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Shun eyed the vibrant white skin of Takera's hand and raised a brow at it, rather curious about it. He wondered if it had something to do with the sudden scent change Takera had undergone, but he would work to figure that out later. Shun stood and listened to Takera speak all the while he looked around in order to test his senses a little more. Even though he had thought he should leave it to rest, but something inside of him itched to attempt to fully obtain a grasp of his newfound power.

He took a sniff of the air, more specifically around Averus. "Bacon... Egg... Cheese... on a biscuit." Shun grinned just a little before he shrugged his shoulders. "I would not be against going somewhere... the smell of all of this food is making me hungry..." The smells still overpowered him slightly, but he tracked the majority of them down to their location in the marketplace. The smell of various meats and spices that were roasting on fire pits seemed to make him drool out of hunger. He wondered if this new obsession with meat was due to his new change, but he was not completely sure.

Deep down he could feel something inside of him wanting to claw out of him, to take control and run rampart. What did he do to me... Shun grit his teeth, his eyes closing as he focused and suppressed the growing feeling. Shun was about to step forward in the direction that Takera pointed but immediately stopped and sniffed the air. A low growl emitted from his throat as he looked in the direction of the hooded figure that was coming towards them. He could smell the others that were not entirely too far away, but his most immediate concern was the scent that was coming toward them. "We have company... we need to move... there are too many people here... too many people could get hurt... Library..."

--------- Meanwhile... --------

"Hahahahahahaha... go." The monstrous wolf commanded a second wolf that sat beside him; this wolf was much smaller than him, but he was similar in nature except he was all black. The wolf howled just loud enough that Shun could hear it followed up by an even louder howl from the larger wolf beside him. The secondary beast took off from their location on a rooftop, heading toward his destination - to his new master.

The monstrous wolf stepped forward, almost disappearing from sight before reappearing in a silent approach behind one of the hooded figures with a twisted grin across his muzzle. This is going to be fun... He licked his lips as he stood and waited for the more opportune time to strike. The beast had been tracking Shun since his attack on the boy last night, he could smell everything and everyone who was inside of the city. Anything unfamiliar to him or seemed different than the normal scents from Kumogakure he made an immediate note of. He was living up to the promise he had given his master, the boy's mother than he would protect Shun but also train him when the time became right.

While he sat there he remembered that night clearly as if it had just happened yesterday. Both Shun and his pup, Sha, had been born at the same time and seemed to have some unnatural link to one another. Shun would not have sensed this because his father sealed his bloodline, providing that only Zarathos could awaken it when he deemed appropriate.

He had not found Shun until a few years ago, but he decided to not approach him until last night. The wolf had been watching him grow to be both an intelligent ninja, but also one who lacked commitment and dedication. He felt both of those properties would be failings for the boy and kept a watch to see if he would improve at all.

It frustrated him the more the child became careless, but he saw something in him the day before. A potential when he had felt him move and attack without hesitation. It intrigued him. Perhaps this was the best time to awaken him, force him to adapt to the animal-like instincts that would be coursing through his blood. They seemed to prove useful now with how he was being followed and discern threats that would approach them.

It will be certainly fun to break the boy and mold him into a monster...hahahaha.. Zarathos thought to himself as he resumed waiting for his chance to strike. He began to wonder how much fear he would invoke in the young shinobi if he appeared before him again. This thought excited him thoroughly.

Averus looked in surprise at Shun, who began to name off the food he had just eaten for breakfast. In a way, it sort of spooked him that he got all that from just smell. “Impressive…” Averus spoke to him, his eyes slightly wide. “Well then, lets…” Before Averus could finish his sentence, he heard the growl that came from Shun’s throat, and he looked even more surprised, before hearing that they had company. Averus took a quick look around his surroundings, and though his eye twitched slightly in the direction Takera mentioned, he was sure that things were more than they appeared. Averus turned his head to Takera, nodding. “Let’s head toward the library, but if we can we have to avoid crowds and people.”

Averus began to wonder if this was some kind of test setup again by Shyn and the other shinobi like before. Yet, the fact that Shun had let out a low growl meant otherwise. This was an enemy, an unknown factor to the village that seemed bent on...well, at the moment approaching them. Though he was curious to know more, Averus knew that they had to keep moving, walking with his comrades toward the library. “We must be careful, best to let them think we are unaware of them till we are in a better position” Averus advised his friends as they walked.

