---

Hitomi was practically running through the streets of Konoha, she was running behind and didn't want to be late for her team assignment, quickly checking a nearby street clock she opted for the rooftops as a faster means of getting to the Academy on time. a short while later Hitomi skidded to a halt outside the classroom, just as she reached for the door it suddenly slid open to reveal a young girl about the same age as herself with long straight sunny blonde hair and the distinctive eyes of those from the Hyuuga clan, the pronounced veins around the eyes told Hitomi that the girl's Byakugan was currently active "You're late" the girl stated in a mock serious tone as she deactivated her Byakugan.

"not yet Keiko" Hitomi replied as she glanced at the wall clock before walking past her longtime friend and taking an empty seat near a window, Keiko taking a seat right next to her as they casually chatted about everything from who they'd want to be teamed up with to any and all news they heard the older ninja's talking about while they waited for Udon-Sensei to arrive.

The doorknob to the room wobbled, then the door opened slowly. Quietly, a boy about as tall as Keiko, with black hair stuck up in thick, curled spikes walked in. He wasn't wearing his headband. His eyes were kind of blank, as he had his head down, and no expression on his face. He shut the door behind him, again, quietly. He looked up at the two, and suddenly his eyes had a sharp, killer, purple cast to them. Then it was gone, as quickly as it appeared, his eyes were a boring, average black. He smiled thinly at them, and sat down at the other side of the room.


Several of the other newly made genin looked at the newcomer with curious or nervous expressions, one in particular, a boy with slightly wild black hair, came up to the newcomer "don't recall ever seeing you in class" he said in an attempt to get to no the kid "the name's Denji"

"Higen," the boy said. He looked at Denji for a second, then went back to staring straight ahead.

Denji raised an eyebrow "umm...okay then!" he replied before glancing at a group his classmates who had tried to listen in, he shrugged his shoulders at them and went back to his seat as their instructor Udon entered the room "alright, everyone settle down" he said as everyone took their seats and he took his place at the front of the classroom "first off, congratulations on becoming Genin, however that doesn't mean your lessons are over, your classroom will now be the real world and your teachers will be not only your Jonin sensei but your fellow ninja and your own experiences, we have done our best to lay the ground work for what you can begin to expect when you start down your individual Shinobi and Kunoichi paths, so I can only wish you all the best of luck in the days and years to come, also you should note that once you donned your ninja headbands you are officially recognized as adults in all things except alcohol consumption" as he finished up he noticed many of the students in deep thought "now before I begin team placements are there any questions?"

Higen set his hands down on the desk he sat at. He felt uncomfortable that Udon mentioned the headbands. Higen didn't want to wear his. He was no more a citizen of the Hidden Leaf than he was a real genin. He was just doing what he was told.

Hitomi raised her hand "when do we get to choose our Senseis?" she asked with a grin on her face, Udon raised an eyebrow at this "you don't the Hokage and Village Council are the ones who decide that, the sensei is determined through various factors, the most important one is which sensei would be able to bring out the greatest potential in the teams members" he explained "any other questions?"

Again, everything Udon Sensei said made Higen uncomfortable. Hokage? Village Council? Probably the very people that had Higen sitting in this room surrounded by these...people. His fingers drummed on the desk as he tried to stomach waiting for his assignment.

Taking their silence as a sign that there were no more questions he decided to get on with it "all right, lets get on with it..." (see! what did I tell you?) "Team 1: Hitomi Makoto, Keiko Namikaze and..." he double-checked his list "..Higen Ryu-Sora" he looked at Higen "try to get along with each other" he secretly pleaded before going on to list the other teams.

Higen looked over his shoulder. The two girls were beaming about being on team one. He felt the impulse to stay grouchy melt away. Both the girls were beautiful. And older, which meant they probably wouldn't give him the time of day. He sighed and resigned himself to waiting through the rest of the announcements.

As Udon finished up and set his clipboard down "that's everyone, now there will be a 30 minute lunch break then you're to report back here to meet up with your new sensei, so I wish all the best of luck" as he turned and left he cast an almost unnoticeable worried glance at Higen before leaving the room.

Hitomi and Keiko were extatic that they were on the same team, but they were also curious about two things.....

1) Who was their Jonin Sensei
and
2) Who exactly was Higen

They glanced at Higen and then at each other before nodding to each other as if finishing a silent conversation, they then moved over to Higen to see if they could get to know him better, after all they were going to be working together for the foreseeable future.

Hitomi was the first to speack up as they neared Higen "Hiya! I'm Hitomi and this is my best friend Keiko" Keiko smiled to Higen "we were wondering if you'd like to have lunch with us, Hitomi's Onii-Chan always makes extra big Bento boxes so she can share it"

Higen cleared his throat. "Sure, I would like that." Higen stood up and gave them a nod and a slight smile. He gestured for them to lead the way. Maybe today wouldn't suck so bad.

Hitomi smiled "great!" she exclaimed as she took his left hand and Keiko took his right as they lead him out of the classroom, several of the other students shot Higen jealous looks, they knew just how much he had lucked out, having the undivided attention of two beautiful girls, though they wondered if he might not feel so lucky once he learns who those girls were related to...

Hitomi and Keiko looped their arms around Higen's "you look cute when you smile" Keiko mentioned "you should do it more often" Hitomi concluded.

Higen's ability to control his emotions was thoroughly tested. His smile was easygoing and confident, but his face turned bright red. "Sure, sure, whatever you say! Where are we going?" He kept up with them as they skipped down the hall, doing his best to not trip. He'd never been touched by a girl, or even spoken to by one, and he felt dizzy.

Keiko smiled at him "there's a lovely picnic spot near the courtyard of the school, we could relax there and and get to know each other while we have lunch" she explained as they exited the building and made for the aforementioned location.

Higen nodded, all smiles. Inwardly his mind was absolutely racing for the proper things to say and do. The best he could come up with was to speak as little as possible, but make eye contact and be attentive. They lead him to a grassy spot with a big tree with overhanging branches for shade. He looked at both Keiko and Hitomi, trying to slow his pounding heart. He had no idea what to do if either of the girls hit on him. He found Keiko slightly more attractive, but feared saying any compliments for fear of misunderstanding.

Hitomi stepped forward and pulled out a small scroll she held it up and winked at Higen "you're gonna love this" she said with a smile before setting the scroll on the ground and unrolling it slightly to reveal a strange circular seal drawn on it, she lifted her right thumb to her mouth and bit it just enough to draw a little blood before sliding her bloody thumb across the seal, there was a sudden burst of smoke and when the smoke cleared, a picnic blanket had appeared and in the middle of the blanket were a pair of decent sized bento box lunches still warm as if they had been made only a couple minutes ago.

"Hitomi's Onii-Chan has been teaching us how to use storage scrolls" Keiko explained as she lead Higen over to the blanket to sit down between her and Hitomi.

He sat down crosslegged and put his hands on his knees. "Very impressive!" he said, giving a somewhat genuine apreciative smile. He felt the heat of his face and realized he was still blushing. The flash of a frown appeared on his face but was quickly gone. He breathed in deep, and failed to find a good ice breaking question to ask. It was worse that he was sitting between them, so he carefully looked from one girl to the next expectantly, hoping they'd have the conversation starter.

While Keiko started to open the bento boxes for them to share, Hitomi leaned towards Higen with a look of innocent curiosity "so Higen, why didn't you go to the academy with the rest of us?" she asked casually "did your family's training take up all your time?"

Higen all of a sudden looked surprised, or maybe afraid. He wasn't supposed to talk about where he was from. "Yeah, that's it. Tough stuff, not knowing anybody..." he looked away, scratching his cheek with a finger, looking embarrassed.

Keiko nodded "I understand, Hitomi and I each spent a lot of our free time learning extra skills from our families, my mother, Aunt Hanabi and Uncle Neji spent a lot of time helping me to develop my family Kekkei Genkai as well as our unique fighting style, combine that with my father teaching me his modified version of Taijutsu, it's a wonder I was able to make such good friends like Hitomi here"

Hitomi smiled "tell me about it, my big brother is in the ANBU and he trains me everyday in our dual Kekkei Genkai, I even know some Jonin level Jutsu that should come in handy on our missions" she said as she offered some curried rice to Higen.

Higen stuffed his mouth with food and nodded, expressing thoughtfulness and understanding. Inwardly he cringed, but he should have expected this. Kekkei Genkais and ninjutsu. Meanwhile Higen was handy with a sword... And that was about it. He couldn't do a substitution, he didn't have the first idea how. It didn't occur to him that his training was all backwards, and he knew things only jounin would know about tactics, misdirection, and battle planning. He just felt humiliated being on the highest ranked team with two potential geniuses.

Hitomi and Keiko giggled quietly at the sight if Higen stuffing himself "of course being a ninja is more than Kekkei Genkai and jutsu" Hitomi added "my Onii-Chan and Keiko's Aunt Tenten had been training me in various sword styles" she pointed to her Dual Kodachi strapped to her waist.

Keiko nodded "Aunt Tenten is regarded as Konoha's Weapons Mistress, skilled in all kinds of weapons, from standard shinobi weapons to the most obscure forms of weapons you can think of, as well as practically all the known forms and combat styles"

Hitomi nodded "and then there's Might Guy and Rock Lee, the taijutsu masters of Konoha" Keiko giggled on the outside but inside she was on the floor laughing and holding her sides at the memory of the two and their 'Good Guy poses' "they call themselves "the Green Beasts of Konoha, they barely have enough Chakra to stay alive so they focused all their time and energy in mastering all forms of martial arts and unarmed combat, Lee-Sensei was Aunt Tenten's and Uncle Neji's teammate in the old days, Might Guy was their Sensei too" she explained.

Higen nodded and ate more. All strangers, more bad news. He didn't think this was going to end well. "So..." he said between bites, "Who do you think our team leader will be?"

Hitomi shrugged "no clue, I just hope it's not Kakashi Hatake" she replied as she reached for a rice ball "that guy may be one of Konoha's top Jonin, but he's always late for team meetings and make up these outlandish excuses like 'I got lost on the road of life' or 'it was such a nice day I decided to take the scenic route' and expect you to believe him" she commented the whole time Keiko would silently nod in agreement since she remembered her father often commenting about his former sensei's odd habits "and don't forget those books he would always read" she added causing Hitomi to look right at her "oh yeah! I think they're called 'Icha Icha' somthing, some kind of pervy novel series that was written by that Sanin Jirayia before he was killed and Kakashi took over writing it"

Higen stopped chewing and swallowed. "Your dad is the Hokage, right?" he asked Keiko. "It must be nerve-wracking, worrying about him."

Keiko placed her index finger on her chin as she thought about it for a moment "sometimes, but I know he'll be alright because he's my dad" she said with a tone of calm confidence that could only com from a child unwavering faith for her father.

"Besides" Hitomi added "no Konoha shinobi ever fights alone, we all learn from day one that our village's true strength come from our ability to work as a whole, no one shinobi or kunoichi is more or less important than the others, it's part of the reason we are assigned to four man squads as soon as we graduate" Keiko looked at her friend "glad to see that Tori-san finally got that idea into your mindset" she added with a slight giggle.

Higen nodded. "I guess we should get back to the classroom, right? Today's probably gonna start big once we're assigned and start training..." Higen looked a little nautious at that thought. He was prepared to be exposed and these lovely girls to hate his guts, all before the first day was over.

Hitomi nodded as Keiko got up "good point" Hitomi said as she got ready to seal the remains of their picnic back into the scroll, once the three were off the blanket Hitomi performed the sealing jutsu once more and the blanket and bento boxes disappeared back into the scroll, she rolled the scroll up and placed it back into her pocket "there, lets get back to class" she said as she smiled to the others

Keiko nodded and lead the way back to class, as they neared the door they spotted Denji and two other of genin exiting the room with a Jonin wearing a green bodysuit with orange legwarmers and a Jonin vest, Hitomi leans over to Higen and whispers in his ear "that Rock Lee, the Taijutsu specialist we mentioned earlier"

Higen's eyes set on Rock Lee and he stopped in midstep. The man was tall, lean, like a sword. The way he stood, the set of his eyes, their sharp keen, this Rock Lee seemed so familiar, yet Higen had never seen him before. "Taijutsu..." Higen whispered under his breath. For all Higen's own shortcomings, his fear of never having practiced anything to do with chakra, everything about Lee's posture was familiar. Before the girl's could say something about him having stopped, Higen walked forward, standing before Lee. His eyes took on a queer purple sheen as he stared rather overtly.

Lee stopped and looked at the young Genin that was openly staring at him, he smiled "well now, this young man seem to be ablaze with the flames of youth" he said as he gave the boy a thumbs up revealing his 'good guy pose', the shine from his smile would have blinded anyone who looked directly at it "and what can I do for such a youthful young warrior like you?"

Higen, perhaps lucky that his lack of courtesy was presented to Rock Lee and not another Jounin, stared at Lee's chest, shoulders, posture, foot position. "Flying back heel kick, half twist, transition to snap roundhouse kick, full twist, transition to overhead heel axe kick." Higen said, his eyes now locked on Lee's. The purple glare was keener now, and his face had a serious cast.

Hitomi and Keiko were looking at each other, trying to figure out what was going on between their teammate and the jonin, the whole time they were listening to everything that was said.

Lee smirked "a Taijutsu specialist eh?" he said with a smirk as he placed a hand on Higen's shoulder "mention me to your sensei and he'll make sure your skills are as fierce as the flames in your eyes" he said before walking away with a cheerful laugh, his team silently following right behind him.

Keiko walked over to Higen "what was that about?" she asked curiously as Hitomi came up beside them, just as curious about understanding what just happened.

Higen jumped, startled when Keiko brushed up behind him. "Huh??" he turned, redfaced, smiling embarassedly. "Oh, I recognized his stance. It's a good one... too many kicks though... Heeheh..." He cleared his throat and turned, walking back to the classroom a bit stiffly.

Hitomi and Keiko looked at each other Hitomi simply shrugged before following Higen into the classroom, Keiko quickly followed them, she noticed that several other students had seen the incident in the hallway, some were whispering among themselves, like the Inuzuka twins, Mikon and Arai, she chose to ignore them and sit with her teammates.

Higen heard the whispers. He was proud of them, he wanted to be scary and weird. More so scary than weird, he hoped, but that would take work. After all, he hadn't done the thing outside with Lee Sama on purpose. He wasn't used to composing himself around so many people, and his brain was hard to shut off. He sat, silently congratulating himself on a smooth, event free lunch, and awaited his sensei.

One by one the Jonin Sensei's came and collected their teams all that were left were Hitomi, Keiko, Higen, the Inuzuka Twins and a sleeping Blonde girl named Shizuka Nara (eldest daughter of Shikamaru and Temari, her younger sister was training to be a Hidden Sand Kunoichi), little did they know that the whole time they were there they were being watched by someone from the far corner of the room, hidden by a strong genjutsu to hide his location.

Higen could barely stand his anticipation. He sat very still, mind busily combating the urge to fidgit. Obviously, whomever the team Sensei was, he'd know about Higen. Lady Tsunade surely had a big fat file on him that everyone important in the academy had probably read. Higen didn't really know why he was so special. Everyone who had ever tutored him had been ordered to tell him nothing about his past, or his real family. He knew it was something very bad, very secret. Higen was used to being lied to. And now he was part of the game, pretending to be a real genin. He had no idea if he even could create genjutsu or ninjutsu. He knew that didn't stop some people from becoming shinobi, but here he was, having to pretend to fit the mold. And he didn't have the first idea about how to throw a kunai or make a piece of wood take a hit for him.

Hitomi's nostrils flared as she picked up the scent of a familiar chakra, it was faint so she knew whoever it was was using a genjutsu to hide themselves, however they might not have accounted for how sharp she had become with the Chakra sensing half of her Kekkei Genkai abilities, she started looking around trying to home in on the source of the scent.

Keiko looked at her friend and silently raised an eyebrow, she knew it had something to do with her Bloodline ability but was curious all the same.

More ideas, behavioral patterns, actions to mimic flashed through Higen's mind as he tried to tide himself over to when his team leader would finally show up. Only figured the top team's leader would have a flair for the dramatic.

The door opened and Jonin with gravity defying silver hair poked his head through the door, most of his face was covered by a mask and his headband was lopsided covering his left eye, he looked around and saw the six students "I was originally here to collect squad 6, but it seems there's another team here....." he seemed to consider something before smiling (though you could barely tell since only his right eye was visible) "I'll come back later" he then left.

"OH NO YOU DON'T! GET BACK HERE!!" the members of squad 6 shouted as the scrambled after him, each if them looking like they were going to tear him a new one (or three).

Keiko sweatdropped "Kakashi Hatake" she said to Higen "he may have been the original sensei to the Neo-Sanin, but he really knows how to aggravate his fellow shinobi"

Higen sighed and massaged his temple. "Surely our leader is not as unprofessional as that?" he said wistfully.

"I should think not" replied a voice that seemed to come from nowhere "especially since I've been here since before you got back from lunch" it finished with a light chuckle.

Hitomi's eyes widened "Onii-Chan?" she exclaimed, now that she recognized the voice, she had no trouble homing in on his chakra's scent, turning to the back wall she narrowed her eyes and flared her nostrils "I know you're here Onii-san" she said in a low voice.

Higen turned in his seat. The voice had come from the back corner of the room, but he saw nothing there. The owner of the voice could have been anywhere, and could have thrown his voice, or used a clone. Higen was impressed. Were this shinobi his enemy, Higen would be very nervous. But, instead he adopted an irritated look. "Okay, so you've been here the whole time. I hope there was a point to waiting all afternoon, then."

"mostly to see if any of you would notice the Genjutsu I was using" the voice said as he let the illusion drop to reveal a shinobi in full ANBU gear wearing a Tiger mask using his Chakra to stick to the wall like Spider-Man "Team 1, I'm your new Sensei" he said as he removed his mask revealing a pair of Cobalt Blue eyes and a head of platinum silver hair, he released himself from the wall and casually landed on the floor "the name's Tori Makoto, Jonin and former ANBU" he said as he walked over to a desk near where the genin were and leaned against it "now you know a bit about me, so it's only fair if you tell me a little about yourselves, who's first?"

Higen looked at the girls, hoping to let them introduce themselves first. Higen wanted the extra time to fully remember the story he was supposed to tell. He knew he wasn't supposed to say "I was raised alone, locked in a cabin on a mountain above the village, where nobody would talk to me except to tutor me except for Lady Tsunade, who definitely doesn't want anyone who doesn't know about that to know about that." Higen sighed, hating the whole situation.

Hotomi went first "I'm Hitomi Makoto" she said looking at her big brother with pride "I love training, learning new moves, that Dango stuff Anko-sama introduced me to..." at this Tori rolled his eye's, he was certain Anko was trying to turn his little sister into the her successor and loving Dango was just the start "I don't like those who judge someone based on something they didn't have any control over, especially those who can't tell the difference between a Jinchuriki and their 'Tenant', and my dream is to become the first Kunoichi to be the head of ANBU"

Tori nodded "you pretty much summed up exactly what this chat is supposed to do, I want each of you to tell me a little about yourselves, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, that kinda thing" he explained "who's next?"

Higen relaxed at that example, and decided to go next. "I am Higen Ryu-Sora. I enjoy taijutsu training, reading, and studying." he looked at Hitomi, realizing he should add more to avoid unwanted questions. "I've mastered two of the six forms of the Kurokaze martial art, and have had some training with the wakizashi style sword. My goals...Are simply to realize my potential as a shinobi."

Tori smiled "a relativly simple goal to achieve" he stated "in time you may discover a greater role to play in the shinobi world that actually coincides with that goal"

Keiko smiled "I'm Keiko Namikaze, I love mochi and red bean soup, I also love to meet new people and get to know them" she glances briefly at Higen "I hate the narrow-mindedness of the various clan elders, and my dream is to surpass my uncle Neji in our clan's art"

Tori chuckled 'looks like Hokage-sama has saddled me with quite the team, guess I'd better give them the test though' "okay, now that we know a bit about each other, we'll meet outside Training Area #44 tomorrow at noon for your test" as he finished speaking he made a quick hand sign and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

---

Higen had spent his first night in Konoaha alone, in a single room appartment in the low rent district. He hadn't slept terribly well in the new, drafty, and cramped home. Still, he was at the training ground by ten am. He spent the next couple of hours oiling and sharpening his sword, also reading an old philosophy book.

Keiko arrived a few minutes later she spotted Higen and smiled "Higen!" she called as she walked over "are you ready for this test Sensei has for us?" she asked trying to make small talk.

Higen closed his book, but remained hunched over on the log he was sitting on. Since Keiko was ever so slightly taller than him, he felt embarassed to stand next to her. "It depends. I'm not sure how I'd do as an individual. But as a team? I bet we'll surprise him." one thing Higen was confident about was having Keiko's Byakugan to rely on. Hitomi he didn't know about yet.

