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Hedoro saw the village in the distance, and a faint shiver ran through her cloaked and rag-clad form. Even this long after she had broke free from the chains that had bound her, the memories of what she had endured still plagued her. She still felt that same urge, that same hunger, as she had always felt. The desire to simply let loose, release her restraints and unleash her wrath and hunger upon anything in reach. Hidden Rain in particular. The urge to simple devour the village whole still hung in the back of her mind, the ever-present allure of complete destruction a very alluring prospect. But no, she would not give in to her urges so easily. She was in control, she chose her actions, they didn't control her. She would devour the village when it suited her, not when her hunger told her to. Even so, she was getting so very hungry... She looked around, wondering if there might be a hapless citizen, one who might not know enough to avoid the figure shrouded in rags and scraps. She had been laying low for quite some time, but it would be foolish to assume that anyone had forgotten all that she had done. Those wounds would not heal for a long time, even if the various villages had finished repairs some time ago. She didn't give any time over to trying to make amends, though. In her opinion, the humans were lucky she hadn't finished the job and devoured the lot of them, anything less was mercy. Sot here was nothing to apologize for. And if any would be so foolish as to demand reparations from her, then they would be the next object of interest in her own pursuit of a meal.

During the course of her mental wandering, it seemed she had done some physical wandering as well, and had come to the midst of the village. As usual, there were brooding storm clouds overhead. It would not be long before the village's namesake would make it's appearance known once again. She would enjoy the downpour, as closely associated to water as she was. But for now, there was no precipitation. She could sense a few humans nearby, though the few that noticed her were quick to recognize her and just as quickly avert their eyes. The normal reaction. She ignored them just as thoroughly as they ignored her, though with a different mindset. They feared and hated her, she didn't particularly feel one way or another about them, beyond their use as food.

But eventually, fate decreed there would be at least one nuisance, one human who could not simply ignore her and go about their business. One foolish human who seemed to think themselves capable of inflicting injury upon her, of punishing her for her supposed crimes. This individual was unfamiliar to her, an apparent new face in the village's roster of ninja. Young, approximately sixteen if she judged correctly. They had a slender build, and wore what passed for normal for a practitioner of the ninja arts. Snug clothing that emphasized mobility, decorated with several pouches for tools but no sign of rank or identification. Muted colors that might allow camouflage. And a look of disgust and hatred that seemed to have built up for quite some time. Whoever this interloper was, they had been waiting for a chance to attack her. If that was the case, she could hardly disappoint, could she? Maybe a little exercise would prepare her appetite for the meal that would soon follow. They pointed at her with an imperious gesture a sneer on their face and in their voice. They seemed to think they were the righteous one, condemning her for everything she had done. As their diatribe continued, she got the feeling they weren't after justice, they wanted revenge. She had likely eaten someone important to them. Well, then why not let this one join the other? She made no verbal reply, no attempt to excuse her actions. Instead, she just raised an arm, and beckoned to the upstart. Find out if they were foolish enough to come closer, engage in melee combat. And sure enough, the young male rushed her, pulling out a pair of short swords. Hedoro didn't bother pulling out a weapon of her own, there was no need. She just shifted into a ready stance, her movements more fluid by far than any human fighter. Even with the rags and tatters that passed for her outfit, she was just as maneuverable as ever, and apparently just as identifiable too. What was the point in a disguise if everyone could see through it? This was the level of thought that she was at, even in the midst of battle with this untested youth. They seemed to have decent enough form with their blades, they must have been training. Only one blade did more than cut at already ragged scraps of cloth, though. The blade in the human's left hand bit deep, cutting a furrow in her side that could have filled back in almost instantly but didn't. Another test, to see if her opponent knew that slicing and cutting was useless on someone like her.
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Hedoro held herself back from attacking, she wanted to see if that last hit had perhaps knocked some sense into her adversary. He had to know, by now at least, that he didn't stand a chance. Yet even so, he was still glaring at her, fury in his eyes. She could sense him clench a fist out of frustration, the knuckles whitening from pressure. He got up and straightened his clothing from where it had gotten twisted during the fall. He was visibly trembling by this point, with barely suppressed rage. Whatever it was he had been nursing as a grudge over all this time, it seemed it had festered into something more. He wasn't going to stop, not willingly. That gave her a few less options. She wasn't interested in fighting someone as weak as this, it was insulting. She had earned the recognition she possessed, for some nobody to think they could best her, that was an appalling level of hubris. She still had other things she had to take care of, too. She'd make this quick. Even so, she showed an unusual moment of mercy when she spoke, told him to leave now, while he was still able to. Predictably, the human scoffed at her offer, supposing that she was frightened or some other silly fabrication. Well, she had tried, whatever happened after this was his fault.