Meanwhile, the hooded and cloaked figure kept his normal pace as they walked behind the crowd, yet never picking up the pace, and keeping their eyes set on the three man team. It was clear to anyone that this was someone dangerous, almost an air of bloodlust came off of the cloaked figure. The very crowd he hid behind instinctively stayed a few feet ahead of them, yet didn’t seem to notice him either. The other four that had left and hidden themselves were on the move still, and Zarathos wouldn’t find it all too difficult to find them, as well as the other, younger wolf.

The hooded figure lifted a hand, wrapped in black bandages, up to their hood, moving into it as if to touch their ear. “Target and group are on the move. Lin, set the Net, and ready the Dome as well for when it is time. Grant, Orsai, Grimm, ready to move on my mark, watch for any problems as well.” Then the figure dropped their hand down to the side again, and continued to follow the group. “This will be an interesting job. A dog child, a cursed boy, and a kid with stitches.” The figure continued their approach, keeping at a careful distance.

Once the group had arrived at the Library, Averus looked back a little, and saw that the hooded figure had followed them, but then turned down a street corner and into an alley. A moment later, Shun and the wolves would lose all sense of smell, as well as everything else, as the hooded figure seemed to disappear. The other four were not hard to find again, but something would smell very off around the area. Buildings seemed to radiate with a smell of string and a earthy, mud smell.

Averus looked around once more, before looking toward the entrance of the Library. “It should be rather empty inside, save for the librarian, at this time of the day. Once inside, we need to be ready.” Averus spoke softly for only the two to hear. The Library itself was a two story building, two large wooden doors framed in iron was the entrance, several windows that were closed shut with wooden shudders.

Averus walked up with the group to the entrance, opening the door for them to enter, then closed it behind them. The entrance hall was that of a small hallway, an open archway that led to a circle desk with a single woman sitting behind the counter. She seemed to be reading a scroll, waving a hand in greeting. Past her, there was rows of tables and shelves of books near the walls, a bit more open so that many people can sit and read in peace. Several staircases went upstairs, where all the walls were lines with shelves of books.

It was at this point that two hooded figures stood on the rooftop of the library. One was shorter and cloaked, the other was the hooded figure from before who had somehow made it to the top. Both made no movement, and seemed to be waiting.
















[Word Count: 749]
[Total Words: 8889 ]

Zarathos continued to follow the man even when he stepped into the alley with the dead end. Fool... The large wolf stopped the moment the man turned around and pulled the hood back. He watched him for a moment and seemed to cackle into a howl. "Oh, of course not... however you are quite a fool... you should never have stepped into my territory... Time to let loose." Zarathos seemed to twist his head slightly as his body became much more feral in nature, his expression, his eyes, even the tone of his growls had deepened. The large beast unleashed his own bloodlust, dwarfing that of the man by tenfold as he cackled and stepped forward toward the man slowly at first. It only took a moment and Zarathos was upon him, teeth and fangs bared to crush his throat.

-----

Shun stared at the wolf who padded over to him and pressed his muzzle into the pant leg of the shinobi, looking up to him and barked. It was strange... Shun did not seem to understand who this wolf was, but just a moment later he seemed to understand what the beast was saying. He could smell the scent of Zarathos on Sha, which almost made him wonder if this was that same wolf. He almost had backed away, but stopped when the scent of another came into question from the animal. It seemed much more friendlier than the other one and he had heard the second howl.

He reached down to lightly pet the wolf hound before nodding slightly. "Alright.. I understand." Sha barked again before immediately turning toward the doors when the blew open and slammed into the front desk. Shun watched as the figures stepped into the room, raising an eyebrow at the difference in both of them. Even when the man had removed his robs, he did not seem very surprised but narrowed his eyes to examine the tattoos. His eyes shifted over to the other man, mostly noticing he was their age and the sword that stuck out of the opening of his robes.

"Takera? Takera is dead... he died last night. Poisoned... the poor man..." Shun stepped forward in his approach, his hands behind his back as he twirled the senbon he had used against the librarian between his fingers. "I'm Shun, the lovely gentleman wrapped in bandages is Averus and the other one is Takito, my eldest brother who returned home just last night!" He doubted that they would believe him, he was mostly just trying to talk in order to give Averus and Takera time to formulate a plan. "You see he is a great writer... he writes very perverse books... our father is very disappointed in him for being such a terrible son... even I am disappointed in him... I wanted to follow in his footsteps! Become a writer of pornographic content! It was my dream!" A small surge of lightning left his fingertips, starting to hum through the steel senbon.

The masked man looked at the large wolf that entered the alley with him, tilting his head a little as the beast began to change his demeanour into that of something far more feral in nature, feeling the wave of bloodlust that could crush their own. However, the man did not flinch, nor did the masked man even attempt to jump out of the way. As the teeth dug into the man’s shoulder and neck, Zarathos would get a sudden taste of metal and dirt, as if the body itself was made of clay.