"one thing I know we can count on is that Sensei won't be able to get the drop on us, Hitomi's Chakra sensing ability means that he can't get close without her smelling his chakra, she's knows his scent by heart, he is her brother after all" Keiko explained "and if he tries to hid My Byakugan will be perfect for tracking him, and since he doesn't know what you can do, that makes you our secret weapon" of course she didn't know what he could do either and that might spell disaster for them because he was refusing to let them know what his strengths, and limitations, were.

"That's assuming we would have to spar him. In that case, I shouldn't be of much help..." Higen scratched his chin, thinking. "If your abilities can see his movements, that's good. If Hitomi can detect his attempts to clone or substitute, that's better. Still, you might fair better in my area of expertise than I would, if you use the gentle fist." Higen looked away for a second. then he looked back. "Though I might be able to outsmart him."

Hitomi popped up behind Higen "what'cha talking about?" she asked with a mischievous smirk on her face, like she was just interrupting a private moment between them.

Higen tensed up. Hitomi surprised him, and he admonished himself for not paying attention. "Just guessing at what Tori Sensei has planned for us." He looked around. Again, if Tori was nearby, he had no idea where he'd be. Though ninja were trained to hide low to the ground, Higen knew Tori was unorthodox. Sensei would be under the ground, or in a tree, or transformed into a tree. Something like that.

Hitomi shrugged "since he asked us to meet here near the Forest of Death, it's most likely a 'Capture the Flag' style test, but knowing my brother, it'll have some weird twist to it" she replied as she sat down next to Higen, Keiko nodded "it would make sense, he has been known for thinking outside the box" she said thoughtfully.

Higen swallowed hard. It was almost noon. In a few minutes, he'd be exposed as a fraud, or worse, Tori would make a point to not expose him, and maybe that was even more humiliating.

Tori appeared in a swirl of leaves and smiles at them, now garbed in his normal shinobi clothes "glad to see you're all here" he says as he reaches into hi pocket "that means we can begin your final exam" he pulls out two small silver bells and one gold coloured bell, each attached to some string, "the test is simple, who ever gets one of the silver bells passes and becomes a full Genin" he explains as he ties the silver bells to his belt "if you can't get a bell you'll fail the test and be sent back to the academy for retraining"

Hitomi and Keiko clenched their fists at this, they weren't about to fail now, not after all the hard work they'd done to get this far.

"What's the catch?" Higen stood, and stared at Tori Sensei, squinting. "No self respecting ANBU member could possibly be caught by three genin. Or, in this case, not even genin. This is obviously a trick!"

"that catch is..." Tori replied "to figure out the catch" he finished with a smile "two more things, one: you need to come at me as if you intend to kill me" this made Hitomi's eyes widen in shock, would she be able to do that to her own brother, her only family? "the second thing is this.." Tori said as he held up the gold bell "this is special, if you manage to get it then the entire team passes and you'll get a special treat from me as a bonus, but i won't tell you what the bonus is until you get this bell and manage to hang onto it until the times up, and since this one is the 'get out of the academy free card' it should be the hardest to get" he looped the string around his neck and tucked the bell under his shirt "there we go" he said softly as he patted the small bump where the bell was "the test will go until 1:00 so you'll have one hour to retrieve a silver bell or retrieve and maintain possession of the gold bell, any questions?"

"One... hour..." Higen thought for a second. Sure, having real shinobi skills would help to pass this test, but they were in no way required. All he had to do was take the bells by force. And that wasn't exactly impossible. Just hard. Higen drew his sword and backed up. "Hitomi, Keiko, lend me your ear for a second. I need five minutes of that time to develop a plan." he whispered, nodding at them to huddle up.

Hitomi and Keiko nodded as they got in close to Higen so Tori wouldn't overhear them, this wasn't really an issue as he had chosen to lean against the nearby fence surrounding the 'Forest of Death' as it was known and was casually looking up to the sky, looking like he was deep in thought over nothing in particular.

"I don't know your talents, Hitomi...But I know Keiko will be able to see him if he moves too fast, and Hitomi, you'll be able to tell me, at least I hope, if he uses a substitute or a clone. I believe that if I can get close enough to touch him, that I can get one of the bells. But I will absolutely need both of your help to get that close." Higen looked up at Tori, and his eyes glimmered purple. "He's not going to take it easy on us. He'll hurt us to protect the bells." Higen wrung his hands and wrists to loosen the tape on them a little. "So I need to get him to hold still and lose his ability to hide or run. Any ideas?"

Hitomi smiled "I watched my brother train quite often so I know what he can do and I've even managed to copy some of his moves, thought not very many, that particular Bloodline ability of mine hasn't developed very much yet" she explained, hoping it might help "but I know my brother's chakra scent by heart, and my chakra senses have already developed to the point where I'll have no trouble telling when my brother used a clone, regular OR Shadow Clone...." she glanced over at Tori for a moment and her nostrils flared, before her eyes widened and then turned to Higen again "like he's doing right now!" she added in a rapid whisper.

"Keiko! Watch for where he goes, any movement whatso ever!" Higen turned and sprinted full out at Tori, sword held down low. If this was a clone, there was no reason to hold back. He got to the fence and swiped high, aiming to cut off his head and disable the clone, or force Tori to move if he was one. He just hoped the clone wouldn't move, if it was one.

"Bad call" replied 'Tori' as Higen's sword made contact with the clone's neck and electricity shot through the sword's blade and into Higen's body sending him flying backwards into the girls (mostly on top of Keiko) as the clone disappeared in a boom of thunder.

Hitomi groaned as she lifted Higen's leg from her gut "I didn't expect a lightning clone" she said as she got to her feet "that's almost as bad as the Bunshin Daibakuha" (Clone Explosion) she explained as she looked around and tried to pin down her brother's chakra scent.

Higen coughed hoarsely and groaned. "Okay, there's no using speed here, deception is my only chance..." Higen mumbled. He got up, his hair sticking up some, and the tape on his left arm was browned by the heat of the lighting that had shot up his sword. "Keiko, would you make a clone for me? Hopefully, two. I'd really like two. Hitomi, please find him, and tell me when he's holding still."

Keiko nodded and made a quick handsign "Byakugan!" veins around her eyes thickened signifying the activation of her bloodline ability as she scanned the area as far as her eyes could reveal, while Hitomi made a tiger seal and made two shadow clones, she was sweating a little bit and looking a little winded from the act "I forgot that making shadow clones divides your chakra between them, my chakra was just divided into thirds and now I and my clones have a third of my full chakra each" she explained as she leaned against the fence so she could catch her breath "guess it's a Jonin level skill for a reason" she said with a small smile.

Higen sweatdropped. "It'll have to do. I was hoping Keiko could make any sort of clone, but shadows work for a different idea. Hitomi, spread the clones out and, this is very important, make sure I know what's a clone and what's not! Keiko, come with me, we'll attack him together. But don't expend too much chakra energy, either. There's a reason I'm engaging him first." Higen nodded, then again sprinted after Tori Sensei, without his blade this time. His mind whirled, and he found an idea so crazy it might work. Higen somersaulted in mid step, very fast, and when he came up, he was barefoot and his shoes, with their rubber soles, were on his hands. Maybe like that, he could punch Tori without getting electrocuted.

Tori smiled from his hiding place 'not bad, he's already showing the makings of a good leader' he mused before his eyes widened, Keiko was looking right at him 'time to start the REAL test' he thought before leaping from his hiding place so fast it was like he had just vanished, though he knew Keiko would be able to track his movements easily, he wanted her to.

Keiko followed Tori's movements "he's heading into the woods" she said as she pointed towards the forest beyond the fence "we can still catch up with him if we go now"

Hitomi pulls a small red pill from her ninja pouch and swallowed it, seconds later she was no longer out of breath and seemed to be bristling with energy "good thing I packed some soldier pills" she said with a smirk as she looked to her clones as she did a quick transformation jutsu changing the colour of her wrist guards to a deep red "there" the real Hitomi stated "now you'll be able to tell the difference between me and my clones"

Higen gave pursuit, but it was no use. If Tori ran, Higen would never catch him. He couldn't even leap like a ninja. He had no idea how to focus the energy he felt in his body. It made his stomach feel hot. Yet, he wasn't tired yet. Like Rock Lee, Higen Ryu-Sora did crunches, push-ups, and squat thrusts like couch potatoes watched television. His 5'5" frame was rocky muscle underneath his fairly baggy outfit. He focused his mind, searching for the answers. Four bodies, one pair of eyes, one locator and one brain. What to do? There was no way to corner him...Unless!

He dropped back and whispered in Keiko's ear as they sprinted together.
"Throw shuriken, kunai, anything, get him to JUMP. He can't change direction in mid-air or flash away. If we're lucky, we can time one of his jumps, I can tackle him! Tell Hitomi to try to box him in!"

Keiko nodded as she let one of her hands fall to her side so Hitomi who was watching with her clones saw the hands subtle movements, it was a signal to her, telling her to try a pincer movement and box the target, she nodded to her clones who understood and split off as she readied her swords and Keiko pulled a Kunai and a few Shuriken from her pouch, she knew this trick because Hitomi had told her about it a while back, Hitomi would have one or both of her clones set exploding tags on their kunai and release them when the word was given and it would force their target to ground where the whole team would just wail on him, she turned to Higen "we're set, things might get noisy but the the results should be well worth it, just give the signal"

"Dammit! Can't you two just trust me for once!" Higen yelled at Hitomi, making no effort to hide what he was saying to her, since she was several yards away. "No explosives!!! Don't give him anything to hide behind or make us look away! He's ANBU, for crying out loud!" he whispered at Keiko through clenched teeth, somewhat because it's near impossible to lip read that, mostly because he was angry. "You're smart. You understand that if he's in mid-air he can't suddenly change direction while he's airborne! He has to follow an arc, that's just physics. My plan hinges entirely on striking the real Tori sensei in mid-air! Or do you just want to hit him with paper he could probably withstand a direct hit from???"

"who said anything about actually hitting him?" Keiko asked in a whisper "the shockwaves of the blast would knock him into a nearby tree where a Hitomi clone would be waiting to trap him in some ninja wires, to keep him from performing any jutsu" she explained as the kept Tori in sight, neither of them noticing Hitomi's sudden hurt expression before it became like an emotionless mask.

Higen leaned in one more time. "Fine, I guess I didn't ask if I could plan this, but when he just cuts the wires, or worse, electrocutes Hitomi through the wires, don't say I didn't tell you. I'll just try to help for a bit. There's a whole 44 minutes left to do it my way." Higen's eyes were purple again as he looked at her. He looked so angry compared to the way he'd acted before. Higen stepped forward, watching Tori in the small clearing. Tori's stance was more unnerving than Rock Lee's. Everything about it screamed Ninjutsu over taijutsu. That was not Higen's element at all. And, Higen had a new experience to learn from today. Lightning was the most discomforting, disorienting, and stunning kind of attack he'd felt so far. He was glad to have that kind of power on his team, if he could make that team, that is.

Tori raised an eyebrow as he stood there watching the three approach 'what will you do now?' he mentally asked them.

Keiko, looked away from Higen "I'm sorry" she whispered "you asked us to box him in, you never specified how, so we used this pincer strategy to do as you asked"

"Just go. You two are already a team. Right now it's best for me to just accent your movements. I admit it, you're both far more powerful than me, okay???" Higen bit his lips, his eyes were practically gleaming purple now. "My Taijutsu is based on grappling. I may not be a master in it, but it's one of the finest martial arts around. Hand to hand, even if he shocks me, I know I can do something. He can't be better at everything!" Higen looked at Tori with rage in his eyes. Higen vowed to lose a limb before he let go, it would come down to grabbing him.

Keiko called out "NOW!!" this caused several things to happen at once

1) Tori's eyebrow raised

2) a pair of sizzling Kunai launched by one of the Hitomi clones landed about three feet to Tori's left

3) said Kunai exploded

4) the shockwave from said explosion sent Tori flying, he didn't know what had happened as he had been rendered unconscious

5) Tori's trajectory sent him into a series of wires laced around several tree branches, forming a net that had been set up by the other Hitomi clone

when Tori finally came to his senses the team was standing over him, Hitomi and Keiko were holding the silver bells and Higen had the gold one.

Higen looked at the gold bell, feeling very dissatisfied. The girls worked better without him, at least so far. "There is twelve minutes left, Sensei. And I would rather earn this bell." he said and stepped back. He sunk low into a bent knee stance with his wrists crossed like an X. "Though Keiko and Hitomi may have taken this bell, but I will keep it." Higen didn't think about Keiko and Hitomi being inspired by him. They didn't do what he said, and their plan worked better. All he did was get a nasty shock.

Tori got to his feet after Hitomi and Keiko helped untangle him from the net, he looked at Higen "don't feel too discouraged, those two have trained together since they were five, while you have been going through this with a seal on your chakra" he said as he lowered into a ready stance with one hand resting on his katana, his arms and legs sparking with lightning chakra.

"A seal? Why? What seal?" Higen watched closely. Knee foreward, he comes high, slightly back, he comes low. An arch, left to right, likely from up to down, sweeping...No way past but up. Of course, trying to beat Tori was out of the question. Higen had to just keep the bell. Oh! Simple, dangerous, but simple. "I'm keeping this bell!" He shouted, and sprinted at Tori, holding the bell in his left hand. Before he got within ten feet of Tori Sensei, he stopped dead in his tracks, turned and covered his face. He gulped so hard, the other three could hear it. "Uhh...Changed my mind, I don't think I should fight you..." Higen whimpered, his voice suddenly very shakey.

Tori's eyes narrowed "are you forfeiting the bell?" he asked as he began to approach the boy, his limbs still sparking in case this was a trick "if you are then you also forfeit your chances of passing this test" he added making the consequences as clear as possible.

Higen laughed aloud, then grunted in pain a little. "You're not getting the bell, not without killing me." he laughed again and turned around. Both his hands were empty. "I swallowed it!" Then he kicked the ground, spraying dirt and clumps of grass into Tori Sensei's face.

Tori smirked as he released a rush of chakra towards Higen, sending the debris back at the boy "how do you know I didn't tamper with the bell? there might be a poison on or even inside it"

"You wouldn't rig the game like that." Higen said, wiping the dirt off his face. He was starting to not like this game. There was still nine minutes left, and Tori seemed like a sore loser.

Tori's face became stern, very different from the calm or playful expression he'd usually have on "you're right, I wouldn't, but an enemy would, always try to think 5 even 6 steps ahead of your opponent, have plans for their plans ready before they even think of them" he explained as he walked closer to Higen and reached into his pocket with one hand as the electricity around his arms and legs disappeared.

Higen got back into his stance, arms crossed in front of him. He didn't know if Keiko and Hitomi would back him up. Tori was the most intimidating man Higen had ever seen. "I always use my mind more than my fists."

"oh really?, and what does your mind tell you about what I'm going to do next" Tori asked as he pulls out a small slip of paper and charges it with chakra as he continued to approach Higen, seemingly not noticing Hitomi and Keiko getting into ready stances themselves, Keiko readying her Kunai while Hitomi prepares to reach for both of her kodachi.

"Paper is often used with explosive seals, or to test chakra nature, or to put a guard jutsu on." Higen watched Tori's feet, trying to see if they'd tense meaning Tori would strike forward.

Tori smiled "correct, it all depends on the paper used and what's on it" he replied as he turned the paper slightly to reveal a seal on the paper "how good are you at reading seals?" he asked

"I can't read seals. I never learned them." Higen edged slightly backwards. "I just know that seals are among the most deadly and powerful of all the jutsus..." he sunk lower to the ground. 'Eight minutes...' he thought.

"wrong!" Tori said sternly "that title goes to Kinjutsu or Forbidden Jutsu, because the price for using them is often too high for one to safely learn, seals are for the most part just another tool, they simple aid in whatever use the shinobi need them for, mission or civilian" he explained "this seal was given to me by Tsunade-Hime, I assume you remember that name?"

Higen froze. Why would he even mention Lady Tsunade? Tsunade barely had anything to do with Higen, other than own him and keep him locked up. Did she finally send Higen out into the real world just to kill him? Sweat began to appear on his forehead and his eyes widened in fear. "Yes, one of the Sanin. The last one alive." he said, not taking the bait.

Tori smiled "relax, she asked me to use this when you became a genin when she learned I was to be your sensei" he said in a calming tone "it's to start the releasing process on the chacra seal she placed on you when she took you in"

"Okay. I'll try it out in..." Higen looked at his wristwatch "Seven minutes. Because for all I know, that piece of paper will make me upchuck the bell..." He grinned a little at how silly that sounded.

The girls looked at each other and made 'ew gross!' faces as Tori smirked and knelt in front of Higen "just relax" he said as he placed the seal on his forehead as he channeled his chakra into the seal tag, everything went black for Higen, when he awoke he was in a vast grassy field at the base sloping hill, there was no one else around but he could hear a voice from the top of the hill "Higan, why don't you join me?" the voice called.

Higen sat up, looking around. He didn't know where he was, and he felt very strange. His body felt... Full, somehow. He felt heavier, much, much heavier. Yet moving felt easier. He expected to be tired after the test, but he felt really energetic. He stood up, and that made him feel a little dizzy. "Who's there??" he called up to the hill.

At the top of the hill Higen saw what looked like a massive white tiger with jagged stripes, like lightning bolts all across it's body, piercing blue eyes and five tails lazily waving in the air, the tiger looked at him and seemed to smile "have a seat lad" it said while patting a patch of grass with one paw.

"Oh, oh yeah, right...Why not?" he walked, still feeling like his body was made of water up the hill, and sat cross-legged in front of the tiger. He got the impression he should recognize this beast, but nothing came to mind. Higen thought, just for a second, that he wasn't much taller than this things front tooth, and that was unnerving, but he put the thought away.

The Tiger chuckled before speaking "I know you have questions, so how about I answer the two most obvious ones first, namely "where are we" and "who and what am I?" " the tiger said as a couple of it's tails lazily swished along the grass behind it "we are in your mindscape, this is essentially a part of your mind where you're at your most peaceful" it explained as it looked up to the slowly drifting clouds "I must admit, it's very nice here" it said before looking back at Higen "now, on to question two: Who and what am I?, I am Raiju, the five-tailed Thunder Beast, sealed within Tori when he was an infant"

"The "why are we here?" question is the one I'm most interested in," said Higen. He looked at his hands. They almost looked like they belonged to someone else. "Because I don't usually feel peaceful."

"believe it or not, you've been here a few times, during your seclusion this place has kept you from going.....what did Tori call it?" Raiju's brow knitted for a moment as he tried to find words "ah yes!, "stir crazy", now as to why we're here, it's the first step in releasing your powers, you see when the large-breasted woman found you she noticed that your chakra levels were on par with a Jinchūriki, at the time your power would have made you a danger to yourself and everyone around you" he explained as he watched the boys expressions "it was then that she used a powerful seal to bind your chakra to the point were the only chakra you had was just enough to keep you alive, but it was never her intent to keep you like that forever" at this he turned his head slightly to the left to reveal a large boulder sitting in the middle of what looked to be a dry river, it was blocking the river's flow but there was a tiny crack in the stone, allowing a trickle of water to flow through, on the rock was a piece of paper with the kanji for 'Seal' written on it "that represents the first level of the seal on your power, as you grow and develop your skills and control, I will show you the other 'blockages' as it were and help you to remove them"

"Chakra..." Higen put his hand on the stone. The word "SEAL" on the boulder was ominous, like a warning. He put his hand on the trickle of water. When chakra was visible, it was blue, sometimes white, even maybe red. Higen took his hand back from the rock. The stain on his palm was black, shot through with streaks of violet and black. Higen looked up at Raiju, shock and wonder on his face. Then he looked back at his hand. The flesh of his hand had melted away, leaving decayed tendons and blackened bones. Higen shrieked and fell over, clutching his hand.

"Concentrate!" Raiju called as he approach swiftly "it may feel like you're in pain but you are not, this is your mind, YOU control what can and cannot hurt you, remember, it's still your Chakra, it's a part of you, it can't hurt you"

Higen looked again at his hand. The skin flowed like oil down his wrist. The athletic tape crumbled like dust and fell away, and the skeletal claws underneath clenched and unfurled. There was no pain, only horror. He tore off the arm of his shirt and found his veins turning black, twisting like serpents up his arm. His jaw dropped, and his breath quickened, but he got no air. He shook as if his heart was racing, but it did not beat at all. Not once. Higen looked back to Raiju, eyes wide and fearful. He tried to beg for help, but no words came out. His eyes glowed like bright violet beacons, the pupils red as blood. 'Take it back!! This is why they imprisoned me! I'm worse than a Jinchuriki! This is ALL that's inside me!! TAKE IT BACK!!!'

