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"Yes, but I'm not entirely fond of killing for no reason, and the only reason he doesn't kill is so that a person can remake the blood in their veins, so he can keep drinking it. Not my idea of a good time."

Arito formed a hand seal, "CM: Diamond Roots!" Diamond tendrils reached up from the stalagmite the girl was presently standing on and needled sewed its way into the fabric of the girl's shoes.

"Any advice on how to form a relationship with a demon, with whom all your views are fairly well opposites? We can't all have killing intent you seem to have."

Arito focused on the trunk of a tree near the girl. "Shatter." The base of the tree detonated, and the tall tree began to tilt toward the girl.

"I'd really appreciate having another person's opinion on this matter, just in case I happen to make it out of this forest alive."

"Well, i guess, reasoning is possibly the only way. and, i kill because i am a rogue assassin. it is my job." the trunk then fell on the girl and there was a puff of smoke. then, the real ni- came up to where arito was hiding and dug her nails into it, dragging him out. She smirked and held him close to her face. "And a murderous intent is key to my personality."

"I dont think so." she said through gritted fangs as she dug her nails into a nerve in his arm, past the gauntlet, restricting any movement. when his hand finally loosened grip, she jumped a few feet in front of him, just to give some distance. ni-'s nose was bleeding slightly. "Very quick thinking, indeed." she said as she wiped the blood away.

As of now, wild was the only word that described the current situation, as a scene of battling and running, large amounts of running, played out. Certain things needed to be accomplished, although running was against the code of ethics for many ninja, one of the best assets said ninja could have was knowing when to fight, and when to run. After all, a ninja's greatest technique was knowing how to use the knowledge they have been given, even if it means using it for purposes selfish, or otherwise. Regardless of stance, one must use their own knowledge to survive, lest they be killed. Sheer brute force and brawn will never suffice in a battle against a compotent enemy, as said enemy would simply take advantage of the foolishness of the counterpart in the battle. A simple idea, the usage of wisdom could be so complex, that one can often misunderstand the whole concept. That usually happens when one is too transfixed on one particular goal....

Fiyo and Shin were running, quite literately, out of time, trying to find some way to prevent the Land of Earth from being ravaged, once again, by the power of a tailed beast. However, choosing to stay in the Land of Earth might have been a better idea. The duo was being chased and attacked by several clones of ANBU of the water, trying to get into the Water Kage's building without being noticed. Judging by the size of the crowd who had watched the fight, that plan was all but forgotten, the only mission to get inside the building, and go from there. With the building in the distance, that task seemed simple enough, at least, without the collective number of loyal ninja ammasing infront of the building. The numbers grew from a small group of about ten, to the twenties, now facing a group upwards of One hundred ninja and villagers. Genin, Jonin, the ranks were all there, all trying to protect their village from the two S-class ninja attacking it. Try as they might, the afformentioned group wasn't turning back any time soon.

Fiyo couldn't help but grin. The thoughts going through the heads of the ninja, trying to stop something that couldn't be stopped, doing it all in the name of their precious Kage. What a shame, pledging so much allegiance from a foolish cause, knowing that they were about to be cut down relentlessly, only to be honored by a foolish memorial service, to be over shadowed by the death of their own Kage, which they died fighting for. That, and the village probably would be ravaged by the likes of the host, being there no Kage to stop it. Fiyo didn't know exactly what the host could be doing at this very moment, most likely destroying the citizens of the Land of Earth, but that wasn't important....at least not yet. The citizens...so loyal to their own Kage, fighting an already losing battle, showing little to no fear in the face of a great enemy. Fiyo had to realized that they were indeed great ninja, in the sense of their mindsets, not their skills. Better still, there were many of them, and avoiding battle would be the smartest choice....