“Fool I might be, but not foolish enough to walk into enemy territory without a plan. I do apologize, as I would prefer to face you with honor, but for now I hope you can at least wait it out here in this cage. Lin, create the cage”

A moment later, the walls of the alley morphed and changed rather rapidly, and faster than the wind long thin spikes began to shoot out from wall to wall, yet never approaching close enough to Zarathos and the now melting masked man. A ceiling formed like spider tendrils of silk, and the wolf would be entrapped with a small cell. If Zarathos sniffed the spikes, he would smell the stench of chakra inside them, and a dangerous, volatile one at that.

-------

Averus looked at the two men who stood at the remains of the front desk, and ask for Takera. He stayed silent, looking over at the clone that had approached, but had no real idea that it was a clone. Hearing the words Shun spoke, he almost wanted to start laughing rather hard at that, and wondered what Takera was thinking of when he started to hear that as well. Then he heard Takera also start to play along with the idea of him being the older brother who had a rather perverted nature.

“Yes, a fan who has a strange allure toward the works of the great man, this pioneer of innovation, this connoisseur of the writings of pleasure. I am...but a peon to his majesty” Averus hammed it up as best he could, but he was seriously going to punch someone if he had to drag himself into the mud like this. Though, he knew it was just for show, and that the fact they were looking for Takera meant they were here to clearly do damage and harm to him. Averus looked over toward Takera and Shun, then back to the man who called himself Grant. “So, less you are here for a signing, perhaps you should leave? The librarian does not take kindly to visitors who bust down the door.”

Grant looked between them all, and Orsai spat on the ground again, clearly not being amused by any of what they had been saying. Grant raised a meaty hand to his chin and rubbed it, looking down at his notepad as if he was reading a few lines from it.

“Strange. If that really is a classy writer of the perverse arts, then perhaps you know of Kyen Melon, writers of ‘Slime of the Life’? I hear she has a wonderful series of lust novels, all of them well known to any who would aspire to such skill?”

Grant spoke to them as he looked up with a gleam in his eye, while Orsai was looking a bit dumbstruck to that line of reasoning.

“Thing is, if you are not Takera, then you clearly look rather alike, from how you dress to the eyes, to the color of hair, height, body size. Almost as if you are a complete copy of the actual Takera”

Grant spoke as he put the notepad back into his small pocket on his vest. “Look, we have been doing this kind of things for a good long time, and know when someone is either lying to us, or just making a fool of themselves. So, how about we act like men here and act honestly?”

---------

Grimm and Lin stood still on the roof of the building, and Grimm held a gloved finger to his ear. He nodded, then turned his head toward the girl who had finished with a one handed seal she had been holding. “Boss says its time”

Lin had a devilish grin on her face at that, then put both hands together. Lines of chakra began to appear around the building of the library, as well as several other buildings that had been surrounding it, as well as the streets. Moments later there was shouts as citizens were scrambling as spikes of earth began to jump out around where the lines were, jabbing into other walls and streets as it created a sort of cage around the area, much like earlier in the alley.
















[Word Count: 800]
[Total Words: 11302 ]

Shun just shot a grin over to Takera before he closed his coat and buttoned it back up. He seemed to step up forward again one hand behind his back twirling the lightning infused shaft of metal while the other remained at his side, but it looked as if he was rolling something between his fingertips. The boy stopped just a few feet away from both Grant and Orsai. "You know it's rude right..? Coming into someone else's home to make demands... but we might let you have Takera. However..." He moved the arm that held the senbon out, flipping it between two of his fingers as the lightning dissipated and the piece of metal disappeared down the sleeve of his coat. "I know of two men who could get inside... one of them would outright destroy the entire Library just to get in.. but considering the chaos being caused in the city he is most likely dealing with that..."

A small line of water seemed to advance from the bottom of his heel, sprouting backwards very slowly toward Averus and the clone of Takera. It would snake it's way toward the section where the forbidden scrolls were held. "But I feel that it would better serve us if we speak plainly without weapons... no one needs to die or get injured here. If your 'boss' wishes to obtain Takera without some cliche battle happening, it would be best for us to sit down and talk... I can tell that.." Shun pointed one finger over at Grant. "You can appreciate the fine arts... do you really want to destroy all of these great works over one measly ninja? Seems like a waste if you ask me... so why don't we all just calm down and relax... tell me what you want with Takera.. what makes a Genin so valuable to this boss of yours?"