She watched as he seemed to try to steel himself for another charge, and gave a slight shake of her head. This had gone on long enough. An instant later, a silver rod slipped out of her arm, revealing itself to be a flute. Without even bothering to bring it to her face, she held it and began playing. The way that Hedoro spoke was more reliant on using air that was suspended within her own colloidal structure than anything else. So she could just as easily talk with her hands. Or in this case, play a flute. The melody that came forth was a strident, piercing noise, filling the air with it's shrill cry. The man seemed confused, playing a flute didn't seem to be something that happened in the midst of a fight. Of course, he wasn't familiar with just how sound could be used as a weapon. Sometimes a subtler weapon was better than something blatant like a sword.

The man stared hard, blinking his eyes a few times. His vision had gone blurry, what was happening? His vision cleared up, but that blasted music was still going! He shouted at the rag-clad figure to stop playing, and curiously enough, she did. Had she come to her senses, and realized she didn't stand a chance? He grinned sadistically and pulled out his short swords once more. He rushed forward, and marveled at how much faster he felt. She seemed to be moving in slow motion. even as his blades lashed out, again and again and again, cutting chunks of her away in a flurry of violence. He frowned, was this it? Hedoro was spoken of as a destroyer, devourer. Could it have been this easy to defeat her? There was no cry of pain, no splash of blood, nothing. Moments later, it was done. He stood there, panting, chest heaving, scattered bits of blue all around him. Suddenly, he felt his heart pulse, and doubled over at the sudden pain. Crying out, he dropped his blades and sank to his knees. The pain grew even stronger, it felt like he couldn't breathe! He pounded at his chest with one hand, only to gurgle out in pain and terror as the blow from his own fist seemed to fracture his ribcage. Shards of bone stuck out, glistening with blood and viscera. His vision began graying even as the wound to his chest grew even more severe, blood fountaining forth, showering the dirt in front of him in crimson, turning it to mud. And still, the wound intensified, more of his body seemed to collapse in on itself and rot away. As the last of his life fled before his eyes, he still didn't know. Just what was happening, she hadn't hit him. Just that one strike earlier, but that couldn't have done this, could it? A gurgle escaped his throat as he slipped away into the darkness.

Hedoro watched as the human twitched in the throes of terror from her Genjutsu. She had pulled him into a world of illusion from the moment he listened to her flute's melody. That had ended this fight in the simplest manner possible. He wasn't dead, though there was no guarantee he would ever wake up. If he didn't have some inner reserve of strength of will, he would remain as he was now, and sleep the rest of his life away, in the midst of unending nightmares. If he did have resolve, however, he might manage to shake free of the effects of Wilted Rose, and eventually regain consciousness. Even then, it would be a very long time before he would be in any condition to bother her again. That suited her just fine. Leaving the incapacitated human where he lay, she turned on her heel and continued on her journey.
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Shiori looked ahead into the distance. As expected, only a few miles ahead, the sky turned from bright and cherry into dark and gloomy. Hidden Rain, Amegakure, her home. She felt she should really return, and at least go through the motions of learning the rest of her clan's special techniques before continuing on her journey. If she mastered all of them, then there was no reason why she couldn't be allowed to go out on her own, study where she wished, and learn what she wanted. That was a worthy goal, worthy enough to force herself to endure the rain once more. So she walked forward, getting closer and closer to her home. She could already imagine hearing the rain, an ever-present drizzling, tapping, skittering sound as it danced on a rusty tin roof. The sound as it flowed through pipes and ran down the edges of buildings, through gutters and into the street, turning the mud that was already soaked into a morass that sucked at every footstep, that stained each cloak. She was used to it form all her previous years, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She just wanted to get it over with, learn what she felt she had to, then lave right away. She was a quick study, she had always known that. If that was true, then maybe she could push herself, learn all of those techniques in one day, and be gone again before she had felt that same disturbing sensation of bone-chilling cold and misery from the endless rain?