Raiju closed his eyes and spoke calmly "focus on my words young one, this litany is the key:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain."

Higen didn't feel fear so much as revulsion. Every feeling of hurt that was buried in his subconscious came back. The knowledge that he was a monster, an aberration, that nobody ever loved him, or trusted him. He always knew why the tutors and trainers never answered his questions, why even Tsunade couldn't bear to speak to him. Why he had no family, no friends. There was no one to blame, or hate for it. Higen didn't even know who he was, or what he was. Only that nothing good could ever come of it.

The dark chakra spread through him until his skin was black, and a deep purple aura began to raise like smoke from his head and shoulders. Behind Raiju, the crack in the stone began to lengthen and spread. Higen's face contorted, looking like a smoke stained skull. His eyes were no longer human, instead like amethyst geodes, glimmering and glinting.

"This is all that's inside. Don't you see, demon? Everything human about me is a farce. My skin is a mask, my heart a lie." The stone guarding the river trembled, and the crack spider-webbed. "The Jinchuriki are apart from their curse. I AM a curse!"

"you're wrong" came a woman's voice from behind Higen, a figure appeared through the long grass, it was Tsunade, or rather a part of her that was added to the first seal "you're not a monster, you are a mixture of a Jinchuriki's Biju and a powerful long forgotten Kekkei Genkai, it grants you access to the lost Chakra element, Void, there is a clan in Konoha with a talent similar to that element, that clan is the Nara, Shikaku and his son Shikamaru have shown the greatest skill with this, they can help you as will Tori and Raiju" she explained with tears in her eyes.

"Even I know there is no tailed beast that is made of death!" he whirled to face Tsunade, barely still human. He crouched like a ghoul, wanting to kill her. But as she continued toward him, the stone seal no longer broke down. The crack remained just as it was. The black oil coming through it was a steady flow instead of a trickle now. "This! This!" he waved his black, bone arms, the tatters of his outfit flapped back and forth. "This is another sort of evil! This is something no one has seen for thousands of years!" the glassy puple eyes looked back, forth, focused on Raiju, then back on Tsunade. "So you don't have all the answers. That's a comfort, really. I would hate you so much if you knew. But you don't! You don't. Watch this body well. Pay close attention! There's so much more to this than what you think!" The skeleton cackled madly, and teeth started to fall out of it's mouth, and it's bones crumpled to a pile on the ground, and the light in the purple eyes went out.

Higen woke up, not sure where he was, hoping the dream was over. He couldn't see or hear yet, everything was fuzzy. "Keiko? Hitomi? ...Tori... Sensei?"

Higen was resting his head on the lap of Tsunade ans she knelt in the grass, gently running her hands through his hair, Raiju laying nearby "welcome back" she said softly.

"Oh. I'm still here. That sucks..." Higen held still, breathing deeply. That pleasant heavy feeling was back. "So... You two saw it..."

"your demon half?, yes" Raiju acknowledged "you would not be the first to have found that side of their soul and be nearly conquered by it" Raiju looked towards a small swirling of leaves which began to show an image like a projection screen, the image was of Tori as his hair began to grow longer, wilder and spark with electricity his eyes narrowed and became catlike the pupils were now slits, and his teeth grew into feline fangs similar in shape to Raiju's, his nails sharpened into fierce claws and tiger stripes appears on his face and arms, he looked more feral and a great deal more dangerous as five electric chakra tails thrashed behind him "that was from when he accessed more power from me than he was able to handle, at the time his limit was 2 tails' worth of my power, this encounter forced him to try for all 5, afterwords his skin was severely burned and there was a great deal of internal tearing and bleeding, this was during the final clash with Kabuto and the Akatsuki" Raiju explained, Tsunade nodded remembering the incident "and Naruto has had a few dark moments with his Biju" the projection now depicted Naruto in his Six-tailed form, crouched down barely looking human with his body enveloped in chakra and what appeared to be an animal skeleton over his body as six chakra tails moved behind him "they came face to face with their darker selves and conquered them, Naruto has access to ll nine tails and Tori can willingly transform into the form saw before without losing his true self, they conquered the darkness and so will you"

"It's not that. I know it's not. It's some other thing, not from this world. How do you know I could ever control it?" Higen sat up slowly, gently. He felt much more heavy and weak when he moved. He looked back at Tsunade. "It's like summoning jutsu. It's something from some other place. It's not sealed inside of me... It's a part of me!"

"The fact that it's a part of you is exactly why I know you can control it, I want you to think on that" Raiju stated as he got to his feet to stand next to the boy "our time here is nearly up, I can sense Tori finishing up applying the change" he glanced over to the boulder and sure enough, the water coming through the cracked boulder was clear and clean as opposed to the slightly murky colour it had been before "when you open your eyes, you will have access to the first level of your chakra, more will be granted to you when you are ready, if you ever need to speak with me, just ask Tori and he will show you how this can be done" Raiju explained as the world around them faded, moments later Higen and Tori were looking at each other(the events in Higen's mind had taken place in the blink of an eye in the outside world)

Higen's pupils dilated into big huge saucers, and he blinked and shielded his face from the noonday sun. "Yeah, think I'm gonna be sick..." he stumbled backwards.

Tori moved forward and helped the boy hunch over, gently rubbing his back, he remained silent the whole time, his brow knitted in thought, this wasn't the reaction he was expecting from having your chakra unsealed, it was....unsettling.

Steadily his eyes readjusted to the light and the bell settled back down in his stomach. "So... The tiger..." Higen took a deep breath, and noticed Keiko and Hitomi watching him. He was back in the real world. And yet, he still felt heavy. There was a warmth in his muscles he'd never felt before. A strength in his tendons, a brightness to the world. Was this what it was like to have chakra like other shinobi?

Tori raised an eyebrow "tiger?" he asked hesitantly, if he meant what he thought then this might complicate things, there were many who still hated Jinchuriki and what they carried, and others who longed to possess them and use them as weapons.

Hitomi and Keiko looked at each other, Hitomi had noticed it first, Higen's 'scent' had changed, it was stronger and easily register with her senses, but it was potent, on par with her brother's 'is like Onii-Chan?' she wondered.

Higen stood there for a second, still awestruck, then shook his head, deciding not to talk about it. He took another deep breath and looked at his watch. Seven minutes? How was it not one o clock yet? Higen looked back up at Tori, then he leaped away. Part of him didn't believe he could jump into the high branches of the nearby trees, but he could, just like that.

Tori let out a laugh as he saw Higen's jump "well now" he said with a big smile "looks like someone just discovered their chakra" Hitomi and Keiko smiled as well and were cheering for him.

"I'm starting to think you're taking it easy on me sensei! Or is there no way for you to get the bell once I've swallowed it?" Higen called down from the Tree canopy. He knew he still had to be cautious. But it was very hard not to feel confident. He felt a hundred times stronger and more vital than he ever had before.

Tori simply smiled before vanishing only to appear beside Higen with a steely glare that meant certain doom for many an enemy shinobi as he delivered a sudden and powerful blow to his stomach with just enough chakra to force Higen to empty his stomach's contents all over the forest floor.

Higen nearly went unconscious from the force of the blow. Part of his lunch, some blood, and the bell flew from his mouth towards the ground. As Higen collapsed, he rolled and dropped like a stone from the tree. His first thought hitting the ground was "OW!" and the second was "Six minutes." He scrabbled to his feet and got to the nasty looking contents of his stomach.

Tori had vanished again and landed in-between Higen and the bell, quickly snatching it up "looking for this?" he asked before casually tossing it back to him "now" he said, his voice even "what have we learned?"

Out of breath, Higen wheezed. "Arrogance is bad for your health." He wiped the bell off on his belt sash and straightened out, standing taller. "Still, I won't stand for you taking it easy on me, Sensei."

Tori smiled "all i did was lower my skill level a bit" he replied "if I went at you with my full power, you would have no chance of surviving this test, or learning the secret to passing it and....it wasn't to get the bells"

"So there was a catch? I knew it." The confident, cool look was back on Higen's face. Now that the situation wasn't so stressful, he allowed himself to worry about himself again.

Tori nodded "the question is, have you figured it out yet?" he glanced at his watch and then back at Higen "times running out"

"What? Did we satisfy what you were looking for? I still don't think you wanted to lose this little game, and you more, or less did."

Tori raised a finger "actually..." he interrupted "if you haven't figured out the secret purpose of this test, then you all still fail"

Higen's smile flatened. "Three bells, one unique...it's some kind of gauge...Like if we could get the bell from you, and who would show leadership...?"Higen looked at the girls for help.

Hitomi and Keiko quickly moved over to higen for a group huddle "lets think about everything that happened before and during the test" Hitomi said as Keiko nodded "we had three bells, two silver ones that guaranteed a pass for whoever got it if we got them and a gold one that was not only harder to get but we actually had to hold on to it until time ran out but it had promised a pass for the whole team if we succeeded" Keiko replied.

"Yeah...But he didn't act worried about the bells. He wasn't even interested in the silver ones after I took the gold one...I don't get it. If we passed the test, why would we fail if we didn't know the hidden meaning of it?" Higen looked stumped in earnest. That mean streak was starting to show in his eyes again. He was frustrated.

Keiko looked at Higen "why would he bother with the silver ones?" she replied calmly "they were guaranteed passes as soon as Hitomi and I had them, the gold one you had to not only get but keep from being reclaimed as well"

Hitomi closed her eyes "he said getting the bells wasn't the true test....." suddenly her eyes opened again in realization "what if the objective wasn't THAT we got the bells, but HOW we got them?" she asked the others.

"That makes more sense," Higen said. "As dumb as that idea sounds, it makes the most sense. I don't think he intended for us to get all three, or even one of them at all." He rubbed his forehead and fiddled with the half melted tape on his hand. "I don't see why he had to be so obtuse about it..."

Hitomi smiled bashfully "my brother sometimes resorts to the "School of Hard Knocks" style of training" she said in a quiet voice, remembering how her brother often trained her in the past "I think it's a holdover from his ANBU T&I days"

"I just think he's a lunatic..." Higen mumbled, feeling pretty wiped out now that his adrenaline was wearing off. "Well, if Keiko agrees with you, I do. Go ahead and take credit for the answer." He smiled a little and cracked his back. He still felt a little tense from that strange period of time he was... Entranced.

Hitomi nodded as she turned to Tori while Keiko whispered "that term was often used in reference to Tori-Sensei's T&I instructor, Anko Mitarashi", Hitomi looked at Tori "since achieving the objective wasn't the purpose of the test, then it has to be the method in which we went about it" she stated.

Tori leveled a hard look on all three gennin "is this what you all believe or are you simply going along with what she said?" he asked in a cold hard tone that implied that they should consider their replies carefully.

Higen didn't see any reason to lie about his opinion. "I fully expected you to provide us the means to get the bells. I think you didn't use your full power. I think you used just enough strength so that we had to impress you to complete the objective." Higen crossed his arms, and his left eye glinted a little with that violet color. "I don't disagree with Hitomi. Because you didn't make it easy, in fact, I still think you lost the bells against your will. So you were testing our skill."

Keiko silently nodded with Higen's words "you were genuinely caught off guard by our attack despite the fact that you have been present at many of my and Hitomi-chans training sessions"

Tori smiled wickedly "and what if I was to tell you that i had been under orders to pass this team?" he asked with a sly tone.

Higen paled. Higen was not a kid with a lot of tan to his skin to begin with, but he turned white as a sheet. He kept his mouth shut and looked at his feet, suddenly unable to make eye contact.

Hitomi and Keiko glared at him, they didn't believe him for a second "who would issue such an order, certainly not the Hokage" Hitomi replied.

Keiko nodded "Father would never allow preferential treatment like that, it's one of the things that caused Sasuke-sama to go rogue" she added.

Tori nodded "right on both counts and the Hokage is in charge of Konoha's Shinobi Corps but he isn't the only person running the village"

"would the Village Council really be THAT arrogent.....AGAIN?!?" Hitomi practically roared in response, Keiko looked like she was ready to march into the council chambers while they were in session and chew them out.....repeatedly.

Tori smiled "not since the restructuring 10 years ago, when the Hokage decided the Civilian side of the Council had too much power" he explained "but this information did reveal something very important"

Higen was grateful for Hitomi and Keiko lunging forward as they complained. It allowed him to stay behind them and out of sight, out of mind. His only hope was that hitomi and keiko would think it had to do with them, and not him.

"and what information is that?" Hitomi asked with a slight growl that would have been more at home coming from an Inuzuka rather that Tori's little sister.

Tori fought as hard as he could but finally gave up and let out a loud laugh as he replied "that even my sister can't tell when I'm flat out lying" he continued to laugh as both girls shot daggers in his direction.

Higen coughed suddenly. When everyone looked at him, he nearly fainted. Instead, he put on his best fake smile to Hitomi. "Yeah, Lunatic, right?"

Hitomi was almost inclined to agree with Higen and Keiko had the faintest ghost of a smirk on her face.

Tori gave them all a grin "look at it this way, with me as your Sensei, your genin years will at the very least be interesting" he said as he suppressed another chuckle.

"So...When do we get our first mission?" Higen fiddled more with his hand tape. Where it was burnt all down the left side started to unravel and he forced himself to stop nervously picking at it. "I'm sure it's some great D-ranked stuff I got 10 Yen that says it's getting kittens out if trees!" he grinned wide.

Tori smiled "we'll meet tomorrow in front of these very woods, then we'll head to the Hokage Tower to receive our first mission, and yes it most likely will be a simple D-Rank mission, that's the best a fresh out of the academy team can expect at the moment" Tori answered "but till then, you're all dismissed" he then turned to the lone male Genin of his team "except for you Higen, you and I need to have a quick one on one moment"

Higen nodded, trying to make his unease look like dutiful grimness. He turned to the girls "Thank you, Hitomi," he gave a smile that was quite real, "and thank you, Keiko." he couldn't avoid blushing a little at the Hokage's daughter. He had a crush on her. "I'm honored to have you as teammates!"

Hitomi and Keiko both smiled quite openly as the walked over to Higen and kissed him on the cheek "see you tomorrow" Hitomi whispered before they both headed off.

As soon as both girls were gone Tori looked at Higen and smirked "quite the ladies man, aren't you?" he asked humourusly.

"I was blessed with good looks I guess..." Higen grinned a little sheepishly. "I never thought they'd like me... Since I'm barely twelve... And not a real genin..." he bowed his head, but kept his watchful gaze on Tori.

Tori's face softened a bit "you are a genin, you received training just like Hitomi and Keiko, just because you didn't go to the Academy to receive it doesn't make it any less substantial" he said reassuringly "the Academy is just a building like any other, you were simply...'home schooled'" he added with a small smirk.

"Well, I'm grateful you did...Whatever that was, so that I have chakra now. I didn't before...No transformation, no substitution....I just really have my head..." Higen sat down on a treestump and hunched over.

"that's part of my job" Tori replied as he leaned against a nearby tree "to help het your Chakra-based skill up to Hitomi and Keiko's levels" he explained "not to mention help you to develop your own signature jutsu skills"

"Signature jutsu?" Higen sounded depressed. "Ive studied over two hundred jutsus from half a century ago to modern techniques. I can't even think of how to counter half of them. Chakra damage transfer, shadow posession explosive clones, everything to do with Earth chakra..." Higen bit his lip. "I feel like I'm in over my head. My head, the thing I'm supposed to get an advantage from." Higen took a deep breath, and when he looked back up at Tori, the mean, amythyst glint was back in his eyes. "I know why she did that. Made me read all those damn tomes. Sure, in the end you top level shinobi might feel sorry for me, but at the end of the day, to you..." Higen's teeth clenched together loud enough to make a creaking noise.
"Im just your hidden Jinchuriki, a secret superweapon project. How do I know you people didn't do this to me?"

"for one thing" Tori replied evenly "you aren't a Jinchuriki, you're more like a Hanyou" he began "and secondly, your power would have destroyed you without some form of regulator to keep it under control, we are also at peace and there are only two Jinchuriki in existence now, the Hokage and a Shinobi called Killer Bee, and those two happen to be friends, the Hokage knows what it's like to have been treated like he was nothing more than a weapon to be unleashed upon the enemy, and he has made it CLEAR that he would not tolorate anyone being used as such while he is able to prevent it, he wishes for you to find your own Nindo, your Ninja path" there was a look in Tori's eyes that showed nothing but respect and admiration for the current Hokage's wishes.

"Doesnt change that this team is rigged. There's only two things that can happen tomorrow. Either the council pampers us, or pushes us. There's clearly not going to be a grey area. Ask me? We're getting a B, easy." Higen facepalmed. "Im getting ahead of myself, aren't I, sensei? I should be asking you..."

Tori smiled "technically the team HAS been rigged, but in your favour, you have little to no training in chakra control, your team-mates have skills with ADVANCED chakra control, the purpose is to have them help you advance your training with their assistance....mine too of course" he added with a smirk "Raiju and I will be training you in a special dojo where you'll be able to test your limits without worrying about collateral damage or accidental fatalities"

"And how am I supposed to help? It could take years to try to control whatever is inside me. What if I just disintegrate like I did inside the calm place?" Higen had no memory of when the Void chakra consumed him.

"that's the thing about this 'Dojo' I mentioned" Tori replied "it's sort of outside of time, a year in there is like five minutes out here, so imagine the amount of training we'll be putting you through with each half hour session?" he added with an almost sadistic smile.

Higen's eyes went wide at Tori Sensei "You can't be serious?" But then realization dawned on him. "You are serious. I've heard of this jutsu. I've heard it causes brain damage and psychosis in all but the most experienced and well trained. You think I have the... The discipline for that?"

Tori nodded "I do, the skill is less about chakra and more about Mental Discipline, something I know you have in spades" he replied with a knowing smile.

"I..." Higen didn't want to say he had mental discipline. He was scared and was depressed of the idea of going away for years when he was just learning to socialize. But again, Tori sensei was right. "Yes, I am maybe the only genin who can take it. It won't be too much different from the way I've always lived."

Tori saw the expression on Higen's face "relax, our sessions will only be once a week at most, you'll have plenty of free time to develop your social skills" he assured the genin "even when on missions with two cute kunoichi" he added with a chuckle.

"Yeah." Higen smiled a little. "So I guess we're done for now, Tori-Sensei?" Higen asked hopefully. He wanted to sleep on all of this.

Tori nodded "pretty much, our first special session won't be for a few days at least, I want you to get used to being around your team before we start in on it" he smiled as he straightened up "I'll see you tomorrow then" he gave a casual wave before vanishing in a swirl of leaves and wind.

Higen sat for a while. He had goosebumps. It was finally here: the day he was never quite sure would ever happen. His destiny as a shinobi was sealed, and he was confirmed as an asset to the village, maybe as much as a jinchuriki would be. He wondered if maybe sometime soon he should try to meet the Hokage. Maybe Lord Naruto would have some tips about how to handle the responsibility.

Eventually he returned home, and slept more soundly than he had in weeks. He did have nightmares, though. Something about black skeletons. But he didn't really remember them, and arrived at the Woods the next day in good spirits.

Keiko was already there but Hitomi was nowhere to be seen, Keiko turned and smiled at Higen as she waved to him "sleep well?" she asked kindly.

"Yeah!" Higen sat down next to her. He was aware of something different about Keiko today, but couldn't put a finger on what it was. It felt like having a word on the tip of your tongue. "And how about you?" he asked, smiling.

Keiko nodded "mother and father were curious about who I had on my team and how we did on our test, mother said she might check up on us so she could meet you herself" she replied quietly "she's known Hitomi since we were little and Father was curious about meeting you as well" she added "he said he might do the same once finds a way to duck out of doing more paperwork" she finished with a slight giggle at her father's ever present mumblings about paperwork being an invention of the devil.

Higen raised his eyebrows. "I've only met you yesterday! Don't you think me meeting your parents is a little forward???" Higen said, waving his hands in front of himself.

Keiko's eyes widened at the insinuation and her face slowly began to redden like her mother used to around her father in their genin days "I..I" she stuttered as he brain was in the middle of a forced reboot.

Higen opened his eyes and his jaw dropped. "Keiko, I'm sorry! I was only kidding around! Don't be upset!" he waved his hands more, in his head admonishing himself for being an ass.

Keiko gave her head a quick shake before looking down at the ground between them "no it's alright, I guess it did sound a little embarrassing, I simply meant that my parents wanted to see how our team's make-up would develop" she replied as she tried to force her blush to fade away.

"And that makes perfect sense!" he leaned to look her in the eye to reassure her. "I just joked because I'm very nervous to meet the Hokage." he looked down too. "I didn't grow up in this village... Or in this land.. And I kinda feel like an intruder."