Shin was in a rather sticky situation, perplexed by the thought of a plan Fiyo pormised, which was shaping up to be nothing more than rushing, killing, and leaving. Shin, being an ANBU, knew how to use lethal force, but also knew when not to use it, the latter being much more important. The subject became even more prevailent with the fact that there were just so many ninja waiting in the wings, a large population of which was standing infront of Shin and Fiyo. The fact was stamina quickly coming into play, and after fighting that many of the ANBU, Shin just felt like she wouldn't have it in her to fight all of these ninja, and have a very climatic battle with a certain Kage. Despite how sure of himself Fiyo looked, added to the gleaming crimson scar on his chest, Fiyo was suffering from the same illness, only handling it in a different, much more sinister way. Using her better judgment, Shin stopped in her tracks, followed by Fiyo, who knew better than to rush into a fight.

Shin had a concern to address with Fiyo. Whispering to Fiyo, Shin addressed her conflict to Fiyo's non existent plan. "Listen, buddy. What exactly is your plan? I'm sure it involves rushing headlong into the group of ninja, and seeing who still has their head on when it's over. There's a slight problem, as we don't have never ending chakra wells to draw from, that's what tailed beasts are for. How do you exactly plan on getting through this group, and attacking and killing the Kage?"

Fiyo, on the other hand, was rather taken aback, firstly by Shin's stopping in the potential line of fire, and then again by her doubtful questioning of his plan. Then again, he thought, who was he kidding. He had no plan, he never did, he simply wanted to kill the Kage, making things much easier in the long run. So be it, He had to come up with something....Then it hit him. Finally a plan, something to be proud of. He quickly retrieved this data forming in his head to Shin. "Listen, I do have a plan, thank you. We're not going to fight these foolish ninja at all. No, I have a better idea. We will simply by pass them, using several clones. Yes, we're still rushing headlong, as that is the most entertaining part, but we will simply create clones and leave. In the midst of all that loyalty driven fighting, they will never know. Just make a wall, then the clones, and by the time they realize what has happened, we will be inside that very building."

Shin, having no choice but to listen to the person who could cause her intense pain for a very long time, continued onward, following Fiyo's risky plan. First, she created a large slab of ice as a wall, to conceal them. Just as Fiyo had promised, the ninja took the bait, attacking with various ranged weapons, almost breaking the first wall instantly. At risk of using more chakra, Shin formed the water in the atmosphere into two more walls. Then, just as Fiyo had suggested, the duo made clones, and escaped in the shadows. Moving off toward the side of the Kage building, Shin noticed that the clones were destroyed much faster than once thought by Fiyo, so much so that many eyes turned toward the tower. Fiyo, once again, had a plan, summoning a large, flaming lion to deal with the masses of ninja, leaving just enough time to infiltrate the Kage building. As one would expect, the Kage was warned of their arrival, and was ready and waiting for them, as a large battle would soon ensue. Despite also knowing this, Fiyo walks directly into the prescence of the Kage, leading Shin into the area behind him.

Engaged in a heated standoff, the combatants began to stare at each other, sizing up the opposing forces. The ANBU tried to attack Shin and Fiyo from behind, but all attempts for suprise were twarted by the sounds of a flaming panther attacking. The stand off comtinued, until the Kage did something unimaginable, as he began to remove his face. Naturally, the face was a mask, revealing the one posing as Kage to be none other than a member of the Zongetsi, the sensai of both Shin and Fiyo, Locki. Taken aback, Shin's face twisted to a look of disgust, knowing that the Zongetsi had influence in her homeland for quite some time. No was not the time for words, but the time for battle. Fiyo shared the same idea, all parties gearing up for war.

The attacking parties all began to reach for their swords, the battle about to ensue, only to be shocked by a sound so loud and terrible only to be describe as the sound of impending destruction. Due to the experience of the three shinobi, the looks on their faces twisted to that of something terrible. Only this sound could stop a battle such as this, a signal to another battle.

The sound was of the tailed beast awakening, the host using the force sleep jutsu.

The battle had begun.


"So, assuming you three heard that, we should be going. Come, the four of us have a beast to seal away." Said a raspy, cold, sinister voice.