She continued on, pulling out her umbrella as she got close. It never really completely protected anyone from the rain, at least not in Amegakure, but it helped. And that was enough. She didn't bother wearing one of those ludicrous ponchos that some had taken to, she felt that such bulky clothes would slow her down too much. She favored speed and finesse, so anything that slowed her down was to be avoided if at all possible. Even so, she wouldn't be nearly as fast as usual, not with having to slog through mud and much with every step, at least outside. Within the various buildings of Amegakure, things would eb better, but she'd still feel rather miserable and bedraggled until she'd have a real opportunity to wash up and dry off. Of course, the moment she thought about washing up, her mind turned back to that odd girl back in Hidden Leaf. Yuriko, she had certainly been unique. She couldn't say she missed her, but even so, she had been a refreshing change of sorts, compared to the normal type of person she had associated with. That didn't mean she would go back to visit, she didn't think she could handle any more of that sort of treatment. But it was a halfway pleasant diversion of a thought. Much better than considering being soaked to the bone in seconds in the upcoming rainfall. She sighed, wondering why she seemed to face trials and tribulations at every step of the way. When she was here in Hidden Rain, she was miserable from the weather. When she was in Hidden Leaf, she was tormented by an odd girl's amorous advances. And when she had been in the Academy? Well, that actually hadn't been all that bad. At least there was no major problems that came to mind. She could live with that.

Her thoughts had carried her rather far, enough that she was actually within the borders of Hidden Rain now. And sure enough, she could hear the rhythmic pounding of rain on her umbrella, a staccato series of shallow taps that was either lulling or disconcerting in turn. Some seemed to enjoy the sound, to others it was a perpetual headache. Her, she usually just ignored it when possible, she didn't have a major opinion one way or the other. It was the rain, thinking about it changed nothing. So she did her best to maneuver through the muck as she got closer and closer to the village. She knew the route well enough to avoid the inclines and descents of the various hills and hillocks. Personal experience had taught her that trying to traverse those natural formations would end up with the trying party skidding down on their rear no matter what efforts they might make. She didn't want to experience that particular discomfort again, she she kept to the balanced path. Even if it took longer, even if it was rather circuitous, she preferred it to rolling around in the mud like a swine.

As she walked through the mud, she wished that she would have thought to try some of those Ink Style techniques she had learned before entering Hidden Rain. Here, with the rain falling constantly, the very idea of trying anything involving ink on paper seemed an act of utter foolishness. Maybe once she was able to get indoors, dry off and all that, then perhaps she could manage a little more training. For now, though, she'd simply have to do her best to recall everything she had been taught. That was one benefit all of her reading had garnered her, a good memory for details like that. Whether it be a recipe she had read years ago, or the latest lesson at the Ninja Academy, she could remember both exceptionally well. That came in handy at times like the current one, when she couldn't actually put something to use yet, and had to wait. She knew if she just waited long enough, she would eventually have that chance.

Of course, that would be in the safety of a training hall or other suitable location for practice. After all the wars that had wreaked such havoc on Hidden Rain in the past, most of the village's inhabitants knew better than to cause trouble. Compared to other villages, Hidden Rain had a remarkably low level of thugs and hooligans. Whether it was the weather, or the fact that the villagers themselves would likely rise up to get rid of any major troublemakers, there were few targets worthy of a vindictive beating. That left simple training for practicing, rather than live experience by battle. It still worked, though not as good as actual battle experience.