"Father's mother wasn't originally from Konoha either" Keiko said reassuringly "she was from the Land of Whirlpools before it was wiped out, but she was brought to Konoha and learned to become a Kunoichi at the academy, and Tori-Senesi's and Hitomi's parents weren't from her either, they were from the Hidden Mist Village but the Third Hokage allowed them to join the village and be counted among their ranks, so you aren't the first to feel that way" she said in an attempt to let him know there are others and he wasn't alone in the feelings he seemed to be having.

"Oh. I didn't know that!" he smiled at her, but that smile was a little less genuine than the others. "I'm glad to be here, though. And glad to be on your team." he looked off toward the town, watching for the other two, not really noticing he'd used the phrase "your team" instead of "this team."

"um...it's your team too" Keiko replied quietly to him, she didn't know why but when she was alone with Higen she felt like she was acting the same way her mother used to act around her father when they were genin.

"Huh?" Higen blinked "What do you- oh! Oh, I said "Your" team... Heheh.z well, I kinda thought you were the group leader... Err, besides Tori-sensei..," Higen pawed at the back of his head, sweating and then tugging nervously at his ninja-band muffler.

Keiko shook her head and smiled "think of me more like your lieutenant, issuing your orders to Hitomi through the special code signals she and I created from the time she and I spent training together" she explained shyly.

"Wow, that's a good idea to have a code. Wait did you just say my lieutenant?" Higen leaned further forward, trying to make eye contact with Keiko as she looked straight ahead. "As in you think I'm the team leader You're crazy! I'm not that good of a ninja..." he blushed red all over.

Keiko looked him in the eyes "that's what would make you a good leader, mother once told me the best leaders are the ones that don't actively seek the role, the fact that you don't see yourself as a god among men or anything like that means that you won't let power or control go to your head, Father was the worst student in his year at the Academy, in fact he failed the graduation test three times in a row before he finally made Genin" she said with a smile.

"Determination and perserverance are more important than humility. I've heard your dad isn't very humble... But I mean, well...." For a moment he lost himself in her eyes, and he had to quickly close his own eyes lest he get caught staring. "can you keep a secret, Keiko?" He wanted to tell her the truth. He wanted at least one other peer to know, so he didn't feel so alone.

Keiko nodded "of course" she responded, she noticed that Higen seemed uncomfortable about something, she took his hand in hers "what is it?, what's wrong?" the note of concern in her voice was obvious.

Higen seized up some when she held his hand, and he almost decided against it. He leaned in really close to her ear and whispered. "I'm not really a genin from the leaf village...I lived up in the mountains, and they kept me there alone until just recently....Because I'm like your dad..." his head lowered, but he didn't draw away. He felt really ashamed, both of what he was and that he was disobeying pretty much the first order he ever got as a ninja.

Keiko blinked at him for a moment like she didn't believe him before she giggled "I've known about that for a while now, I overheard my father and Tsunade-sama talking about it barely a week before the graduation test" she explained as she hugged him tightly "you've earned the right to wear the Leaf symbol, noting can change that" she whispered into his ear.

Higen's breath caught in his throat, and his pale face turned bright red. He thought he'd pass out. Too many emotions ran through his head. He put his arms gently around her and hugged her back, very tentatively. It was easier to hug her, nervous as he was, than to let her see his face. Still, he was speechless.

Keiko pulled back to look in his eyes and smile "never forget that I'm right here to help you" she whispered as she looked into his eyes.

As this was going on Hitomi had been watching from some bushes nearby, when she saw the two embrace she couldn't help to let out a slightly perverted giggle, she quickly covered her mouth and hoped they didn't hear her.

Higen looked into her big silver eyes and he still couldn't get the fishhook catch out of his throat. His body was fighting the urge to cry so intensely he couldn't breath, but he was quickly unaware of that feeling too. He was pinned under her gaze like a mouse beneath a cobra. His brain went blank, with his hands on her sides and his face inches from her, he couldn't bring himself to move closer or farther away.

Keiko smiled as she rested her forehead on Higen's, she was content to be like this for a while longer.

Higen leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Uhm.. Thanks, Keiko. You're really sweet."

Keiko was about to reply when their moment was broken by a sudden squeal of delight from seemingly out of nowhere.

Higen was startled so bad that his forehead hit Keiko in the nose and he slipped off the stump. "Who--?" he looked around frantically.

Keiko recoiled from the bump as she held her now slightly sore nose, she looked around for the source of the noise to see Hitomi slowly rise from her hiding place, a disturbing glint in her eye "I. Saw. Everything." was all she uttered.

Higen's eyes widened. "No, no you can't tell. No telling... No, no, no..." He got back up to a crouching position and stalked towards Hitomi, his eyes glinting with amythyst shine.

"can't tell what?" Hitomi asked playfully "that you were caught kissing the Hokage's daughter?" she had every intention of milking this for all it was worth, one thing she liked more than learning new skills is teasing her friends.

"who did what now?" Tori asked as he appeared nearby in his usual manner.

Higen skidded over to Hitomi "Dont do that, not right now," he whispered in her ear. It probably didn't help that his face was still red, to say nothing of how embarrassed Keiko might be. "Morning, Sensei!" he said to Tori, his voice squeaking a little.

Tori raised an eyebrow "um...morning?" he replied with a mild hint of curiosity "before we go and receive our first mission I should let you know you've been observed for the last little while" he announced as two more individuals appeared right beside him, one was a man with blonde hair and six whisker like marks on his cheeks wearing an orange cloak with black flames along the bottom and sleeves and a wide brimmed hat with the kanji for Fire on it, the other was a dark-haired man in full ANBU armour and dark red eyes with three tomoe in the pupils, Tori first gestured to the ANBU "this is Sasuke Uchiha, head of Konoha's ANBU, and this..." he now gestured to the blonde "is Naruto Namikaze, the Sixth Hokage"

Higen's face went from red to pale in a heartbeat. But only for a second was he thinking about being seen kissing Keiko. He was looking at the Sixth Hokage, and perhaps the other most powerful shinobi alive, Uchiha Sasuke. Higan had read about them. Their power was unthinkable, and they saw fit to pay direct attention to Higen personally. The young genin could not be more anxious. What if he wasn't strong enough to meet the Hokage's expectations?

Naruto and Sasuke were looking at the three Genin, Sasuke's face was unreadable as always, but Naruto was wearing a big grin "so this is the team that passed your little test?" he asked Tori while looking directly into Higen's eyes.

Tori nodded "Hai Hokage-Sama, they figured out the basic secret behind my modified Bell test"

Sasuke looked at Tori "you used the bell test?" he asked in disbelief "please don't tell me you're turning into another Kakashi" he hoped as Naruto suppressed a laugh at the memory of their old Sensei.

Tori grinned as he looked at his old commander "we...he DID have some good ideas...." he hinted, Sasuke paled while Naruto laughed.

Higen snapped to attention and bowed "Lord Hokage-sama, I'm honored to meet you. I am Higen Ryu-Sora." He bowed low so Naruto wouldn't see his face scrunch up as he tried to figure out what was going on and how to react to it.

the three looked at Higen and Naruto smiled "stand tall Higen, you are a shinobi of Konoha and among family, I'm sorry I did have the chance to speak with you sooner but there are...issues, that required my complete attention" as he said 'issues' he cast a nearly unnoticeable glance at Tori who quickly understood the hidden message "I wanted to welcome you properly but it seems your team-mates did that for me" this time casting a smirking glance at Hitomi and a blushing Keiko "know that if you have any questions my door is always open, and if I'm unavailable visit the Uchiha compound and you can speak with Sasuke or his wife Sakura" he explained kindly, letting him know there are others besides Tori he would be able to open up to about whaever was on his mind.

"Hai." Higen nodded and stood. Where Naruto's posture was jovial and boisterous, Sasuke was the complete opposite. Naruto seemed to lean forward every other word and stand on the balls of his feet, evident of a somewhat unrefined fighter fond of haymaker punches and direct attacks. Sasuke however had a relaxed lean but a tense-ness of the muscles, almost like a cat, indicating a methodical, highly agile fighter. Nothing about his posture gave any indication of how he moved. He was remarkably still, and Higen was impressed enough to be looking at Sasuke instead of Naruto.

Hitomi finally piped up "is that the only reason two of the Neo-Sanin came here?" she asked curiously, this also got Keiko's attention, it wasn't everyday that two of the Neo-Sanin would show up at the first team meeting of a buch of Genin, there had to be more to it.

Naruto's face seemed to change slightly "we're here to inform you that you three will be receiving a C-Rank mission for your first mission, but because you are all new to the Shibobi corps you will be aided by one other" at this an ANBU dressed Kunoichi with long purple hair appeared wearing a cat mask.

Sasuke chose this moment to speak "this is Neko, my second in command and one of the most talented Kenjutsu specialists in ANBU, but for the duration of her time with you, you may call her..." she removed her cat mask to reveal beautiful face framed with long purple hair, bright blue-grey eyes looked at the Genin as she smiled a gentle smile "call me Yugao Uzuki" she said kindly.

"Hello, Uzuki-sama." Higen nodded at her too. He was feeling overwhelmed with all the new, powerful faces, but he was excited too. Higen might have stared at Uzuki if not for the fact that he could only imagine Keiko romanticly, and no other girl. He cracked his knuckles. "When do we leave?"

Yugao smiled "call me Yugao-san, Uzuki-Sama was my father and I'm not from some big clan so Sama wouldn't feel right" she said lightly "and it's best if you know the mission before asking when you leave, it's good to be eager but don't let it impari your common sense or it might cost you not only the mission but your comrades' lives as well as your own" she advised as Sasuke nodded "words to live by" he added.

Naruto smirked "your team will be on a retrieval mission to Sunagakure, you will then receive from their Kazekage a red scroll with this Kanji on it" he points to the 'Fire' Kanji on his hat "you must then bring the scroll back here WITHOUT opening it" he ordered, emphasizing the word 'without' "it is imparitive that the scroll and it's contents reach Konoha intact and unaltered, is this understood?" he looked at each of the Genin in turn Keiko and Hitomi both nodded at each important detail in their first mission.

Higen nodded as well, then blinked for a moment. "This scroll sounds important. Is it something an enemy of Konoha would want? Should we expect trouble?"

"there is always the risk of enemy attack during such missions" Yugao replied "but there are also bandits and spies that would try to retrieve any information going in or out of a village in case it might prove useful to the highest bidder"

"this is why I'm adding Yugao to your team" Naruto said in a firm commanding tone "should you encounter something beyond your ability, she and Tori will be more than capable of handling it for you"

"Right." Higen said. "I'll be sure to Grab my ninja tools, just in case." he stood up straight, glancing sideways at Tori.

Tori noded "meet at the village Gates in three hours and make sure you have your equipment ready and store for quick and easy access, you never know what might be needed so make sure you have Shuriken, Kunai, smoke pellets, paper bombs and anything else you believe you may need for a mission of this type" he explained, Hitomi and Keiko nodded as Sasuke, Yugao and Naruto vanished.

Higen nodded and rushed home to his appartment. He only realized once he was there that he didn't say goodbye to Keiko, and he froze for a second before realizing he'd see her again in less than three hours.

In the sundry pockets sown into his shorts and his baggy shirt, he placed little stacks of shuriken discs, which he felt much more comfortable with than kunai. He only grabbed three smokebombs, and one kunai. He stared at the dresser where he kept his ninja tools for five minutes or more, then he he picked up a small cylinder about the size of a pen, and then strapped his wakizashi to his back. He stopped, then went back to the dresser and retrieved a slightly rounded sheet of metal about seven inches square and stuffed it down a pocket in his shirt, over his heart. Next he pulled out a notebook and drew out three paper bombs and put them in his shirt too. Then he went to his his books, tens of them in stacks by his bed, took out a thick old looking one, and spent the time reading until he had to leave.

Hitomi and Keiko wer the next to arrive, they didn't look much different from earliar besides Hitomi's dual Kodachi being securely strapped to the back of her waist and Keiko carrying a small belt around her waist with several pouches each one holding small scrolls, both looked casual yet ready to fight as soon as they exited the Village's walls.

Higen smiled at them. He looked pretty much the same from before. He had his usual outfit, a blue spandex shirt with a baggier blue shirt over it. His ninja headband was around his neck like a muffler, up to his chin. none of his weapons were showing, but the handle of his sword stuck up some from the back of his collar (the scabbard was under the outer shirt,) but wasn't very visible against his hair. He had fresh athletic tape on his hands and knees, his wrists especially were taped up. He nodded at Hitomi, then, to make Hitomi laugh, he winked and smiled at Keiko.

Sure enough, Hitomi chuckled as she lightly elbowed Keiko, who blushed lightly, the memory of their "one-on-one" still fresh in her mind.

Unknown to them a pair of shinobi were watching them from a nearby rooftop, their location disguised by an advanced Genjutsu, one of the pair tapped a small device in his ear and whispered "it appears they will be sending a Genin team to retrieve the scroll Mistress" he waited for a moment "so far only the Genin are at the main gates, Mistress...'He' is among them" he added with a note of caution "I see...." came a young woman's voice "watch them closely, this may prove even more advantageous than we first thought" the shinobi nodded "as you wish mistress" he replied before he and his partner vanished.

"I never thought I would look forward to my first mission so much." Higen said looking around for Tori Sensei. He was hoping he could keep up, he hadn't practiced tree limb leaps at all since he had his chakra unsealed.

Tori and Yugao were casually walking towards them, Tori was in his regular outfit today instead of his ANBU gear, his sword was strapped to his back and he was casually reading a small missive he'd received form his old ANBU team-mate regarding a recent development in the fallout from their last mission together, it was not good news....

Yugao was trying to figure out what was making Tori's normally upbeat (if not borderline INSANE) personality do such an about face, she was wearing her ANBU gear (without the mask) and her Ninjato was strapped to her back in a similar fashion to Tori's.

Higen greeted his sensei and their extra teammate "Is it time to go yet? Is there more we should know?"

Tori didn't immediately respond until Yugao nudged him in the ribs with her elbow, he looked up as he folded the paper and slid it into a pocket inside the lining of his vest "no, no we're all set to go, now remember, if we encounter any opponents along the way, you three will be expected to handle it, Yugao or myself will only intervene if it looks like you're in over your heads" he explained as they set out for Sunagakure.

Higen nodded, and followed Tori. He was feeling excited and anxious. He felt a little less subdued with chakra freely flowing through his body. It made him feel confident, maybe invincible.

Hitomi and Keiko quickly followed their Senesi and team-mate, Keiko cast a casual glance at Yugao and wondered why she was here instead of Namine, her brothers usual ANBU partner, they had been friends since their Genin days and she thought of the woman as an older sister, the fact that the Hokage had chosen the ANBU second in command surly must mean they might expect more than simple bandits and spies looking for information.

Higen was oblivious of the implications of Yugao's presence, and was hoping, perhaps foolishly, that a battle would happen. He longed to test his Taijutsu skill against someone, anyone.

As the group travelled Tori and Hitomi began to notice a strange smell in the air, Keiko and Yugao soon noticed it too, moments later their path was blocked by a dense fog that seemed to enveloped them 'there's a lot of chakra in that fog....hidden mist jutsu! Tori's shoulders slumped foreword "we're barely an hour out of the Village and we're already being attacked by enemy shinobi..." he glanced up to the sky "did I piss Kami off in a past life or something?" he asked the silent sky.

Yugao was crouching down ina ready stance, one hand reaching for her Ninjato her other for her weapons pouch "this is a signature jutsu of the ninja of Kirigakure" she relayed to the Genin as Tori also prepared to attack, he doubted these guys would be a match for the Genin...but better safe than sorry.

Higen's adrenaline went off and his eyes gleamed in the fog. He backed closer to Keiko, nothing in his hands yet. He looked back and forth, but couldn't see farther than maybe twelve feet in any direction. "We should stay close," he whispered to the girls, mostly to Keiko. "Do you see anything out there? Your Byakugan is crucial here!"

Keiko nodded and made a quick handsign and whispered "Byakugan!" as the veins around her eyes became more pronounced indicating her bloodline ability was now active, at the same time Hitomi's nostrils flared as her own chakra sensing abilities began to pinpoint their targets, as Hitomi 'scanned' one side, Keiko did the same on the other, they held each others hand as a way of secretly signalling each other of their findings, while anyone who saw them would only think they were a pair of scared girls trying to comfort each other.

Tori smirked slightly, he'd seen their little trick before when he tested them in his Storm Cloud Jutsu (Tori's variant of the Hidden Mist Jutsu) he knew it was a flawless way of finding a hidden enemy, no matter how good they were hidden they couldn't hide from the pair's combined Kekkei Genkai, he closed his eyes and used his own Chakra senses to locate and assess the enemy.

Keiko nodded as she and Hitomi confirmed their numbers before whispering to Higen "there are five of them, Chuunin level" Hitomi squeezed Hitomi's hand slightly, she was genuinely scared "Hitomi suspects, they're after her and her brother" she added with a hint of concern for her friend's safety.

Higen backed into gently, so that he knew for sure she was behind him.
"I have to know exactly when they're close. I can't do anything at a distance. Especially when I can't see...." That's when Higen got an idea, and congratulated himself on bringing the only special tool he had, that could help here. He removed the small cyllinder that was about the size of an AA battery from his coat and held it in his right hand.

Hitomi and Keiko nodded in unison, as they watched the five, one remained in place whith the others were spreading out and closing in as the stationary one increased the density of the mist so their victims wouldn't be able to see more than a foot in front of them.

the starionary Kiri-Nin spoke aloud "hand over the Makoto clan survivors and you may yet live to continue your little mission" he said in an eerie voice that seemed to come from everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time.

Keiko felt Hitomi grasp her hand a little tighter, they both knew that the only thing that awaited them was death if these were survivors of the previous Mizukage's rule (Hanzo, the Third Mizukage was responsible for the order to wipe out all of the Kekkei Genkai clans in Kiri, before he was killed and replaced by Mei Terumi, who not only had a Kekkei Genkai but had TWO of them).

At this point, Higen saw the fog thicken and he cursed silently. It was even a little hard to breathe it was so dense. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, still standing close to the girls. "Tori Sensei, any pointers on these ninja's jutsu??" he said out loud, hoping Tori was still close.

One of the Kiri-Nin appeared right behind him with a kunai at his neck "yeah! give up now" he said in a whispered growl.

Tori and Hitomi both acted but Hitomi was closer ash she drew one of her kodachi and swiped at the ninja, who jumped back into the mist "there are four in the immediate area" she whispered as she pretended to examine him for wounds "one to the left of you, about three feet away, another is closing in on Tori-Sensei the other two are to the right, about six feet away and the fifth is ten feet away maintaining the fog" she palmed him five exploding tags "these might come in handy" she added.

Tori was keeping himself alert while Yugao was standing at his back to keep him covered "keep alert everyone," he said to the Genin "Kiri-nin who excel at this Jutsu are infamous for the art of silent killing, don't give them the chance to strike"

Higen, still with his eyes closed, leapt into action before Hitomi finished her sentence. He sailed in a cartwheel above the ninja to his left, having some luck in gauging the distance. He landed with his hands on the Kiri-nin's shoulders. From here, he tried to grip the shinobi's jacket and use his flying momentum to hurl the assassin away. What he was banking on is that, if he failed to throw the kiri-nin, he had still stuck all five paper bombs to the assassin's shoulder-blades, where they'd be extremely difficult to remove in time.

The plan worked better than Higen had hoped as the Kiri-Nin was thrown a good distance towards his ally maintaining the mist, he looked down and saw the tags sizzle, in the space of the seconds before the tages blew he was able to sum up his situation rather nicely and eloquently

"well fuck.."

the explosion's shockwave dispersed the mist as well as send the remaining shinobi flat on their butts, Tori's groups were the first to recover and they quickly set to work rounding up the three disoriented ninja.

Higen gawked at his own handiwork, being a little shocked as the others mopped up. He looked at his little fancy gizmo and hoped he could show off with it another day.

After Tori and the others finished rounding up the three and making sure they were tied up tight, Hitomi went over to Higen and kissed him on the cheek "thanks" she whispered "you were amazing" she blushed lightly.

Tori and Yugao began to interrogate the three while Keiko kept her distance, something about these three made her feel uneasy, she started to de activate her Byakugan when she saw their chakra seemed different, there was a blackness to it, like it had been tainted.

Higen blushed, but then looked a little uneasy, but then shook his head and smiled again. At least Keiko didn't see. She did seem to be rather focused on something...Higen put a hand on Keiko's shoulder. "Something wrong?"

Keiko continued to look at the Kiri-nin "their chakra is....different, there's another kind of chakra in them, it's black and looks tainted" she tried to explain as Hitomi came up beside them waving her hand in front of her nose "smells rotten too" she noticed the serious expression on her brother's face "look at Tori-Sensei's face, he's smelled that type of Chakra before" she turned to the others "you don't think it has anything to do with that paper he was reading before we left do you?"

