. He kept walking along the road, lookign every once in awhile to see the landscape. The land wasn't filled with great forests like Fire, but with small rivers and flat lands, lakes and salt marches. Mangroves growed almost everyewhere, and Drake saw gulls and other birds pirched in them. The fog was a bit light around here, though the fact it was still there was a proving fact to what Thomas had told him: its a common sight around here. Strangly, Drake felt at peace while walking. Quiet and serene, it was a wonderful. But Drake couldn't afford to drop his guard, so he picked up his speed and went into a fast walk to move as quickly as possible to Mist. As he continued to go along the road, Drake pulled his pack around and removed the map from it. He opened it and looked at Water to see if the road he was on was there. Unfortunatly, no roads were shown, nor places or towns were listed on the map. It was as if the one who made the maps had never been here to write it down, or make note of the roads. 'Maybe the reputation of the Village Hidden in Mist kept him from coming here' Drake said to himself. He remebered reading about the villages history when he was in the Academy, and it was a gruesome one. Because the village was cut off from most of the world, it had little teaching on the jutsu used in other countrys. This had made the ninja here jumpy, and knew it needed warriors with no morality or ethical problems to be the most elite ninja of the world. So, they made a new doctrine for students of their academy: At the end of a classes education, when it comes to the test to graduate, the students will fight each other to the death, and the ones left standing will continue on to become elite ninja. It was pure madness, and the "test" made more murderers then elite ninja, people who revel in killing there opponents instead of reasonable ones. It was only much later, when the Elders of Mist saw what was becoming of there ninja was when the rectified the law and stopped it. This was, of course, before the Great Naruto Bridge was made. After it had been built, commerece and trade had returned, and the Village made sure to make their home a more peaceful one in hope of erasing there past. Though now these days the village is more peaceful, the past is not so easily erased and storys are still told about the Mist's attempt to create "elite ninja".

After about 15 minutes, Drake saw another village up ahead. He knew that this had to be Kirigakure, as it was much different from the others. For one, even from this distance, he could see a wall surrounding the edge of the village. It wasn't as tall as Fire's or Earth's, but it was a defensive wall none the less. As he got closer, he could see the main gate, with the symbol for water etched onto a large, blue wooden circle that hung on top of the gate. It was an impressive sight, and it was certain that it was supposed to do that to newcomers. After a few moments of walking along the road, Drake was now only a little bit away from the gate that he could see the black silhouettes of people standing in the fog. It would seem the fog was alot thicker here than before, making Drake wonder if this fog was natural, or a jutsu being sustained by the Mist ninja. In any case, Drake kept walking till one of the guards that were standing next to the gate turned and saw him. Instantly, the guard moved toward him, backed by two other ninja. Once Drake could see them more clearly was when they stopped moving toward him, and so did Drake.

The guard in front of the group was obviously the leader, as he looked Drake up and down. After a moment of silence, the guard finally spoke. "Leaf ninja. Before you go any further, you will tell us your name, rank, and purpose before entering Kirigakure". Drake had a feeling before that this might happen, but he wasn't worried. This was just standard procedure for gate guards, and he was going to cooperate. To a point. "My name is Drake. My rank is Genin. I am here for personal reasons, to read in Mists library to learn about its culture and history". This, of course, was only half true, but they didn't need to know the whole truth. After a moment of what was probably just thinking time for the guard, he said "Alright then. You may enter. But know that any trouble you cause will be reported to your home village." Then the man turned around and walked back toward his post with the other two. 'What a friendly bunch. I might take my next leave here.' Drake thought amusingly. Drake then walked forward, and entered Kirigakure.

'The first thing I'm going to have to do is gather information. Though it has been a long time, someone might just be able to tell me where a sword might be, or point me to someone who knows. Though, I doubt they would just tell me where it is out of the good of there heart.' Drake said to himself. 'Hm. Maybe I should start asking around. Wait, no, If Mist had taken one of the Swords for themselves, then it would be in there interest if someone were to just start asking about them. The best thing to do is to wait and see. Perhaps the Library will have something I can use'. After asking a local about the location of the Library, Drake walked along the main road for a little while. He saw that alot of the building in Mist were built to last through anything. All of them had been reinforced with steel beams and other strong material. He also noticed that while the fog was lighter now, it seemed that the color of the roof tiles were to camoflauge with the fog, as it was difficult to see what the color was. Drake also saw that the main road and streets he passed by had deep, yellow lanterns to help people navigate the roads when a fog was upon them, like it was now. After walking a little while longer, Drake saw up on the left a large round building. It was different then the other buildings, as it was painted red, and was left alone from support structures. Once he was standing in front of the building, Drake saw the sign that said "Library" on it. He walked forward and pulled on the door to open it, only to find that it was locked. 'Strange', Drake said to himself, 'It's at least mid-afternoon. So why isn't this open?' "You won't be able to get in there. It's been closed for several years now." said the voice of an older woman. Drake turned to look at the woman. She was at least in her late 60's, possibly early 70's. She wore a grey robe, small sandals, and had half-circle glasses on. She also carried a small brown satchel on her hip. She was standing bent over a wooden cane. "Why was it closed? And how long ago?" Drake asked the elder woman. "Well, it wasn't that long ago, only just after the war. They had to shut it down since the building was too old. They moved everything to a warehose on the outskirts of the village, and is acting as the current Library till the decide to build one or remodel this one." the old woman told Drake. He gave her a small bow and said "Thank you for the information". She nodded, then went on to walking down the road. Drake then went back onto the main road, and soon found another local. He asked them where the warehouse that was acting as the library was, and they told him it was south east of the main gate. Afterwards, Drake started to move along roads and alleys in order to make his way there. Each time he made a turn, he saw that many people were silent, even the market he passed by after the third turn he made. 'Strange. Why is everyone quiet? or am I going deaf?' Drake said to himself. After awhile of going down more dark, garbage littered alleys, Drake finally found the warehouse district. It was just two rows of tall, two story buildings that all looked alike. He walked along the road that ran parallel to the warehouses, moving in what he thought was south. After a moment, he found someone just coming out one of the building. Drake ran up to the man, and asked him "Do you know where the warehouse acting as a library is?". "Its this one I just came out of" the man replied. "Thanks" Drake said to him, then walked past him and opened the steel door.

(Current Lines - 107)
(Total Lines - 107(sent in update for level. Total Lines reset))
(Quest-Stage 2 - 107/200)