She looked around, and realized with a start she had already reached the village proper. Hard to tell with the chronic downpour, but to a local, it wasn't too huge of an inconvenience to see through a perpetual downfall like this. She could see the buildings, those same buildings she had seen so many times before. Everything looked unchanged, and why should it be otherwise? After all, she had only been gone a few days. And what could have happened int hat time, what could have happened that would require her absence before it could take place? Nothing, that's what. So there was no change, just as well. She had been told to report back to the head of her family when she did finally return, she should likely take care of that now, get it out of the way. Once it was, she expected to be granted leave to leave. After she had gained the rest of her line's unique techniques, that is. Those techniques would likely prove invaluable in the battlefield, if she ever found herself there. After all, the Gami clan was not terribly numerous, so many ninja out there would be unfamiliar with just what she would be capable of. Oh, they would assume, and assume correctly, that she could use the basic skills such as Substitution or creating clones, but anything involving her own unique line? Much of that would be a mystery, unless she herself revealed it. Whether that revelation was an unguarded conversation or in the middle of a pitched battle, no one could tell until it happened. She certainly expected to keep those skills a secret if possible, that was just further insurance toward her own continued survival. She was very interested in staying alive, after all.

She wondered, if she ever did get into a battle. who it might be with? And what about? She wouldn't go out looking for a fight, but fate had a way of giving you that which you most tried to leave behind. Or, in this case, give you a fight. She would eventually be forced into a confrontation, there was no doubt about that. That was fine with her, it is what she actually wanted. Once she felt at least somewhat sure in herself, had at least some confidence in her abilities. After all, if she was an absolute rank amateur she wouldn't be able to put up a good fight. But once she learned her limits and surpassed them? Well, then she could certainly give a good showing of herself. Whether that meant becoming a powerful ninja for the benefit of her clan and village, or for her own reasons, largely didn't matter. Either way, it would happen, and either way, she would do her utmost to become strong so that when it did, she would not have to fear an easy death. That seemed odd, she knew that. The few times she had talked of such ideals before, all she had received for her troubles were several odd looks. But that was just how she felt about the matter. A ninja was supposed to be a master of combat, and stealth and subterfuge. An easy death meant they had failed. So while the process would certainly be anything but pleasant, the idea of a violent death appealed to the pride she took in her abilities.

But that was rather grim thoughts to keep in her head at the moment of her first return home. She needed to report to her clan leader, and let them know of her intentions. There shouldn't be any objections to her planned course of action. If there was? Well, that would make things more complicated, but not necessarily impossible. She had no intentions of going rogue if denied her wishes, but even beyond that final option, there were other less lethal choices available to her. And she would make use of any of them if need should arise. She was already in front of the building where her clan leader was undoubtedly sitting and looking out the window to watch the rain. It seemed every time she had met them, few though it was, that was what they had been doing. Whether they had an actual interest in the rain, or that was just an affectation to lend some sense of mystery to their role, she had never quite managed to figure that much out. It didn't particularly matter, it wasn't her place to pry into the reasons of her clan leader. Hers was but to do and die, and all that loyal mumbo-jumbo. She believed it, to a certain extent, but she wasn't exactly the picture of filial loyalty that might have been expected and hoped for. That seemed to be a common thread, after all, among ninja. A very free spirit. It seemed anathema to the very ideal of a ninja to be anything other than exceedingly loyal. Yet even so, most ninja were, and would buck the system when it suited them. Just how often that was, that was the truest measure of a ninja;s loyalty, she supposed. She had yet to outright object or refuse to follow an order, so that technically made her one of Hidden Rain;s most loyal ninjas. She hoped that the moment when she had ti disobey a direct order never came. Not because she wanted to continue to serve Hidden Rain, but merely because if she did have to disobey a direct order, then that would make any later plans much more difficult.