"Right, Kiva. Let's finish this mission." Replied three others in unison. The four in black, full body cloaks departed, the blue crescent moons on their cloaks shining in the light.

[[ooc: basically, hear the sound, and go to where it came from, the forbidden plains, the burial ground. The beast is a very large, two tailed lion, with dark blue fur. I will descibe it more tomorrow. Don't do anything drastic, as the last part of my post confirmed the Zongetsi in the area. They are strong, and with 4 of them at once, too strong...as of now.]]

"Fine then." said ni-. 'how idiotic. he still hasnt noticed that you are one of the tailed beasts, in a lighter form. this isnt your true form, is it ni-?' "No, it's not. and yes, idiotic it may be. that cry was probably one of my close relatives." replied ni-, ears twitching, "maybe i should pay a visit?" 'do what you wish...i've been dying to meet one of your family members.' "Trust me, it's not a very pretty sight." replied ni- as she disappeared into the forest very quickly.

Kuraiyume awoke once more from his resting state. His chakra was fully restored after resting for around a day, and his injuries were dealt with: they were wrapped up nicely and Kuraiyume could move again.

Then he nearly passed out again when he heard of the news.

The medical nin told him that, despite the fact that they wanted him to stay and rest, he had to aid in the fight, against the freed two-tailed beast. The first thing he worried about were his genin, which he left alone on the burial plains, fighting the water shinobi. The second was his physical condition, but he dismissed it as he grabbed his kusari-gama, pocketed Yoruken's claws, and raced off to the plains.

He nearly collided with Taiyouhi as he ran in crazed flight, Hayaiko and Chi Hana following behind him. Kuraiyume heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods you guys are alright, but I'm afraid that you're running in the wrong direction. We need to fight the beast; it is the only way to save our nation. There is no room for fear of death, and no reason. Should we die, it will be in honor, defending our nation, and we'll be immortalized in the hearts of our nation forever. Now, we must return and fight for our future!"

"But Sensei," Chi Hana said in a low voice, filled with fright. "How can we hope to defeat such a creature as this?"

"Destiny, Hana. It is our destiny to win, and nothing can stop that."

She pondered Kuraiyume's words. Ever since she became Kuraiyume's student, all he talked about was "destiny," and "the gods." Suddenly she realized that maybe his talk of destiny was not just fiction. She nodded, suddenly more confident. "If it is my destiny to die, so be it," he said softly, "For I'll die as a hero, and death is a fair price for immortality."

Hayaiko thought for a moment and then put his hand on his sword. "I don't care about destiny. I care about my nation, my villiage, and my friends, and I'll fight to the bitter end to defend them."

Taiyouhi glanced over at Chi Hana, and suddenly he knew that he would do the same. He also knew that right now might be his last chance to tell her. He hesitated for a moment, and then softly, but confidently said, "Hana... in case I don't make it out of here, I wanted to say... that I love you, and nothing, not even the second tailed beast, will stop me as long as I'm fighting for you."

Hana blushed. For once in her life she was speechless. Her entire life had now converged into this moment. After a short pause, she said to him, "Taiyouhi, I'll never forget those words. If we make it through this, I might think of something romantic to say to you, but I'm speechless right now. However, if I need to say my last words right now, then so be it. It's impossible not to love you after hearing those words, Taiyouhi. Impossible."

Kuraiyume cut in at that moment, annoyed that his genin needed to express their love for each other at this moment, and that they couldn't have done it before their nation was in a crisis. "I hate to be the one to ruin your moment, but there's a gigantic, blue, two tailed lion rampaging through the burial plains, and we need to stop it."

"Right!" all three genin yelled at once.

They dashed towards the plains to join their brethren in engaging the monster.

((The lion is the beast. The host might be your relative, but the beast is not. The host happens to be asleep, freeing the lion. Please delete you're post.))

((geez, always so particular. fine. and what i meant is that ni-kisone used to be a free beast, as was the lion. they were relatives, i wasnt. and what arito just explained about us bein from the same mold, yea. thats true!!! 3nodding 3nodding ))