"I don't know. Corruption usually spells trap... They aren't, diseased, are they?" He looked at Tori, feeling uneasy as well. It was too easy.

"no, thy seem fine" Keiko replied "the black chakra seems to be a part of them yet separate, I'm sorry but that's the best way I can describe it" meanwhile Hitomi had gone over to the charred remains of one of the dead shinobi's clothes where she spotted a headband hidden in what was left of the Kiri-nin's vest it, looked similar to a regular shinobi headband but the cloth was a dark red almost crimson and the village symbol was three diagonal slash marks, like the claws of an animal, she returned to Higen and Keiko and showed them the headband, "what do you make of this?" she asked.

Higen frowned. "Not the Village Hidden in the Rain... A seperatist group? Rebel cells are something ANBU would know about..." Higen looked at it, then at the surviving enemies. "If it's something religious, they won't talk without torture." Higen nodded to Tori that he was finished, then glanced sidelong at Hitomi. He was still offput that she kissed him on the cheek... that way. It didn't feel plutonic. He didn't know what to feel about that.

Hitomi walked over to her brother "I found this in the vest of one of the fallen nin" she explained as Tori took the headband and his eyes narrowed "Akumagakure" he muttered before turning back to the three "your little charade is over with, what's your real mission?"

One of the three laughed "simple, we're meant to kill the heathens and retrive the Akumakage's little brother" he said as he glanced over at Higen "Benihime-Sama has been worried sick about you Kuragari-Sama"

Higen glared icily at him. The statement had enough of a ring of truth to it to make him feel sour. The purple glint keened in his eye. However, for once he had nothing to say.

Tori glared at them as he spoke to Yugao "Take the others on to Suna, I'll be along once I've dealt with these three" he said as he slowly pulled a kunai from his weapons pouch.

Higen saw the kunai, and his eyes almost appeared to be smoking with the vorpal chakra. Ideas of Keiko, Hitomi, anybody who might see what he was about to do did not occur to him. He walked over to the henchman who did the talking. "If I'm something important to you..." He stood in front of the kneeling, tied up Kiri-nin. He took the man's right arm gently in his hands, high up on the bicep. "Your lord should have sent better men." with what looked like a slight twist of both Higen's wrists, he dislocated the man's shoulder and twisted his arm so badly it probably tore every ligimemt and muscle around that arm and shoulder, nearly severing the arm itself.

"oh but I did..." came womans voice as they all turned to the source, A beautiful woman stepped into the clearing, She had smooth blood red hair that was just about as long as as Keiko's golden locks. There was also a slight shimmer to it, making her hair look like there was a small waterfall of blood behind her. Her slitted eyes were a bluish violet color that almost seemed to glow. She was also dressed in a black kimono with red trim that showed off her cleavage, long legs and hourglass figure. Strapped to her side was a katana with a black and red handle connected to a small chain, "they were merely sent to test your skills little brother" she said sweetly.

Higen stood up gritting his teeth. He was angry. He had one day to believe things were going to get better. Now it was all about the damn curse again, and there were more strangers here to objectify him. His veins felt like they were on fire. His eyes lost all trace of their normal black color. He drew his sword, holding it low in his left hand. Again, words failed him.

"now now, no need to be hostile, I am your beloved Onee-Chan, well one of them anyway, you are of noble blood, Kura-kun you have the greatest potential of our family's legacy but it was wasted when that sake woman with the ridiculously sized chest spirited you away when our family was visiting Rice country, you were just a baby at the time but I can tell you are tapping into that potential" she smiled "come home Kura-kun" she gave him a look of such kindness, a look only a sister knew how to give.

"Subtlty is lost on you." Higen growled through his teeth. Inwardly, he felt his rage, and chakra, starting to peak. With the anger was fear, and he wished somebody other than this bizarre woman would say anything. Without really thinking about it, he stalked towards her, a look of inhuman rage on his face.

"I was never one for beating around the bush" Benihime said with a light chuckle as mere moments afterwords another Higen's advance was halted by a blood red katana slicing the ground right in front of him The owner of the katana had Jet black eyes, long raven black hair that reached down to the back of her knees that was tied at the bottom with a dark grey ribbon. She wore a black spaghetti top that seemed to enhance her already impressive figure and bust, a black leather short skirt over a pair of black skin tight shorts, black kunoichi sandals, fingerless gloves and a black sleeveless trench coat. the younger woman turned to Higen and looked at him with almot pleading eyes "don't advance Kura-kun" she said in a whisper.

"ah! Onihime, you made it" Benihime said with a smile "since Ku..I mean Higen seems unwilling to accompany us I have a proposal, my sister here will accompany you on your trek to help look out for our brother and answer any questions he may have, in exchange I will order her to refrain from anything you might deem underhanded like kidnapping him in the dead of night or try to kill you in your sleep and the like" she suggested turning to Higen and waiting for an answer.

"If you don't leave now...I'll kill you." Higen stepped around the katana, unperturbed. The boy's hair was starting to stand on end as if he'd been shocked, and wisps of purple chakra started to flow from his eyes like smoke.

Benihime gave the boy a slightly sad smile before turning to Onihime "you will accompany them on their mission and I expressly forbid you from interfering in any way, understood?"

Onihime nods just before Benihime and her entourage vanish in plumes of swirling black flames, Onihime turned to Tori "ready to go when you are" she said as she bowed deeply.

Tori glanced to Yugao "we've been held up long enough as is" she nods in agreement before turning to the Genin "lets get a move on, I'd like to cover some more ground before setting up for the night"

Hitomi and Keiko go over to Higen and each place a hand on one of his shoulders (Keiko on his left and Hitomi on his right) "come on Higen" Keiko said softly hoping the sound of her voice would calm the rage flowing through him.

Higen shook his head, and the purple chakra dissipated in his eyes enough that that weird smoke effect went away. "You stay away from me," he growled at Onihime. He was furious that Tori accepted the strange Kunoichi's terms, and he started back down the road himself, not caring if they followed or not.

Tori glanced at Onihime, with a slight nod in the direction Higen headed he then turned and went on alongside the boy while Keiko and Hitomi ran after Higen, Yugao simply stood there watching Onihime, letting her know that she was going to be watching her the entire trip.

Onihime flinched at Higen's words like she had just been struck by several razor-sharp Kunai, it hurt her to hear such loathing directed towards her by her own brother, sighing in resignation she sheathed her sword and followed the others, Yugao walking beside her in case she attempted something.

Higen looked down at the road as he walked, a frown on his face. He felt confused and scared and wished he'd never left the mountain cabin. He noticed Keiko and Hitomi behind him and was too embarrassed to look at them.

Keiko took his hand in hers as they walked "is what that woman said still bothering you?" she asked gently.

Onihime did her best to keep her distance from Higen, she wanted to walk beside him and talk about random things, heck she wanted to scoop him up in her arms and just hug him and never let go, but she knew he would approach her in time....she hoped.

Hitomi cast quick unnoticed glances at Onihime and let her senses flare oh so slightly 'her chakra is similar to his, they might be siblings...but that doesn't mean I'm gonna let her take Higen away from us' she thought adamantly.

The trip was taking too long for Higen's taste. The silence was horribly awkward, yet preferable to anyone talking. Higen stayed close to Keiko and made sure to have his back turned to Onihime the whole time. He didn't want to look at her plaintive, sad puppy face.

Eventually nightfall arrived and the group set up camp, everyone, even Onihime pitched in on preparing the campfire, tents and food for the night, one they were all settled and the food (some freshly caught hares courtesy of Higen and Tori, skinned and sliced by Yugao and Hitomi while Keiko and Onihime fetched water and firewood) Tori turned to the Genin "I'm guessing you have a few questions" he asked the group but knew Higen would be the most likely focus.

Higen watched Tori, never the first to pipe up. He had a blank, tired look onhisface and kept his mouth occupied with food. He was certain Hitomi would state the obvious questions first, and get the ball rolling.

Hitomi glared at her brother "why did you agree to her..." at this point she openly points to Onihime who blinks owlishly for a second "...coming along?"

Tori let out a sigh "honestly?, if I hadn't they would have continued assaulting use all the way to Suna and back, and trust me..." he gave them each a hard stare "none of you are ready to fight the ninja of the Hidden Demon Village..." his face relaxed into a smile "...yet!"

Higen chewed slowly, hunched over next to the fire. He fidgeted for a moment, then got up to leave, turning towards the trees.

Keiko got up an followed him. Tori eyed them for a moment and let out a sigh.

Higen stepped out where it was darker, away from the group, actually grateful that Keiko followed."You think that woman is telling the truth?" he asked her.

Keiko looked down a little "well, Hitomi mentioned that her chakra seemed similar to yours, so you are related to her, but if you are her brother, why did she take so long to contact you?"

Higen bit his lip, looking back at the camp. "It is true, that Lady Tsunade has raised me in a secret location since I was an infant, but she told me my whole clan was dead." just a tiny glint of purple, nothing serious, tinged in his left eye. "Whether they are my family, or not, those women are not telling the truth. Not yet."

"but you do have some connection to them" Keiko said as she took a few steps closer to him "maybe during this mission we'll discover what that really is and why they chose now to let you know of them"

"They chose now because they couldn't find me until now." Higen said quietly. "But I'm too valuable to assume their intentions are pure. I don't trust them." He sat down against a tree. "This is too much happening at once..." he mumbled.

"it is a lot to take isn't it?" Tori said from the tree branch above them "but there's more to this and the nature of your chakra than you realize"

Higen sighed tiredly. "What do you make of this, sensei?" he asked, still with his head down.

"there's a reason why no current demon possesses power over life and Death" Tori began "it was a power that belonged solely to two beings, Juubi the ten tailed wolf, king of all demons, and The Nameless One, the first demon to ever exist"

"I've never heard of them..." Higen said, looking up at Tori. He felt a twinge of regret that Tori showed up when he had a chance to be alone with Keiko, but this was important.

Tori's face was unreadable 'something tells me that before long...you'll meet BOTH of them'

Keiko stepped to Higen's side and took his hand "according to legend" she began "Kami, the embodiment of life and creation and Shinigami the herald of death created the demon tribes to act as keepers of the balance in all things, the Nameless One was the very first attempt, the prototype as it were, for all the many demons that would follow" she gripped his hand lightly "and Juubi is the current demon lord whose power is believed to have been the source for many of our world's Kekkei Genkai"

Higen's heart beat faster, as it always did when Keiko touched him. Still, his thoughts were on what Tori Sensei said. "You think I'm... Imbued with one of those hidden demon's chakra...? Like... I learned looking through some of the old Konoha records that some Land of Fire nationalists did to a boy with the Nine Tails chakra?"

Keiko looked to the ground "that child was my father" she said quietly "he doesn't like to remember those early years and rarely talks of them"

Higen winced, "No, I know about that. I meant the boy who had the chakra put in his arm... He was... Is? A monk..." Higen looked nervously at Keiko, not wanting to upset her. "I mean," he looked back to Tori, "if I was a jinchuriki, I'd know it, right?"

Tori nodded "in time you would have been drawn into a seal and met your demon, though Hokage-sama didn't learn he was a Jinchiriki until someone else had told him"

Higen nodded. "My chakra doesn't speak. It doesn't feel special at all to me, but I wouldn't know what real chakra feels like. It's just different." he looked back up, squinting at Tori's eyes, which were as unusual as his own. "Do you trust her?"

Tori nodded "I do actually" he replied "I've gone toe-to-toe with her before, she is infinitely more trustworthy than her sister, which is another reason I allowed her to stay, if she says she won't attempt anything then she won't" he finished before smiling at them "don't be out too long" he added before vanishing.

Higen swallowed hard and looked blankly where Tori had disappeared from, lost in thought. If Onihime was not some evil kunoichi out to steal him to some evil... Place... Or task... Then what was this all about? Was the apprehension all in his head?

Keiko embraced Higen from behind an rested her head on his back "no matter what I...we won't let anyone take you from us" she whispered.

Higen got goosebumps when she hugged him. Tentaively, he brushed his fingers through her golden hair and let her hug him. "I won't leave you, either," he?said quietly.

She simply held him close and enjoyed the quiet moment with him.

Higen let his head rest against hers and closed his eyes. For a moment, it occurred to him that he hadn't been himself. He was used to being control, and he'd been angry ever since he'd lost all that control. He put his hands over Keiko's and took some deep breaths. It didn't pay to be angry in serious situations. There'd be a lot of those ahead.

A while later they returned to the campsite to find Tori and Onihime in deep conversation as she cleaned her sword, Hitomi looked over at her returning teammates before returning her gaze to the fire, she had an expression of deep thought and a hint of sadness as well bet she seemed to be attempting to hide that part.

After nodding to Keiko as they returned,Higen walked over to the campfire and sat in front of Onihime, looking at her expectantly. He didn't feel like talking, but he'd listen.

"interesting" Tori said as he cast a glance at the blood red blade of her Katana "Raiju had mentioned that The Nameless One had some of his fangs made into weapons, but to actually see one up close and to have seen it's power is quite an honour"

Onihime smiled "don't sell yourself short Makoto-san, your powers during that battle were certainly nothing to sneeze at"

Higen looked at the katana, and couldn't help but admire the glossy crimson shine of it's finish. It looked heavy and sharp and felt like it's own entity, like it was aware and watching. He studied Onihime's dress and found it... Eccentric, if not flamboyant. She seemed very free-spirited, which at least was probably the case, with all the skin she had showing.

Onihime noticed Higens wandering eyes out of the corner of her own and smiled as she and Tori continued to talk about random things, her training, his conversations with Raiju, her families connection to The Nameless One's legacy, his...odd training style, etc.

Higen didn't know what was worse, that they weren't acknowledging him, or that they were talking so openly. After a time, he decided to park himself against a tree, further away, and close his eyes.

Keiko knelt next to him "their body language was pretty open" she whispered "I think they were waiting for you to find a topic you might find appropriate so you could join their conversation"

Higen opened his eyes, and, for once ,was somewhat bothered by Keiko's intrusiveness. However, he nodded, and walked back to the campfire. "Where are you from?" he asked Onihime.

Onihime turned to Higen "I was originally born in Yamigakure, the Village Hidden in Darkness, that is before the Jashinists came in and practically destroyed it under the cover of the third Shinobi war, our family went to form Akumagakure alongside survivors from other such villages, we even integrated lesser Jinchuuriki into our populous" she explained.

"And you say I'm from there, too?" Higen said. He forced himself to make eye contact, and couldn't help but be intrigued by her eyes. Still, he made a good effort of keeping his angry, stern face on.

Onihime shook her head "my sister can be...single-minded, the intention was to give you the option to visit our village and then let you decide for yourself, if you chose to remain in Konoha then I would join you so you could be trained in our family's jutsu, I would alo join Konoha's Shinobi ranks as well"

Higen looked at Tori. "When you fought her, were you sparring, or was it actual... Combat?" he looked back to Onihime. "Konoha is hardly as strict about defectors as they once were," he narrowed his brow, "But if I was the Hokage, I wouldn't approve. Besides," Higen's cold look towards Tori was even more unsettling, "I already have a sensei."

Tori responded to both questions "first off, it was actual combat but we later learned it was merely a test and they even tended to our wounds afterwords" he then turned to Onihime "I mentioned the complications to her and she revealed that while we are on our way to Suna, Benihime is on her way to Konoha with a peace envoy" Onihime nodded to Tori before looking at Higen again "it was part of the plan so that your visit to Akuma wouldn't be viewed as a kidnapping or you going rogue" she explained "also, my role would be more of a cross between a Teacher's Assistant and a Private Tutor"

Higen looked from Tori, to Yugao, to Onihime. "There's too many high level ninja present for this to be a C-Rank mission or a diplomatic ploy. What's really going on?" Higen stood up, backing away.

Hitomi looked up from the fire, her own depression forgotten as she looked at the adults waiting for an answer.

Keiko looked back an forth between them, something was wrong.

Tori raised an eyebrow "I think you're reading too much into things" he said calmly "you might want to consider getting some sleep, I'll take first watch tonight"

Higen nodded. It all seemed too high profile. Tsunade kept him successfully hidden for twelve years, and now an entire village was engaging the Hidden leaf, presumably over Higen, himself. He didn't like it. But he would try to relax. He returned to the little tree trunk nook and slumped back down.

Keiko looked at Higen before going to her tent, Hitomi Glanced between Higen and Keiko before returning her gaze to the fire 'I never stood a chance' she thought to herself and let out a quiet sad sigh as the other Kunoichi retired to their own tents for the night.

Even with all his anxiety, once he had a chance to calm down, Higen went immediately to sleep. He had practiced the mental discipline to do that, along with other meditation practices. The hardest thing for him to get out of his head so he could rest was actually his shame at being so on edge.

---

Five days of travelling later, the group reached Suna, as they reached the main gates The Leaf-nin heard a familiar groan "ugh! troublesome, state your purpose" they looked up Shikamaru sitting on top of the wall, Yugao smirked "been cloud watching again?" Shika smirked "seeing as no one felt like playing Go or Shogi I had to make do to pass the time" he explained as he dropped down and Tori handed him a small scroll containing their passes and mission details for him to examine.

Higen stood at attention, remembering that Tori had mentioned this shinobi to him in particular. He couldn't see much to the guy. He was a little short, had terrible posture, and a strange looking face with small eyes. Higen wasn't impressed.

Hitomi looked at Shikamaru, noting the Trench Knives strapped to his belt before whispering to Higen "I remember Onii-san mentioning this guy to me, he's one of the infamous Genin 12, and the first of them to gain Chuunin rank, he's seems laid back but was one of the smartest minds of his graduating class"

Higen nodded. He still didn't see it, but if the guy was that smart, Higen probably only saw what Shikimaru wanted to be seen. "Is it true he killed an akatsuki by himself while he was still a chunin?" he whispered back to Hitomi.

Hitomi nodded "yeah, though it's not easy to kill an immortal like Hiden of Yugakure, only he knows where the guy's remains are buried so nobody can try to bring him back"

Higen raised an eyebrow. He had no idea the famous victory was over one of the few unkillable shinobi out there. Higen looked back to Shikimaru, and finally noticed that maybe he was a genius. While his wandering eyes initially seemed like spacey disinterest, now it was apparent that Shikimaru was just thinking. A lot. Higen waited for their approval anxiously. He still wanted to complete this mission.

Shika smirked as he handed back the scroll and stepped aside as each to allow them through "all of you may pass" he said as he turned to one of the Suna-nin above them "notify the Kazekage that the team from Konoha has arrived" the nin nodded before leaping off and vanishing into thin air.

Higen looked at the massive expanse of sand wall ahead of them and suddenly felt a little uneasy. The city seemed truly intimidating, and likely was meant to look just that. The narrow entrance was miserably claustrophobic and chock full of murder-holes.

Hitomi looked at him as Keiko walked next to him "you okay?" Hitomi asked.

"Yeah," Higen said, smiling a little. "Its just creepy to have this many eyes staring at us..." he gestured to the gaps in the wall that were even visible, most, if not all with guards in them.

Tori smirked "they say the Kazekage's mastery of sand allows him to see everything in Suna through the sand, he might be watching us as we speak" he said casually as he lead the way through the village.

"Can he still do all that without the One Tail demon?" Higen asked.

"According to what I've heard, the ability became his because Shukaku was a part of him for so long and he used the power over sand ever since he was a baby, it kinda stopped being Shukaku's and became Garra's power instead" Tori explained as they neared the massive tower in the center of the village marked with a giant kanji for 'Wind' on the front.

"I see." Higen remembered what he learned of Suna. It was a nation that believed that a powerful offense was the best defense. A tremendously patriotic nation that would kill, fight, and die to the last man over the mere honor of Suna, not just the nation itself. They were, at least until recently, fanatical and xenophobic. Suprisingly, the ominous figure of Gaara of the Red Sands proved to be a mollifying factor for his country. Still, Higen felt like he would be considered more weapon than human to these people, and hoped he wouldn't become well known here.

As the group entered the tower they were met by Kankuro and Temari, the Kunoichi of the pair seemed particularly sour at the moment, mumbling something about lazy husbands and shoving a fan into a particularly uncomfortable place, only Tori was able to hear the exact location and he visibly flinched at the mental imagery.

Higen looked over these two as he arrived. Temari was one of the more beautiful and attractive kunoichi he'd seen. Her body was athletic and looked very strong. Kankuro had a different look about him. Much less athletic, though still fit, and had a unique look to the way his hands moved and the way they set at his sides. He was either an architect, or a machinist... Maybe a puppeteer? Even though those sorts of ninja were extremely rare these days. Higen waited to be addressed, standing extremely straight, as he always did for first impressions.