She knocked and was granted entry to the clan leader's office. They had a home, but to the best of her knowledge, they had never e=used it, not even once. At least not since they had become the clan leader, since taking over for the previous leader. She could only barely remember the previous Head, they had left service only a few years after she was born, too early in her life for there to be much clear memories of anything. That made them seem very serious, yet she believed that was as much a front as their posing in front of the window each time she had met them. There was something, some glimmer in their eyes, that made her believe they were a much more friendly person than they appeared, and they were only holding themselves back out of respect for their duty.

She was granted leave to enter the actual office, and sure enough, the leader was sitting there, in the full formal sitting position, seiza she believed it was called? Sitting there,. with a cup of green tea at their side, wearing a more formal version of a kimono very similar to her own, and looking out at the continual rainfall with a somber look on their face. After a few long moments she dared to cough gently, to draw the leader's attention. They turned and asked her to have a seat before giving her report. She did, and then began a thorough version of what she had experienced before returning. Through, but not complete. She just happened to neglect mentioning anything associated with that Yuriko girl, it was far too embarrassing to even think of confessing being a part, unwilling or not, of such activities. When she finally finished, silence reigned over the room. Well,a s much as silence could reign when the room was in the midst of an eternal rainfall. Which is to say, not all that much at all.

Finally, the leader spoke up, telling her that she had done well, and asking what her plans were, She went into a brief explanation, to learn the rest of her clan;s techniques then to resume her journey across the lands to hone her new skills. A respectable journey. The leader seemed to agree, though it seemed they weren't telling her something. She didn't pry, there had to be thousands of bits of information the leader kept secret from ordinary members of the clan. It was not her place to pry into secrets such as those! Even so, something about this particular secret... She finalyl dared to speak, though only to ask if there was anything else she might be expected to do. There wasn't, at least not for the leader. Though, the leader said, that expected mischievous sparkle in their eye, that wasn't to say that there might not be a job for her, on behalf of someone else. A job, perhaps to cement further bonds between their village and another? Shiori had a sinking feeling in her gut at those words. If she didn't know better, it would almost sound as if the leader was obliquely referring to her relationship, nonexistent though it actually be, with Yuriko! But how, how could they know of such a thing?! She had made sure to not even mention it! The only other way was if someone else would have told them. But who? The only other person who even knew of what had happened was... Oh no.

She schooled her expression as she looked out of the corner of her eyes, wondering if Yuriko had actually somehow already arrived in Hidden Rain. Why? Even here, couldn't she escape that girl? She was unstoppable! She'd never be free, she just knew it! But she had to remain serious, ifs he lost control now... Well, maybe the leader was only hinting, maybe they didn't actually know what they were hinting at? She really hoped so, really hoped so.
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Asuka entered the front gate of the Village Hidden in the Rain. He had never been here before and was quite honestly only here because it was where his random boat from the docks took him. But the cloud gennin found he rather liked the village. It was cloudy and rainy just like his own home and it helped Asuka feel more welcome. He was not exactly sure what he was going to do here so he simply began walking through the streets and checking out the village.

Asuka realized he was incredibly hungry within minutes of entering the village and began looking for a place to eat. After looking around for a few moment he quickly spotted a small restaurant. He made his way in and was seated very quickly. The sand gennin browsed the menu before ordering and then waited patiently for the food to come. He leaned back against the cushioned booth and let out a sigh of relaxation. Asuka found it rather exciting that he simply left his home on a whim for no other reason than to travel for some time. Several minutes passed and the food still had not come. Normally Asuka would not be upset about such a small thing but his stomach began protesting loudly and embarrassing him.

