Welcome to Gaia! ::

Normally Keichii would have made a big production out of having been recognized for doing something totally awesome, but Keichii had never actually had that happen to him, so he just sat there, awkwardly staring at the boy before him.

"Uh... no problem, kid... S'nothin'..."

Shouta smiled and took the amulet. "It's beautiful. I'm sure Lady Mizukage and I can work something out. Thank you, Rakutsu-chan." He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a kind smile. He was glad Kady Mizukage hadn't kicked them out of the village. 'There's no way they're going to die if I have anything to say about it.' he swore to himself. Like his brother Devonte, Shouta valued family and comrades above all else. He then looked up to Jun.

Jun stood straight. To him it wasn't nothing. It was his life. There had to be something he could do to repay his debt to the Snow-nin. Then he thought of it! Jun bit hard into his thumb to draw blood and pulled out a scroll. He smeared the blood over the kanji on the scroll. "Its a summoning scroll. If you ever need help, just open it and one of my wolves will come out." He held it out to Keichii. The wolf that Jun used to that scroll to summon was one his favorites, the leader of the pack that Jun was able to summon. This would definitely make them even.

Shouta smiled as she spoke. He was glad that she considered him such a close friend, and that someone outside the Mist saw them as more than blood-thirsty, war-mongering monsters. -Not that the majority of them weren't!- Her words put him at ease.... untill he noticed one of the Mist nin staring at him from the next boat. His eye twitched slightly and flickered with... anger? Fear? Whatever it was- it wasn't a pleasant emotion. Shouta's hand instinctively went to his left eye and scratched at the area underneath it.

The Mizukage looked over at Jun and Shouta and the others on the boat. Then noticed Shouta's small movement. He only did that when soemthing was bothering him deeply. It was his 'nervous habit' as she had observed. Her eyes traveled over their boat to the next- there was where she saw the source of his concern. There was a man staring at Shouta. He had shoulder-length brown hair and gold colored eyes. He looked roughly fourty years old. Devonte noticed her gaze and his grip tightened on the Mizukage's shoulder as he saw where she was looking, and that he was staring straight at Shouta. Other than that, his composure didn't change. "So what's gonna happen to the bar? It can't just close down!" said Nyirei behind them.

"Don't worry! I got a worthy successor to my legacy." Keizo laughed.

Suijin looked down at Dev's hand as it squeezed her shoulder. It wasn't a friendly squeeze either. 'They'd held out so well in my office....' she sighed to herself. After a moment, the two brother's seemed to calm back down- as if absolutely nothing had happened....

"Heh. Looks like the Yukikage's gainin' the mentality of a Mist-nin!" Devonte chuckled.

Suijin grinned up at him, devilishly. If they were going to ignore it, then she wouldn't bring it up. "Heh heh heh.... Looks like this'll be one hell of a party!" she laughed. After weeks of sitting behind a desk, not being able to go on a SINGLE DAMN mission she was finally getting back on the front lines! She was definitely gonna enjoy herself!

Jun grinned wide. Then whipped out his hammer as his teammate lunged at him. The slightly older boy wielded two kama hand-scythes. One of the blades was stained with dry blood. "You givin' up your best pet, Raiken?" he sneered. Jun's face grew cold, and he responded by kicking him in the stomach. The boy saw it coming and lept back just in time, though he lost one of his scythes. Jun snatched the weapon and let his hammer rest over his shoulder. Jun now held the un-bloodied weapon out at his teammate.

"Ya want this one to be stained in your blood?" he growled. Then their sensei stepped in, grabbing Jun by his hair and pulled him over to the other boy and grabbed him by his foot while ranting-

"You guys need to learn to shut the hell up! You're ninja for god's sake! Jun- you're our clan's prodgity so start acting like it!"

Jun just chuckled as he was pulled away by his sister, not even caring that it hurt. He looked up at Keichii, grinning. He gave the Snow ninja a thumbs up and said- "Kick a** and take names!" reapeating the Mizukage's famous phrase just got him a hard yank on his hair while his sensei yelled about how she 'just told him to be quiet!'

Shouta got over his discomfort as Jun's teammate attacked him, and laughed as Chizu dragged them away.

Keichii had gripped the side of the boat as it rocked from Jun's scuffle with his teammate. It was then he saw the bodies drifiting just beneath the surface of the glassy water. His grin withered on his face.

They were gray-skinned; civilians, as they'd been dead for a while. The freezing water had preserved the bodies almost perfectly. The could have been mistaken for dolls, had it not been for the deep red gashed across their bodies that no longer held any blood.

Keichii couldn't think of any comment that would ease the tension. Every second that passed, more bodies appeared. Men, women, children--ghosts of the Village Hidden in the Snow drifted like ghosts around the party; an ominous welcome.

His violet eyes looked up and locked with Rakutsu's. She had seen them too. Her shock and disgust clashed with the ill feeling of met-expectations that had settled in Keichii's stomach. "Tha's right..." he finally mumbled to his sister, "You weren't 'round the Village when it was first attacked."

While Keichii hadn't been personally harmed by the Tengu, he was present within the Village gates when everyone else was. It must've just then become real for Rakutsu that they were the only survivors.

"I wantchoo tuh remember this, Rakutsu," Keichii spoke suddenly, "Remember this, an' fight. Fight so rememberin' it's the closest you ever come ta this sight again," he glared harshly at Rakutsu while he spoke. This was every bit her village as it was his.