Tori an Yugao neared the pair as Kankuro was trying to calm his sister down by reminding her that they weren't the only ones in the room, Tori smirked "aside from the obvious, what's going on?" he asked casually.

The puppet user shook his head "who knows, maybe it's just that time of the mo-" he was cut off when Temari smacked him across the back of his head with her battle fan, she turned Tori who took a few steps back, as did everyone else "Gaara's waiting in his office" she said curtly as she dragged her unconscious brother off.

Tori sweatdropped before heading through the large doors to Gaara's office where he was in the middle of a heated battle with the deadliest enemy of any Kage...paperwork.

Higen felt chills when he entered the room. Gaara had an aura of seriousness about him that was terrifying. Something about the way his eyes looked, and his tense posture made him seem more animal than man. Also, there was the undeniable sensation that he was looking right at Higen even as his eyes flitted back and forth over papers on his desk. Now Higen was sweating.

As Tori approached Gaara he spotted his giant gourd, the cork of which was sitting on the desk, he raised an eyebrow as this usually meant Gaara's sand was in use or had been very recently, he bowed slightly "Kazekage-sama, we have been sent by Hokage-sama to retrieve an important scroll"

Gaara looked up and over the messengers "Tori-san, it's good to see you again" he said in a flat tone, his eyes scanned each of the Genin "Naruto had mentioned that you had finally agreed to head up a genin team" his eyes landed on Hitomi for a moment before moving to Keiko who bowed "it's good to see you again uncle" she said politely, Gaara smiled ever so slightly then he turned his gaze to Higen and raised an eyebrow.

Higen set his face. "I am Higen Ryu-Sora, Lord Kazekage." he said, and nodded.

"welcom to Suna Higen-kun" Gaara replied before turning to Tori "the scrolls will be ready for you to deliver by tomorrow, so until then consider yourselves my guests"

Tori hid his surprise well "scrolls, plural?"

Gaara nodded "you will be given two identical scrolls, one carries the vital information you were sent to collect, the other contains general information of little or no value to anyone but Naruto"

Keiko smirked "probably a new Ramen recipe" she whispered under her breath.

Higen grinned a little at that. He was somewhat excited to see mire of Suna, and also a little apprehensive about staying. Many of the village's residents openly glared at Higen and the rest of the squad. Their gawking and face-making pissed him off.

A blond girl barely a year younger than Higen poked her head through the door "uncle?" she said meekly "mama said to tell you the elders are on their way" Gaara smiled at the child "thank you Sakyuu" he said kindly as the girl looked at the ganin and blushed when she saw Higen.

Higen was quickly noticing that girls seemed to find him very attractive, and were very unable to hide it. He found it very amusing. So he smiled and winked at Sakuu.

Sakyuu 'eep'ed and quickly ducked back out the door, Keiko looked at Higen and wondered if he simply had a thing for blonds or if he was plotting to build a harem, then she remembered something she had overheard her father mentioning not too long ago and realized that he may have been talking about Higen at the time.

Higen grinned more, then noticed Keiko staring at him. What? he mouthed at her. She was all wide eyed and looked upset.

Tori smirked at the little exchange before turning to Yugao "could you take the others to where we'll be staying, I have some matters I need to discuss with Lord Kazekage" Yugao nodded and turned to lead the group out.

More secrets, Higen thought. He chewed his lip, thinking about the past two days. More so, he narrowed it down to those strange ninja that attacked, the one whose arm he hurt...And Onihime, and Benihime. Especially Benihime. Infinitely less trustworthy...

As the group passed Temari, Sakyuu and Kankuro (still nursing a sizable lump on the back of his head) Hitomi an Keiko noticed Sakyuu looking at Higen out of the corner of her eye as she helped her mother sort some paperwork, Kankuro was holding a sealed manila envelope bearing the mark of Akumagakure.

Higen didn't notice anything unusual about the envelope. For good reason, he had never seen that symbol before. Sakyuu and Keiko and Hitomi were currently not in his thought process. He was currently wondering why the usually paranoid Suna shinobi showed little interest in Onihime.

Yugao and Onihime both noticed they were being followed and watched, most likely by Suna-nin ANBU, Onihime knew they were keeping an eye on her and her alone.

Keiko watched Sakyuu watched Higen watched Onihime watched the Suna ANBU. The continual silence as they marched and all spied on each other broke when Higen, who was far too deep in thought about just who or what Onihime was paying attention to, managed to lose track of where he was walking, and bumped full on into Temari's back.

Temari lurched foreword slightly from the impact, dropping a few of the documents she had been holding, as Sakyuu scrambled to gather them before any were lost, Temari turned and lifted Higen to his feet with a single had "word to the wise kid, don't space out like that on missions" she said with the faintest hint of a smirk.

Higen blushed and coughed out a frantic apology. He scuttled back to behind Keiko, feeling like an ass.

After leaving the building Yugao showed the gruop the residence the was used for visiting Shinobi and Kunoichi, after securing rooms for each of them she told them to go out and explore Suna, but to keep their wits about them.

Higen was feeling uncomfortable still carrying his ninja gear, and he itches to finally get rid of that metal plate he though was so genius to put over his heart. But, instead, he looked to tag along with Hitomi and Keiko. He needed more adjustment time, lest he show just out of touch he really was. He'd already behaved very weirdly.

As the Girls wandered the streets Hitomi spotted a gathering of Shinobi and the sounds of a small fight, out of curiosity she ran over towards the crowd and peeked in on the source of the noise, in the middle of a make-shift ring was a Kunoichi and a Shinobi, the Shinobi was wearing the garb of a Jonin rank Suna-Nin, the Kunoichi was a different story altogether, She had blueish-green hair and pink eyes. While that was odd, her face seemed weathered and her eyebrows were unnaturally thin. Her skin had a little darker tan than Higen's and held a nice vibrancy to it that she didn't seem to be afraid to show off. She had a red rectangular pack on her back that Hitomi had to wonder what was inside as it was an odd pack for a shinobi to carry. She wore a small white tank top over a fishnet shirt that only covered her chest and not much else as her white skirt was hanging dangerously low on her hips as you could see the crease to her pelvic region, from the looks of things it looked like a show fight, no serious combat, just showing off.

Keiko looked at the Kunoichi like she was trying to put a name to the face "is that Fuu?" she whispered as she stood beside Higen.

"Who?" Higen looked confused that he'd be expected to know anyone. He was interested in the fight. It was difficult to follow without quickly feeling awkward. The best place to set your eyes on a fighter to Learn their technique was on their hips. That would possibly make him look bad to Keiko. 

Keiko's eyes narrowed as she spotted the Headband on her arm bearing the mark of Takigakure, at this her eyes widened "it is her!" she gasped before turning slightly to Higen and suppressing a giggle at his faint blush "Fuu is the Jinchuuriki of Shomei, the Seven Tailed Rhinoceros Beetle, one of the few survivors of the Nine Jinchuuriki from the war with The Akatsuki" she explained.

Higen nodded, his eyes widening a bit. He was the last person to show bigotry or hatred to a jinchuuriki, however, he was probably not too different from those afraid of them. What he had read of these demon-sealed's powers rivaled that of any shinobi ever to exist. What censored material he even got on Naruto was horrifying, with kilometers of forest destroyed and enemies absolutely vaporized. Higen realized that such potential could possibly be inside him, and he felt creeped out even more.

However, all that made him want to watch this even more. What techniques would the jinchuriki fight without using demon chakra.

The Suna-Nin whipped out a simple kunai and charged Fuu who simply smirked and closed her eyes only to open them a second later to reveal a Sharingan eye in one eye and a Rinnengan eye in the other before charging herself and making a few quick hand-signs as she exhaled a cloud of a strange sparkling substance right into the attacker's face, momentarily blinding him. as she quickly ducks under his guard and uses her own kunai to slice his belt off, causing his pants to fall down revealing a pair of black boxers, causing the crowd to burst out laughing.

Higen was instantly mortified. This woman had not just a Sharingan, but a visual Kekkei Genkai he'd never seen or heard of before. Her form was was flawless and her use of techniques perfect. As small and comical as the display was, it let Higen know how dangerous being a ninja of any level was. Apparently even though Higen had been able to easily defeat two shinobi by himself, though they probably were pretty weak, he still didn't feel like he'd been in danger yet. He felt himself sweating just watching Fuu. He had no idea how to counter any of her moves.

Hitomi and Keiko were also laughing, Hitomi was laughing while Keiko was suppressing another giggle, when Fuu turned to the crowd with a smile "anyone else want to try?" she yelled, the shinobi in the crowd seemed hesitant "Aww come on, it's all in good fun" she added with a slight pout as she leaned against the ropes of the ring.

Higen stepped forward. "I'll give it a try." He expected equal humiliation, and yet, he could not pass up this attempt to practice against a wholly superior opponent. Also, he felt he had a trick up his sleeve that he had been extremely eager to try that would be perfect here.

Fuu smiled "come on in then" she said with a cheery smile, though her eyes seemed to blank out for a moment, Hitomi and Keiko recognized that look, she was talking with Shomei, it was a similar look that Tori or Naruto had when they spoke with their 'tenant', Fuu's eyes returned to normal as she assumed her starting position at one corner of the ring "I'll even let you make the first move"

Higen closed his eyes and took a deep breath. While his eyes were closed, he reached under his shirt. A good half of his strategy was probably moot if this slight of hand trick didn't get past her Sharingan. A split second before he drew his hand out of his shirt, he pulled a kunai out of his belt, and opened his eyes, which flashed such a brilliant violet that it could be seen in Suna's bright afternoon sunlight. As his eyes opened, thusly a split second after his right hand drew the kunai, he pulled out a disc shuriken from his shirt. Behind that disc, in his palm, was a small metal cylinder he truly wished Fuu didn't see.

"Done," he said, standing in his battle stance, glaring at her with his purple eyes.

Fuu smiled as she crouched down slightly and activated her eyes, Shomei had mentioned to her that there was something familiar about the boy, at first she thought he was the new container for Shukaku, but dismissed that when she saw his Konoha headband, instead she chose to see what the kid will do and leave it at that.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Higen loosened his stance and smirked. "Was I supposed to recklessly charge you, too?" he struggled to keep his nerves in check.
All in all, what he was attempting was stupid. His hidden ninja tool was expensive to use and rather rare. If he misused it here, he'd probably waste a lot money, and look like an idiot, and probably get his underwear pulled over his head.

Fuu laughed "good one, I like you kid, you got spunk" she smirked "but I'm curious if you actually plan to you that little toy you've got hidden in your hand there" she said pointing to the cylinder in his hand with her Kunai.

"Not just yet." he said. "Well, I suppose the burden of attacking is on me. So kind of you to just use Sharingan on the poor kid off the bat..." Higen smirked again, but then suddenly leaped forward, crossing the 30-odd feet between them quite quickly, in fact purposely overshooting Fuu by several feet. Once behind her, he threw the disc, but kept the kunai in his left hand, leaving the cylinder alone in his right. The way he held it, it fit in his palm like a small lighter.

Fuu vanished and reappeared behind Higen "poor kid?" she said before delivering a roundhouse kick to his sternum "and I'm a simple village girl" she added while secretly sticking a "Kick Me!" sign on his back.

Higen enjoyed her flashing around even less than getting kicked in the ribs. He knew everything he did would be visible, but he had hoped to be able to see too. With that, he got angry. Again, he went for her, swiping high with a feint punch at her face with his left hand. She was taller than him, so he came from below, purposely appearing to throw a clumsy uppercut that brought his entire body altogether too close to hers.

Fuu weaved around him and delivered a light kick to his back sending him foreword into the ropes surrounding the ring, the whole time she had a smile on her face like this was all just a game, which to her it was.

Higen hung on the ropes for an exasperated moment, thinking while she was still toying around. He had to get her to hold still, if only for a moment. He was already wondering if this was far too much trouble to test his custom ninja tool on a fighter like Fuu. If he were to miss that attack, he'd never get a second chance. So she was fond of right snap kicks. That was step one. Step two was she was watching him to predict his movements, so his every muscle twitch had to be a feint or trick. Adrenaline peaked in his system and his eyes began to glimmer continuously. He knew she'd watch feet, hips, eyes, even neck. At risk of letting her kick him again, he stayed on the ropes, puzzling it out. It'd only help if she got closer anyways.

Fuu began to go through a few handsigns as the crowd was shouting out all kinds of suggestions, from "Pants Him" to "Wedgie!" to "Wet Willie" and beyond, Fuu had decided it was time to end the match and see if she was still able to make it up to the kid for being a good sport about all this.

There! Higen thought. With her hands forming the handsigns, he had maybe one second to act. He leaped off the ropes twisting through the air, putting everything he could into closing the distance between them. Let's see her beat the speed of light! Higen thought. As he moved, he formed the handsigns for a move he knew he couldn't execute, the Tsunami of the Seven Seas. As he hoped, her eyes flicked to his hands to predict the move "Tsu!" was all that left his mouth as he flew horizontally then upside-down at Yuu. Approximately as he was 5/6 of the way through the handsigns, and Yuu had finished hers, he triggered the cylinder, which was a high-intensity targeting laser that he stole from one of Tsunade's visitors to the cabin. The battery only could only sustain the beam for five instances of a single second. And he had it pointed right at Yuu's Sharingan eye.

Fuu's Sharingan eye snapped shut at the searing pain while the Rinnegan eye remained locked in the boy and she fought the pain long enough to release a cloud of the same sparkling substance that she had used earlier but with only one eye open her aim was off as she took a step back rubbing her eye but trying to watch the kid.

Higen couldn't believe his luck. She had completely counted him out! Not only was his attack successful at blinding the eye he feared the most, in her own panic, she used the same breath attack as she already had. And Higen had only spoken the first syllable of his attack, for as he came within six feet of Fuu, he had held his breath. He let the cyllinder drop from his hand before his body connected with Fuu in mid-air, completely upside down. As he plowed into her, he tried to grip her arm, but it was too many motions in an instant, and he missed the grab even as his torso hit hers.

Fuu quickly adapted to the change using a one-handed hand seal, she shifted the cloud to swirl around Higen's face with a mild wind Jutsu as she crouched down and reached into her backpack to prepare the finisher while her eye recovered.

Higen hit the ground blind, as well as unable to breathe. Still, his training had adapted him to fighting without using his eyes, as his taijutsu necessitated close contact. He figured it was already over, but she was making enough noise and was close enough that he could still get to her. Again Higen dived at her, hands grasping at the part of her body he could most easily hold onto, her hair.

Fuu smirked as she pulled out a small bundle, before she felt a sharp pull on her hair and yelped "Hair pulling?, that's what you've resorted to?" she said angrily before pulling a substitution switching places with her bundle, which began to smoke.

Higen didn't know what he was holding, but it was smoking, and that was universally bad. Thinking his best possible action was to leap away, backwards and up at maximum velocity, he did so. He had no idea if he'd strike a building or go through a window, but he hoped the movement would clear the dust from his face and gethim clear of a likely explosion. Still not knowing his own strength, he moved much farther and faster than he guessed, and felt his spine smack meatily into the stone siding of a building. He gasped in shock.

Suddenly the bundle burst open to reveal Fuu herself as she grabbed Higen and planted his face right between her breasts as she wrapped her arms around Higen's body, a sly smile on her face.

Higen gasped, froze, and blushed bright red. All his fighting instinct to grapple with a close opponant ceased. He knew his teammates were watching, and the embarassment of his predicament made him flail his arms backwards instead of try to break bones. "Mmmmph!" He tried to tell her to please let go, but that didnt work. Instead of calculations about whether or not this was a clone, or how to combat Sharingan genjutsu, he prayed Keiko and Hitomi's jealousy wouldnt ruin his chances with them.

The moment Fuu 'embraced' Higen Keiko's eyes went wide with shock as she covered her mouth with both hands, while Hitomi was doubled over in laughter as she saw the look on Higen's face, this was grade A teasing material for later that much was certain.

Fuu giggled lightly as she held Higen close "aww!" she said playfully "don't you like Fuu-chan?"

Through her genjutsu's eyes, Fuu would notice Higen's chakra begin to turn an ugly bruised purple and start boiling like liquid from his core chakra center outward. There was a noticible heat between her breasts as a brighter, neon purple chakra started to mist out of his eyes like fog. It stung like hot water on her skin.

"Let....Go..." Higen growled. His hands set on her shoulders, fingers digging into her soft skin like pincers.

Fuu could feel Shomei buzzing in her mind now to get away from him NOW!, acting on instinct she kicked Higen in the gut as she pushed off of him and landed on the opposite side of the ring, he head tilting slightly as she watched with slightly narrowed eyes that seemed to give off a faint yellow flash from time to time as the Seven Tailed Biju was watching through them.

Higen fell back against the ropes, grunting at another unwelcome blow to the stomach. For a few seconds, he was still angry. He bared his teeth, and his fingers twitched like he was a cat about to bare claws. Everyone present could see the gleaming chakra spill slowly from his eyes...

Then he closed them, and bowed at the waist to Fuu.
"Well, its clear I'm very outmatched," he said. When he opened his eyes, they were black, completely normal again. "A wise ninja knows when to retreat, so I'd like to forfeit while I still have my pants." He stepped back out the ropes and started walking back towards Keiko and Hitomi.

Fuu smiled "you have potential kid" she called to Higen "maybe we'll meet again...." she said with a smile before adding under her breath "...young master"

Keiko and Hitomi walked up to him, Hitomi with a small smile on her face while Keiko was contemplating using her Byakugan to check him for injuries.

Higen looked to his teammates with a nervous smile. "Well, I guess she took it easy on me," he scratched the side of his head. Inwardly he was thinking he was glad he didnt panic in there. This new chakra was hard to control, and it muddied up his thoughts. But he tried to stop thinking about it. "What do you two want to do now?" He asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

Hitomi shrugged her shoulders "this is the first time we've ever visited Suna" she replied as Keiko nodded in agreement "maybe for now we should just head to where we'll be spending the night and check in with Sensei"

Higen looked over his shoulder at the ring one more time. There was so much to prepare for. He hadnt brought any books, not even a notepad. But then he remembered what Tori sensei daid about that special training... a place where he could spend weeks preparing in a single instant. "Yes. Lets go see Tori sensei," Higen said quietly. But then he smiled and waved for the girls to follow as he jogged to the hostel building.

Hitomi and Keiko looked at each other for a second and smiled before running after Higen "hey! wait for us" Hotomi called after him.

As they finally got to the building, he saw a Suna guard posted by the front door. Probably there to report on the leaf ninja's comings and goings. "Is Makoto Tori inside?" Higen asked him. "Far as I know," grumbled the turban wearing guard. "Leaf Black Ops has a way of sneaking out from right under your nose." He nodded for Higen to go inside. Higen bowed to theguard, then turned to Hitomi. "Hey, Hitomi, will you let Tori know I need to see him? I need a second to talk to Keiko before I go in..." he said, smiling nervously.

Hitomi nodded as a sly grin crossed her face, she casually walked past Higen and whispered "naughty boy, try not to corrupt little Keiko too badly" she said with a hint of a giggle before heading inside.

Higen blushed some, but when he turned back to Keiko, he was solemn, and serious. "Keiko..." he found it hard to even look at her. He wanted to tell her that he liked her, but that she should keep her distance. He didnt feel in control of the chakra inside him. And he remembered all too well that it could consume him.

Keiko tilted her head slightly as she looked at Higen "yes Higen" she replied before noticing the look that crossed his face "what's wrong" she asked with a hint of concern.

He saw that look in her eyes. She really did care. He couldnt tell her to stay away. Not yet. "Ah...uh... race you to the suite!" He said, and ran inside. He had to train. He had to get a tighter grip on this chakra. The only person he knew could help was Tori sensei. He barged in through the door of the suit where Yugao, Onihime and Tori were.

"Ara?!" Keiko said in confusion before chasing after him, she knew there was more to this than he had let on, but she was nothing if not patiant, so she was willing to give him time.

---

After leaving Higen and Keiko to their 'conversation' (she would grill Keiko for details later....) Hitomi headed up to the room her brother was staying in only to run into Yugao along the way "Yugao-Sensei!" she called "have yo seen Onii-chan?"

Yugao turned to see Hitommi walking up to her, the girls casual pace meant that it wasn't anything urgent 'she probably want her brother to teach her som new tricks to impress Higen with' she mused "actually they're in the back courtyard, getting ready for a sparring match" she tapped her chin with her index finger as she thought for a moment "I think loser has to buy the winner a few drinks at the local Shinobi/Kunoichi only bar"

Hitomi's eye widened for a moment before a smile crossed her face "think we could watch?" she whispered, a gleam of mischief in her eyes.