Asuka had just began to relax after finishing his meal when the restaurant he was in began to quickly flood with massive rushes of water. Being a rainy area, Asuka was sure that the village was probably fairly well protected from floods. The cloud gennin guessed that this must be the work of a shinobi. Asuka jumped up from his seat and gave a great leap up, punching through the roof to get on top of the building. The cloud shinobi activated his Ryuugan eye and was instantly able to see that this was a genjutsu. Although the jutsu itself isn't normally very powerful, it was apparent that the user was extremely powerful. Even though Asuka knew it was real, he could not bring himself to fully believe it, the genjutsu just felt so incredibly real.

Asuka began looking around hoping that he might see the perpetrator. Sure enough the young member of the sinobi clan spotted a cloaked man with his arms crossed standing nearby and chakra was flowing from the man more rapidly than Asuka could ever imagine his going. Asuka was not a member of this village but he knew that this was wrong and if he had the ability to do something, that meant he had the responsibility. So the cloud gennin took aim and fired several bolts of lightning that appeared to be almost liquid and moved with incredibly grace and flexibility for electricity. The eight strange bolts of blue lightning flew towards the invader and began to converge on his figure.

"Oh ho ho! A competitor! What fun!" Jerrik exclaims outwards as he turns his attention onto the invading attack that was coming towards him. Things would be rather interesting if someone was going to combat against him. He already had the poor civilians of this place drowning, he could move once again, and continue forth with his own attacks as if it was something of a game for him. First came first, he needed to decide how they were seeing through his Genjutsu, since they did not seem to be as fearful as he wanted them to be. Slowly shaking his head slightly, Jerrik brings his hands upwards and makes a few hand signs, a wall of light forming between himself and his opponent, soon circling around him, and capturing the Laser Circus that was aiming to attack Jerrik. As soon as they were captured, they were sent forwards back towards the opponent at easily triple the strength that they were originally. Aiming to strike the opponent with ease, Jerrik on the other hand moved quickly from behind his illusion, using a special skill of his in order to make two genjutsu used at the same time and lower his needed hand signs correctly, as well as grant him a second genjutsu to use in his turn. Moving off of the building now, he dropped downwards into the illusionary water in order to avoid the attack, and moved towards his opponent now, keeping an eye on them, while they would find their doujutsu becoming useless in seeing through his new illusions, and even making the raging water around them equally more fear filling, due to the inability to see through that as well. A large sea beast of sorts suddenly rose from the water, it's multi-toothed mouth gaping open as it rose up from the thundering waves and looked downwards at the new opponent, aiming it's yellow eyes upon the Cloud Nin as it let loose a watery roar and then came crashing downwards towards him, seemingly oblivious to the refracted attack that had been sent back previously.

Hedoro had been distracted, thinking about finding a meal. All of the people around already seemed to know she was trouble, and go out of their way to avoid her. Troubling. She didn't want to exert herself to the point of actually working for a meal, but nobody seemed willing to make it any easier on her. Why couldn't any of these humans have the good grace to simply volunteer to be devoured?! At least it was raining, she could absorb the additional water and stave off the worst of her hunger.

A moment later, she felt through her senses, large waves of water bombarding the entire village. This didn't bother her much, the idea of water posing any threat to her was simply ludicrous. But it did affect the humans, causing them to run and scream, panic and flee. That she did not approve of. Casting her senses out, she found the direction of the attack. Only one? Was that supposed to be an insult? Sending a lone water user to attack, when she was int he area? They had guts, tasty guts.

She had yet to pick up on the fact that the attack was a Genjutsu, but that didn't make much of a difference. Her actions would be the same either way. She simply walked toward them, even at this distance, locked on their position and walking right through the waves. Each wave hit her, to be sure. But a wave was hardly a barrier to her progress, it was almost an invitation, the red carpet treatment.

Of course, simply walking toward this unknown interloper was not the only actions he was taking. One of her own unique defenses, passive until now, had been triggered, even without her knowledge. Jerrik, the unknown attacker, would feel a presence knocking at his own mindscape, promising death and disease if he continued on his course of action. After all, Hedoro held mastery over disease of all kinds, it was hardly safe to meddle with her mind, even through a distance.
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