Yugao smiled at the girl "just don't try any funny business while they're sparring" Hitomi's eyes got really big and innocent as she gave her best 'who, me?' look, Yugao ignored it and lead the way towards the open courtyard in the back that was made for light training sessions, the two stayed off to the side to keep from distracting the pair as they readied themselves for what was to come.

Tori and Onihime were facing each other, each was holding a Boken, Tori smiled as he waited for Onihime to make the first move. Onihime smirked as she dashed forward as did Tori and the two began trading blows with their wooden swords, while also dodging what would be deadly strikes had the weapons been real.

"I'm glad we have this chance to spar" Tori ducked under a blow that would have decapitated him in real life, allowing the Boken to just barely graze his hair. Coming back up, Tori swung his own bamboo sword in an upward stroke that Onihime was forced to jump backwards to dodge. A small pause ensued as his opponent tried to find a weakness in his defences. She didn't and thus, decided to just charge in and hope an opening would present itself.

"Indeed!" Onihime replied, "at least this time it's just just practice rather than life or death" Tori went for an overhead strike, which Onihime made to block. However, the blow was far stronger then she had expected and forced her to kneel down, her left knee almost touching the mat. As the pressure from his blade was taken away, Onihime jumped back, and then took a step forward, swinging her blade upwards from her left hip to right shoulder. The attack was dodged entirely when Tori slid his body in close before she could finish the attack, moving into her guard and forcing her to jump back lest she end up getting taken out at the knees. He had used such a strategy last time they crossed blades.

Tori shook his head as a small pause entered the battle. As they started up again, with Onihime taking another swing at him, he said, "I haven't heard much about your village's objectives since my last ANBU mission. Why is that?" Onihime thrust her sword forward, an attack was set to impale Tori through the chest. Tori countered by twisting his blade around hers and hitting the bottom, knocking it higher into the air, only for Onihime to spin on her feet and try to attack him with a diagonal downward slash. Tori rolled out of the way and smiled due to Onihime's improved skills. Usually, he'd have hit her using that counter. However, this time she attacked, knowing he would do that and used the move as a feint.

"Well, I am not completely privy to my sister's plans, but our previous actions were simply to test you" A stab barely missed her cheek as the words left her lips. Bringing her sword around, she locked blades with Tori, forcing his boken down before she came up in a slash. It was dodged of course, but the move showed Onihime was learning. It was a Konoha Ougi, after all.

"I didn't think I was being graded" Tori teased as he ducked passed a horizontal slash. "did I at least get a gold star?" Onihime suppressed a small giggle just as she was blocking his incoming sword strike. She was so used to serious shinobi and kunoichi that Tori's personality was...odd. Still, she couldn't help but smile. Despite all of his skills with a blade, Tori was very laid back and easy to get along with.

"You and your allies were certainly worthy of our alliance, for the time being at least." After several more clashes of their boken, Tori and Onihime jumped apart, pausing for a second before running back in. The two came together, crossing swords in a final clash. Tori's was lined up just below Onihime's chin, barely grazing against her neck, while Onihime's was stopped no less than a centimeter above his forehead. They retracted their blades and moved several paces away, bowing to signal the end of their match.

Higen had stopped, frozen, watching. Again, he felt the welling up of mistrust and anger at Onihime's prescence. If that whole clan thought of him as family, where had the been until now? Why did the Hokage steal him and keep him locked in a compound? Was he stolen? Or given up? His jaw clenched. Onihime was too nice just to be angry at... but just because Higen couldn't sense deception didn't mean there wasn't any. "Tori sensei?" Higen said quietly.

Tori turned to Higen "ah!" he said with a smile before heading towards his three young charges "what can I do for you three?" he asked cheerfully before seeing Hitomi grabbing Keiko by the arm and hauling her off to their room "where are you off to" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Girl talk" was all Hitomi replied with before the two had vanished inside the building.

Tori looked at Higen with a questioning expression hoping the boy might be able to elaborate.

"You're looking at me?" Higen blinked rapidly. "I don't know what they're thinking... girls are a mystery... but uh... So I met one of the Jinchuriki today..." he trailed off. He didn't know how to ask for help with training. And he still thought it was too dangerous to train around actual people.

Tori nodded "I had heard from The Kazekage that the carrier of the Seven-Tails was in town, though he wouldn't tell me why" he replied as he looked at his young charge "let me guess...you got your backside handed to you?" he asked with a hint of a smirk, remembering the first time he squared off against a Jinchuriki.

"Technically, I forfeited before she got around to my backside. But.." his face got a little more serious "I wouldnt have stood a chance. And jinchuriki or no, that bothers me." He looked up at his proud mentor. "I want to ask your permission to start the special training."

Tori smiled as his eyes went out of focus for a second "Raiju and I agree that the full training shouldn't begin until we return to Konoha, however..." he added with a slight pause "we could activate a special portable training area that has similar properties" he finished as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder "I'll warn you now, Raiju and I may be hard on you during this training, but it's intended for you to learn how to make the best use of the power you hold within you" his face was serious as he laid it all out for the young ninja.

"Yes," was all Higen said. He nodded and bowed. He was nervous, but not afraid of the warning. There was finally something for him to do, and something for him to be. For Higen, that was all the incentive he needed. He never wanted to end up a prisoner again.

Tori nodded "then come with me" he said as he lead the way back to his room, there he pulled out a scroll and unrolled it across the floor inside was a sealling pattern that looked far more complex than the one Hitomi used to seal their lunch "this isn't an ordinary seal" he explained as he sat down next to the open scroll and gestured Higen to sit opposite him "this is more of a portal for the mind, it will create a environment that will be a mixture of our respective mindscapes, Raiju's seal and the special Dojo I mentioned to you before, all you need to do is place one hand on the scroll and focus your chakra into it, the seal will then draw your mind into the special space as it does the same for Raiju and myself, at the same time it will surround our bodies with a protective barrier of pure chakra to ensure we are not harmed while we are...'out'" he finished with a small smile.

Higen nodded. He felt safe enough here in Suno anyways. He placed his hand on his side of the seal, and let himself open his chakra to it. He took a deep breath, focused and steeled himself for what came next.

Tori did the same and felt the slight pull in his mind as his consciousness and Raiju's spirit were drawn into the seal, when he opened his eyes he was standing in the middle of a grassy meadow with what looked like the Hokage monument in the distance, there was a calm stream nearby and a Japanese style dojo just to his left, he turned slightly to see Raiju sitting nearby looking at him with what looked like a smile on his feline face.

Higen opened his eyes and was aware of that dream-like heavy feeling again. He noticed Raiju and smiled. Raiju always was too jovial and mirthful for Higen to remember he was a tailed beast, and hugely dangerous. He stepped up to Tori and bowed. "What's first? Because uh... I've been practicing clone jutsu... and I've had some success... but I cant get it to move properly..."

Tori smiled but it was Raiju who spoke "that's because you need to walk before you can fly" he said as he rose to his feet "let's set you on a simple chakra control exercise" Tori was almost expecting Higen to whine about being kept from learning powerful jutsu right away.

Higen merely nodded. He was a brash child, but not impatient. It would be hard for another to relate to his life expeience, going days on end with so little contact with anyone, having very little choice in what he did everyday. Higen let his chakra flow through his body, still accutely aware of its new prescence in his system. "I'm ready," he said.

Tori nodded "first, take a look behind you" he said pointing just over Higen's left shoulder, it was a large black Jizo holding a red orb in it's left hand.

Higen did, and was somewhat confused. The statue was pretty nondescript, the red orb meaningless to him, save maybe that Higen was also left handed. "Okay, then what?"

Tori and Raiju did their best not to face fault, however a small sweatdrop appeared on the back of Raiju's head, Tori collected himself first "that's a representation of your chakra, now that the seal has been weakened, the demonic chakra, or Youki, can manifest itself in this form" he explained as Raiju came forward "as we work with you, that power may manifest itself in a form you can communicate with, many Hanyo have this trait"

Higen looked at his own left hand, then the orb. A thought occured to him, and he spoke aloud. "Spiritus," he said, that foreign word for life force was the same as "breath" in that language. He held his breath, and found he didnt need any air here. The chakra he had wasnt inside himself here. It was in the statue's hand. He stepped forward, still with his left hand out. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, the orb was in his own hand.

Raiju smiled "excellent" Tori clapped "now that's just the first step, now focus your mind on the task at hand, you mentioned the clone jutsu before, try making one now, but only one, imagine reaching into a lake and scooping out just the right amount of water"

When he held the chakra here, it was easier to sense it. Instead of a feverish warmth in his veins, it was a clear, defined sensation in his mind. This was the hard part, to open himself to the chakra fully was to admit that his chakra was its own entity, a being with it's own wants and needs and impulses. His chakra, even here, seemed to vibrate with palpable negativity. He felt it hate But again, he focused, then reached into it. He didnt move or say anything, but his body jerked slightly as he tensed almost every muscle in his body, like he got electrocuted. Then he was motionless... still, too still. After a stretch of about 10 or 15 seconds, a single dark purple tear slid down his cheek from his right eye.

Tori and Raiju watched Higen carefully, Tori approached the boy and placed his left hand on the genin's shoulder "Higen?" he asked calmly.

Higen, still with his eyes shut, opened his mouth and slowly took a deep breath. "Wait," he said very quietly. This time, he didnt say anything for much longer, over a minute. By then, though, Tori could see Higen's lips moving. He was talking. That dark purple tear ran again from a different corner of his eye. Tori's senses were expert enough to tell that Higen's knees were starting to shake, and sweat was forming around his temples. Higen was... struggling.

Tori nodded "very well" he said quietly as Raiju approached, both remained silent as they watched the boy very carefully, each preparing to step in if it looked like the demon might take over.

Oddly enough, after another long, silent minute, Tori and Raiju saw those two tears climb back up Higen's cheek, almost too slow to notice. When they receded fully, Higen opened his eyes and sunk to his hands and knees. He was panting for air, despite knowing there was nothing to breathe here. "Sh.... sh..." Higen coughed loudly, wiped his mouth, and looked very relieved to see only a little spit on his hand, nothing more. His eyes were opened very wide, like he was surprised, or frightened. "She is very... very strong," he said.

Tori raised an eyebrow "'she' huh?" he said not really expecting an answer "well that's an interesting quirk of fate" he finished with a quiet chuckle.

Raiju nodded "with practice you may be able to help her take on a form of sorts in the mindscape, and like with many Jinchuriki, the two of you may be able to communicate with each other in the real world as well" he explained as he neared Higen.

Higen shook his head slowly, still staring off into space a little. "Nuh...nooo, no." He rubbed his face. It felt all numb and tingly. "That would be a very bad idea." He stood up, wearily brushed his knees off, then formed the standard handsign for clone jutsu. He squinted his eyes shut, and the there were two of him. The second one said. "There, think I have it...this time." Then the original Higen opened his eyes and said "it's not easy to mold chakra. Its always trying to twist back out of shape."

Tori nodded "it's understandable, you only just accessed your chakra after all" Raiju smiled slightly "in time you will be able to call on your power with split-second timing, and do more than the three basic jutsu skills".

Higen nodded again. He wasnt sure he could articulate what was going on with this entity in his chakra. She didnt speak not in the same way Higen did, nor did she have an obvious female form. There was just a sentiant mind in his heart, where this chakra was centered. It was angry, focused, coiled, waiting for some moment, perhaps for someone. Higen wasnt especially sure how he got her to cooperate, but he did, for now.

Tori smiled "now then" he said smacking his hands together "now that you can access your chakra, let get you working on some simple control exercises" he pointed to the left where a small river appeared to take form "lets see if you can figure out what to do" he said as he casually walked to the river and then continued over the water until he was half way across before turning to face Higen again.

Higen considered it for a moment, made up his mind on what to try, and walked carefully to the waters edge. When he stepped down, water gave way around his foot in a wide circle, then splashed back up onto his pants. "My snowshoe idea didnt work..." he said, withdrawing his foot, looking puzzled.

Tori smirked "there are too many holes in a snowshoe and it's too wide for water walking" he answered as Raiju seemed to be suppressing a laugh "but it was a good guess, try something narrower and more concentrated" he hinted.

He tried molding the chakra to be more like oil, to resist the water rather than help the water resist him. He was able to step onto the water then, but it required a lot of concentration. He was aware of his chakra's toxic nature. He worried that he'd be easy to track like this, with the way the chakra seemed to react poisonously with the natural chakra in the environment.

Tori nodded "better, but not perfect" he said as he moved closer to Higen "try something more like stilts" he suggested "make the chakra push against the floor of the river in a constant stream, make it push you up and keep you on the surface to the water"

"Oh! I see.. " he did as Tori suggested and was able to stand straight and walk easier. He just had to get comfortable and ignore the sensation that he should walk like he was trying to go up stairs. "Sensei, you should know, if you dont already... dont try to connect with my chakra... like ever.... dont tap into it or let anyone in training use a technique to siphon it..." he looked down at the water. "They'll die."

Tori nodded "it's to be expected" he said evenly "your chakra has more demonic energy going through it than most Jinchuriki, such energy is toxic to regular humans unless diluted with human chakra" he explained.

"It's a corrosive agent. I've learned that much. It behaves like acid, breaking down and neutralizing chakra. But until I actually see it happen to someone, I won't know for sure how bad. I assume the worst, because I know it wants to kill. It doesn't feel that strong yet, but that's probably because of the seal." Higen stepped around some more on the water, paying attention to his posture and balance, two things he always obsessed over.

Tori nodded his understanding "now then" he said as he looked over to what he imagined as the source of the river "lets make this a little more challenging" he smirked as he mentally changed the river from a calm river to raging rapids, the water picked up speed and began to churn as it foamed and raged past them, Tori didn't seem to flinch as the river changed but he knew this would make water walking more difficult for Higen with the water being so much more active than before.

Higen nearly fell, and quickly got splashed from all sides as he realized the same trick wouldnt work twice. He tried to keep pushing from the bottom of the lake while staying atop the water, but the water shifted and roiled too much. He opted again to try to resist the water's surface, but had to start running to do it.

Tori smiled slightly as he watched "no hints this time" he said calmly "just be glad I skipped the tree climbing exercise, I would have had you doing cartwheels up and down the trees"

Higen didnt pay the jibe any mind. He frantically ran up to the crest of a wave, got turned upside down, then splashed into the water. His first impulse was to fight to come up for air. But he didn't need air here. So he calmly swam towards Tori, intending to pull him under water and see how he liked it.

Troi smirked 'nice try' he thought to himself as he used his chakra to electrify the water around his feet, ensuring that Higen wouldn't be able to get close without receiving some nasty burns for his trouble.

And thus Higen did get shocked. He wasnt thinking that Tori would be so mean as to do that in water. And the pain of the lightning, as before, was unique in it's effect on him.

He got angry.

Higen burst up from the water, purple chakra flowing from his eyes, and dashed at Tori with a speed the sensei hadn't seen from him before.

Tori back-flipped and kicked Higen in the chin with an electrified foot before landing in a kneeling position on top of the raging water again, the whole time keeping his hands in his pockets and a mask like expression on his face.

Higen hit the surface of the water like it was stone. He did not fall through. This time when he arose, Higen didnt really seem to be behind the purple eyes glowing. His hair twitched as if alive. This time, he sprinted at Tori low, with his hands out and clenched like claws at his sides. His sensei could smell the smokey, acrid chakra filling Higen's hands as he leaped at Tori.

Without making a single hand-sign, Tori made a instantaneous combination Lightning clone substitution and concealment jutsu. as he waited for Higen to calm down.

That might have been a bad idea, if not for the fact that Higen didnt see the transition. At the last second, his leading foot lost traction in the water, sending him tumbling end over end with a big splash before sinking beneath the surface. After a moment, he popped up, gasping for air despite knowing how useless that was.

With a single gesture Tori stilled the river and dispelled the clone before lifting the genjutsu and heading to the shore of the river "I think that's enough for now, I might have been pushing you too far if you resorted to attacking me during a chakra control exercise"

Higen wiped his bangs out of his eyes. They weren't purple at all anymore, but they were wide and frightened. Still out of breath, he simply nodded, too ashamed and stunned to speak. The way the chakra had seized control was so SUDDEN, where before he hand been emotionally upset and really angry, that thing inside him had yanked him right out of control. Before, Higen hadn't tripped, he'd purposely tripped her.

He walked carefully, with his head hanging down, back to the shore to await further instruction.

Tori placed a hand on the boys shoulder "don't get discouraged, it takes time to master such powers, heck I'm still learning"

Raiju nodded "perhaps here is where we should stop for today" he suggested.

Higen nodded again. "I'm ready to go." Really, he wanted to talkto Keiko. She always had a way of making him feel better. That, and he probably needed a good night's rest.

Tori closed his eyes and focused his chakra to bring them out of the seal and back to their bodies in Tori's room, when he opened his eyes they were once again in Suna with their hands on the scroll seal.

It still made him feel dizzy to come out of the seal like that. He walked out of the room, really not wanting to talk about what just happened, and stopped short when he saw Onihime.

Onihime noticed the unsettling expression on Higen's face, a look of worry quickly appeared "What's wrong Higen, you look a little shaken up?" she genuinely wanted the boy to feel comfortable around her but she was willing to take it slowly for his sake.

"Why do you keep talking to me as if I know who you are?" Higen asked her. His tone was more weary and tired than angry. "And yes, I am shaken up."

Onihime seemed to flinch at his words like he had struck her in the face, she looked down to his feet "I'm sorry" she said in almost a whisper "you looked like needed someone to talk to, that's all" she started to turn and head for her room, guessing that she was the last person he'd want to speak with at the moment.

Higen let her turn and walk away in her shame. He thought he had actually tried to show an interest in her, tired as he was, and she still acted like he was trying to kill her. He was too tired to settle things with Onihime yet, anyways. Instead, he looked back and forth, trying to find Keiko. Hitomi had pulled her aside an hour or two ago.... or was it more like five minutes? He didntknow how long he was in the scroll.

Hitomi came around the corner wearing a simple kimono and carrying a small wooden bucket, she was on her way to the hotel's onsen (Hot Springs) when she spotted Higen "hey!" she called as she spotted Onihime entering her room "what's going on?" she asked, her head tilting slightly to the left.

"Oh!" Higen blushed and winced and scratched at the back of his head. "Um, hi, Hitomi. I really like that Kimono. Um, like the white color." He just kind of froze in place, thinking about what had happened with sensei in the seal.

Hitomi leaned in close "you really think so?" she asked with a slight redness to her cheeks.

Higen smiled and nodded, feeling increasingly more embarassed. "Yes, it goes with you hair well..." Hitomi was looking at him so closely, and he wasnt quite sure why yet.

Hitomi giggled lightly and smiled "thanks" as she gave him a quick kiss on the nose "you look a little stressed, wanna join me in the onsen?" she asked innocently.

He opened his mouth to say, perhaps, that he was wondering where Keiko was. But he needed to bond as a teammate with Hitomi too... even if she just kissed his nose. "I uh..." he still looked a bit wide eyed. "Sure. Sure I would." The fresh air might calm him down.

Hitomi smiled "great!" she said happily "get what you need and we can go together" she was happy for a chance to have some one on one bonding time with Higen and she wasn't going to waste it...not for a second.

Higen still felt a bit out of it from going into Tori's seal. He just smiled wanly and shuffled after her outside. It was mercifully cool in the evenings in Suna. He took a deep breath of the crisp air and sighed, letting himself relax some.

Hitomi lead Higen to an enclosed area surrounded by a tall wall made of bamboo "you can get changed in that room over there" she said pointing to one of the closed off areas to the left marked 'Shinobi', the sign on the door next to it said 'Kunoichi' "I'll be in the one next to it, and we'll meet in the hot springs through the other door" she explained with a smile.

Higen nodded. "Yeah sure! That sounds nice." He had never been to a hot spring before. He smiled a little and nodded again, then went through the shinobi door. He took off all the layers of clothes he wore, wondering to himself why he still wore two or three layers going into Suna. He emerged on the other side in black swim trunks and nothing else. He had good muscle definition for his age, but he could use more sun, that was for sure.
He came out still getting the rest of the tape off his hands, looking around at the spring area.

Hitomi emerged from the Kunoichi side with a towel wrapped around her covering her body starting just above her breasts and ending around mid-thigh, she smiled as she walked over to Higen and grabbed his left hand "c'mon" she said as she lead him to one of the steaming pools off to the side.

Higen blushed hard and stimbled as she dragged him to the pool, where he almost fell in when she stopped. He smelled sulphur, but it wasnt too unpleasant, and the water looked nice and hot. He looked at Hitomi, still blushing, wondering if he was supposed to get in first.

Hitomi smiled as she reached for her towel and slowly removed it while facing away from Higen, a small smile on her face as she notes his blush.

Higen was as red as the Suna sun at sunset. Hitomi was a bit more shapely than Keiko, even considering Keiko's mom. And Higen thought she was every bit as attractive as Keiko. But he didnt really have the presence of mind, nor the social experience to feel guilty. He was just overwhelmed and feeling very shy. Becoming aware of his dropped jaw, he cleared his throat and rubbed his face. "Nice bikini," he said, trying to keep his eyes on her face.

Hitomi smiled as she laid the towel next to the water's edge "thanks" she said as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "it was either this or my birthday suit" she added with a playful wink before gently stepping into the water.

Higen nodded, even though he didnt know what a "birthday suit" was. Higen put a foot in the water himself. It was hot and felt mineral-y. It would feel really nice to soak and relax his muscles. Especially since he had a few bright purple footprints on his ribs and back. He took a deep breath as he sunk to sit in the pool. Hitomi had kissed him twice, and it was hard to concentrate. He bit his lip, finally noticing how odd it was that Keiko wasnt here. "Did Keiko go to bed early?" He asked Hitomi.

Hitomi shook her head slightly "she said she had something to take care of then she'd join me here" she replied as she leaned back against the side of the pool and relaxed, at the same time she looked up to the sky as she spoke "you and Keiko seem to have really hit it off" she said casually, keeping her real emotions from appearing on her face.

Higen chewed his lip a little before he responded. "She really likes me. She...I think just wants to protect me... its really sweet.." he trailed off, hoping that wasnt the wrong thing to say. He was getting the impression that Hitomi was more jealous than he had assumed. She looked kind of frustrated.

Hitomi opened her eyes and looked at Higen "she's wants to do more than just 'protect' you" she said with a small smile "she wants to support you, to always stand by your side" she looked to her lap and blushed lightly "we both really like you" she said in a slightly quieter voice, almost afraid of him rejecting her feelings in preferance for Keiko's.

"I know," Higen said. He didnt know what else to say than that. "I... I like you both too." He frowned, wondering how much worse it was going to get between Hitomi and Keiko.

Hitomi smiled as she raised her head and moved closer to him, it may not have been a declaration of love but to her this was good enough for now, she gently placed her hands on his "if your worried about coming between the friendship Keiko and I have, don't" she said with a kind smile "for now I'm willing to share, and if in time you do choose her over me, don't worry about hurting my feelings, we talked earlier and agreed that if that time comes and one of us is chosen over the other we'd accept your choice and support it however we can" she explained.

"You... you talked it over with... with Keiko?" He stuttered, and looked at her hands on his. He liked the touch of her hands, but he hated what was going on. Everything about this seemed wrong ... and yet, Hitomi was here because she really wanted to be, and did what it took to express herself to him. And Keiko wasnt here because she was willing to share, to capitulate and degrade herself. At first he was mad at Hitomi, but he was ten times more put off by Keiko agreeing to such a thing. "Don't answer that," he said quickly, "just...just..." he looked at her and leaned foreward and kissed her lightly on the lips.

Hitomi rested her head against Higen's "don't think ill of Keiko" she whispered to him "she would have told you the same if she had been the one to run into you first" she said trying to keep him from misinterpreting her words and altering how he saw her dearest friend.

Keiko came around the corner as the two separated from the kiss "oh my!" she said in a quiet voice before approaching them and entering the pool on Higen's other side "I take it you told him?" she asked her friend who nodded in reply, Keiko turned to Higen "how do you feel about all this?" she asked softly.

Higen just about choked on the surprise of Keiko coming over. He looked back and forth between the two. "How do I feel?" He scooted back to a different side of the pool, looking scared, and confused. "Awful. This feels awful."

Hitomi and Keiko looked at each other and then to Higen "awful?" Keiko said in slight confusion, "what do you mean?" Hitomi finished mirroring Keiko's expression.

"You expect me to choose?" His eyebrows furrowed and his lips curled. "You expect me to believe that youre both okay with that?" He pointed a finger at Keiko and then Hitomi. "Dont be ridiculous. Nobody can be okay with that."

Hitomi tilted her head slightly in confusion "we aren't asking you to choose now"

Keiko nodded "we're just letting you know that we both care about you equally and that we always will" some of her confidence in this matter was starting to leave her, maybe they should have waited longer before letting him know of their agreement, it was obvious (to her anyway) that his opinion of them was taking a nosedive and could easily cause problems in the future if what she heard from the Neo-Sanin was anything to go by.

Higen thought about it a moment, the sighed. "I don't want that responsibility. I like you both, but I shouldnt have to make that decision. I dont need to, and I dont want to." He hoisted himself out of the pool and snagged a towell. He wiped off his face, feeling angry and unfairly pressured. "You two make up your own mind. I have bigger things to do than... than..." he threw the towel on the ground and just stormed back to the hotel room.

Tori was waiting in the hallway outside Higen's room he could sense the shift in the boy's emotions through his chakra, he spotted the young genin as he rounded the corner "you look like your ready to take on an army of Shinobi....and win!" he said noting Higen's facial and physical expression.

Higen looked utterly flabbergasted at that statement. He blinked and said
"I didnt think it would be like this. I worried about being a shinobi because of the responsibility to my superiors, and the threat of death in combat." His face soured and he just looked tired "I didnt realize how difficult it would be to interact with my own team." He palmed his bangs out of his face and sighed out a deep breath.

Tori Raised an eyebrow "oh?" he asked hoping the boy would be willing to elaborate.

---

Unbeknownst to the two, they were being monitored by a cloaked form on a nearby rooftop, the hood and cloak hid his entire form from view and the black mask he wore hid his features, yet he seemed to be aware of what was going on inside the building before him.

Suddenly a pair of forms appeared behind him but the figure showed no sign of alarm as the pair appeared to be Hitomi and Keiko, still in their bathing suits, the figure continued to watch the building "report" the undeniably male voice stated, Hitomi smirked "it's working beautifully" she replied, "his demonic chakra is being stirred up and burning his 'human' chakra every time his anger boils over" Keiko added.

The Figure nodded "by the way, why are you still in those forms?" he said as he turned his head slightly.

Hitomi struck a seemingly cute pose "what!, you no like?" she said as Keiko gave a cute pout, mere moments before they were enveloped in a cloud of jutsu smoke, when the smoke cleared in their place was a pair of Identical twin Kunoichi in their late teens to early twenties, with long black hair tied in a plait that ended in a bladed tip, one had her hair over her left shoulder while her twin had hers over he right, "you can be such a killjoy sometimes" one twin said, "right, Kanna?" Kanna looked at her sister "no kidding Nanaki, Hayako-sama needs to lighten up now and then" She smirked.

"Enough" Hayako said firmly as he turned his attention back to the building "for now we wait for the moment to take the boy and add him to our power"

---

Higen looked at Tori. Really stared at him. There was just the slightest purple shine to his eyes as the boy studied the master ninja. It would take a long time to figure Tori out. The man was obviously used to interrogation, scrutiny, perhaps even torture. Higen would not get answers the easy way. Tori was guarded at all times. The serious man stayed behind the kindly, outgoing persona. At least, for now.

"The girls are fighting over me." Higen said, his tone was cold, serious. "I can't be distracted by this now. I can't handle it, as well as this Ashagakure business." Higen started to tremble and clench his fists. A tear slid out of his left eye, a normal, blue tear of stress and fear. "Please, Sensei, please resolve this for me."

Tori seemed surprised, last he saw the girls they had called it a night along with Yugao and Onihime, when had they been fighting over Higen? "fighting over you....when was this?" he asked with a faint hint of curiosity.

Higen tensed, "They...they've been jealous of one another the whole time... but... just now, at the hotsprings... they..." Higen blushed, but then gritted his teeth, "they both tried to seduce me and, and..." he trailed off.

Tori's eyes narrowed slightly "that....can't be right, both Keiko and Hitomi are fast asleep in their rooms" he explained, "they've been there since before you and I finished our first training session" his face began to harden "whoever you were talking to...they weren't your teammates"

Higen paled. "Where is Onihime. She has toknow more than she is telling us." He gritted his teeth, his eyes starting to shine brightly. He took a step, then stopped, shook his head back and forth. "You trust her. You trust that woman." He turned back to Higen. "Tell me why."

Tori stood firm, "Onihime and Yugao are both fast asleep in that room there" he said pointing to the room across the hall from him "And I trust her because she follows a strict code of honor that is rare in the Shinobi world, one that I myself also follow, of course it doesn't hurt that Yugao is keeping an eye on her"

"Then... now what. They know we are here, they had a chance to abduct me and they didnt take it. So what do they want?" Higen looked around, as if the room would tell him. "The sword? You? It could be anything!"

Tori's nostrils flared, he could smell tainted chakra, like a trail leading outside, without saying a word he ran past Higen and down the hall following the trail.

Higen followed, barely keeping Tori in sight through the the hallways. He wouldn't have stayed at Tori's heel if he could, anyways. If Tori ran into an ambush, Higen needed to stay back, to assist, or call for help.

When Tori exited the building he spotted some black mist creeping up the side of a nearby building, it had the same tainted chakra that he had just been following, focusing his chakra into his legs he jumped up and landed on the roof of said building only to come face-to-mask with a strange masked figure and a pair of identical twin Kunoichi, he watched as the black mist seeped into the masked figure's cloak 'does he use it like Gaara does his sand?' he wondered as she twins looked like they were about to move until the masked one spoke "where is the sword and the boy" he said in a monotone voice.

Tori raised an eyebrow, "normally I'd introduce myself before I make demands I know are not going to be met" he said in an offhanded way, as he scratched the back of his head and placed his other hand in his pocket.

The Figure nodded "I see....." he turned his head slightly "Kanna, Nanaki" the twins disappeared as the figure turned back to Tori "because you were unwilling to see reason they will retrieve both and kill the others from your team, you however..." he crouched down slightly "are all mine" he burst towards Tori with nearly blinding speed ready to kill.

Higen heard what the mystery enemy told Tori. He put the brakes on and turned right around. Higen didnt know if Tori needed his help or not, but everyone back at the hotel could be taken by surprise and killed. The decision to turn around was hard though. He wanted to help Tori.

Tori drew his blade as he dodged to the side mere moments before he heard the sound of stone being crushed by something metallic, he called to Higen "get to the others and keep them safe from those two, I'll deal with this guy"

Higen was already down the block. He saw two shadows leap the height of the building in one bound. Higen panicked, knowing he didnt have the time to run back up. "Keiko! Hitomi!" He screamed, then took a couple steps back. His eyes gleamed bright as he summoned his chakra, then he dashed forward and leaped. His jump didnt take him to the roof, but he was able to bring his wrists up before he smashed through the window to Onihime's room.

The one called Kanna was standing over the seemingly lifeless form of Keiko, sprawled over the floor, a slowly growing pool of crimson liquid was seeping out from beneath her body "too late for her" Kanna said with a grin

Higen saw Keiko lying there, and he snapped. Instantly, it was as if he was gone. His eyes became two glowing orbs of purple, and he screamed in rage. The rest of the windows in the room shattered at the sound of it. He moved like a lightningbolt at Kanna, teeth bared. His teeth and his fingernails were both lengthening, and sharpening.

Kanna smirked "good" she said quietly as she leapt back and her bladed plait seemed to twitch slightly her own blade cast aside as her body began to emanate a dark chakra her eyes darkened as her green pupils bled over the white of the cornea, she was readyto test their son to be newest disciple through a baptism of blood.

Higen missed his first swing because of Kanna's agility. The wall she was just in front of shattered, sending a cacophony of noise through the building. Higen immediately turned to where Kanna was now, beginning her own transformation. Higen's jaw hung open and a gutteral, inhuman growl came out. He breathed, and purple mist floated out of his eyes and mouth. The lights in the room all went out, and in the darkness, one after the other, more sets of purple eyes gleamed in the room. The lights that were electric flickered back on for just a second,and Kanna saw six Higen's rush her this time.

Kanna laughed coldly "like I didn't see that coming kiddo" she said as she flared her dark aura and faded away before any of the Higen's could get to her, the whole time she didn't cease her creul laughter.

Higen screamed a high pitch roar of rage, but she was gone. He smashed the table in front of him and threw the pieces across the room. His head whipped back and forth, his nostrils flaring. Then he saw Keiko again. Still transformed, he stepped closer to her. He put out his hand, about to touch her, but hesitated, and turned his palm back, appearing to examine his hand. His eyes closed, and the purple light that filled the room ceased. He fell to his knees and covered his face. He hsld onto the first human thought he had, trying to use it to take back control. He couldnt help her, not like this. "Onihime! Yugao! Anybody!" He yelled through his hands. Each word he yelled, he sounded more like himself. "Help!"

"tsk tsk" Kanna whispered into Higen's ear moments before her clawed hand slashed across his back "musn't get careless" she laughed before vanishing again.

The pain shocked him. He spun onto his back, looking for the attacker. But she was gone. Yet, the fury had faded and he could think. He wanted to pick up Keiko and escape, but that meant risking anyone else who was still in the building. The panic came back. If the noise had notified guards, he only had to buy a few minutes. "You talk too little for a show-off," he said loudly as he carefully stood up. His eyes gleamed, and for a moment, he thought he could see Kanna, off to the corner, but she was blurry, and when he looked right at her she wasnt there. "I guess Im supposed to know who you are!"

"aww" Kanna said with a fake whine, though her voice seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time "is any way to talk to a girl, especially after the kiss you gave me in the hot springs?" she tried to sound put out but still found his naivete funny.

Higen stood up, glancing around. In reality, he wasnt paying attention to his eyes. "The fact that that was you is a relief, you know." He turned in place. "I'm not that angry," he knew she was statistically less likely to attack while he was still talking. Was there going to be a response team? Were Yugao and Onihime still here? "It would have been much worse if that was actually Hitomi. But that still doesn't answer my question," he was trying to use a lesser known technique for finding an invisible assailant: Echolocation. His voice should sound different, wrong, if he talked into open air and the slight sound return from a wall in front of him was muffled. "Who are you and what do you want?"

There was another slash across Higen's back "we want you and the Kagerei" she said as her face vanished again, "hand over both and we won't hurt you other team-mates..." 'too much' she mentally added.

Higen winced. His layered clothes and his wire mesh undershirt were keeping the cuts shallow, but they scared him. This time, he had only one thing left to try. He stepped backwards, still looking around. He found Kanna, finally, but didnt let on. The monlight glinting off the glass on the floor was disrupted, shining wrong to his right. He kept that spot in his vision as he continued to glance around. Once she moved again, he would counter attack.
"You're in the right place! Higen said. "The sword is here, and so am I, you piece of crap." Now that he had an opening, the anger was coming back. He felt the air shift, she was there, and she was about to attack. "So come get me!"

Kanna smirked "aren't you forgetting something....or..someone" she said with a chuckle "I didn't come alone after all" she glanced towards the next room, the bedroom. "what if I've only been playing with you....so my sister coud kill everyone else?" she mentioned as she moved around again for another strike from behind, she like his expressions when she did that so she decided to do it a few more times before knocking him out and completing her half of the mission

Higen spun around and seized Kanna by the arm. "Maybe you talk too much, after all!" Higen threw her over his shoulder, slamming her into the floor with another loud noise. He drew a kunai and slashed herarm while he still had hold of it. He could track her if she escaped, she would bleed.

Kanna dissolved into a pool of blood, revealing it to be a blood clone, seconds later another slash this time from Higen's left side "ooh! so close" she giggled as she faded away again.

by this time Hitomi had entered the room hearing the voices and noise only to freeze at the sight of Keiko's body on the ground in a pool of looked like her own blood she looked around and saw a badly cut up Higen, looking from Higen to the corpse and back again several times the most she could say was " w-wha..?"

"Hitomi! TAKE KEIKO AND RUN!" Higen absolutely screamed at her, ignoring the cuts to his arm. He couldn't even feel the wounds yet. He was too focused.

Keiko and Onihime appeared behind Hitomi and also looked at the body on the floor, neither were impressed, but for different reasons, Onihime because she knew it was meant to unhinge Higen and perhaps make him easier to beat, Keiko however was thinking along slightly different lines 'does my butt really look like that?'

Higen was visibly shaken to see Keiko. But shaken in a good way. He looked around, wondering if the black haired woman was still here. As he relaxed some, the pain started. The cuts burned like fire.

The three acted as one,Hitomi moved to Higen's left side, Keiko was standing back to back with him and Onihime to his right side, all three were drawing their weapons(Keiko pulled a Kunai, Onihime drew her sword and Hitomi, her twin Kodachi) and waited for Higen to fill them in.

Higen blinked, everything was slowing back down. Everything hurt but he realized he needed to explain. "Three enemies, two female, one male. Their targets are me and onihime. The male is the leader, and he's fighting Tori three blocks north of here. I saw both the kunoichi come here, Ive only seen the one. She has some kind of genjutsu, I cant see her." He said it all so fast and in only a couple breaths. He was wheezing, more from the pain and the shock of what happened when he snapped. He looked at his hand. It as as if nothing had happened. He wasnt even sure he really had changed...

The Keiko corpse simply vanished "no need for that anymore" Kanna said with a slight 'humph' in her voice, like she'd been deprived of her favorite candy, while she was at it she removed the privacy jutsu Nanako had erected when the first entered the building and now the sounds of clashing metal could be heard in the hall as well as that of a slightly more distant battle from the rooftops outside.

Keiko and Hitomi smirked "sounds like the others have your allies under control, and Suna's local ANBU are more than likely on the way" Hitomi said with confidence.

"Onihime," Higen said without looking at her, "you want my trust? Help Yugao. They want your sword, so let them take it from you both." Higen looked to Keiko. He couldnt say anything. He didnt know what to say. He turned back to the room. "Find the enemy. Stay together," he said, speaking to the team as a whole.

Onihime nodded and ran for the door while Keiko activated her Byakugan and Hitomi's nostrils began to flare, both hoping their abilities might flush out their would-be assailant.

"tell me little boy" Kanna said in a condescending tone "how did you feel when you heard 'Hitomi' confess to you back in the hot-springs, from that lip lock you gave me I'd say you certainly prefer her over the Hokage's Daughter" she laughed again as both girls looked wide-eyed at him, neither really sure on what to think.

Higen ground his teeth together. "Don't be distracted!" He growled. "All of our lives are in danger. I need you to find that witch!" His eyes started to mist that neon purple chakra again as he watched. The blood on the floor cancelled out his trick with the broken glass. But he had his teammates now. He reached behind him and drew his single kodachi. The girls might have noticed he was wounded even in the dark room. Blood dripped from his right sleeve to the floor. Higen didn't care at the moment. He was left handed.

Hitomi and Keiko each nodded as they scanned the room they each could tell that there was a dark power in the room with them, Keiko could see the dark trails left by the attacker's chakra and Hitomi could smell the heavy taint soon they were both zeroing in on the far right corner of the room, Hitomi could sense the build up of tainted chakra and Keiko could see that she was concentrating, like she was preparing to strike, and soon. they each indicated this to Higen through their silent form of communication, something they had taught to the boy during their trip to Suna.

Higen's eyes flashed bright and he sprinted forward again without warning the girls, aiming to either flush Kanna out of the corner, or crush her into it. He was angry, furious, even. But so far, Kanna wasnt getting the reaction she wanted twice.

In a flash of black chakra, Kanna's illusion ended and tendrils of black energy lashed out to grab Higen, she knew her playtime was rapidly coming to an end and the three would need to leave before the Kazekage himself decided to make an appearance.

The tendrils wrapped around Higen's arms. He was too angry to panic. He pulled back, trying to yank Kanna towards him. Maybe if he had more of his own chakra, he could have broken her grip. But the seal was holding fast, even as the monster inside him railed against it. Instead, Higen tried to pull Kanna into him. He wanted to kill her.

Kanna's tendrils began to wrap around Higen's arms and legs, her concentration lapsed for a few seconds when out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of black flames and what sounded like a lions roar she recognized it as one of Hayako's deadliest attacks, the Kazuki (picture Kakashi's Raikiri but made of black flames rather than lightning), this distraction was all the girls needed, Hitomi movedto slice away the tendrils from Higen's limbs while Keiko slide into a Jyuken stance and proceeded to execute the Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms technique on Kanna's chakra points with ruthless precision.


Higen rolled back to his feet as Keiko finished her attack with the Gentle Fist style's trademark precision. Higen eyes were the brightest things in the room besides Keiko's hands. Even as Kanna crumpled to the ground, Higen was overcome by the urge to break her neck. But protocol, tactics, the honor of the leaf village, everything dictated she be taken alive if possible. He covered his face and shook his head back and forth, trying to get the bloodlust to stop. He focused on the next decision, to help Yugao, or help Tori. He didnt notice he was growling the whole time.

Suddenly Nanako flew through the room and grabbed her sister as she lept out the window "sorry junior, not on the first date" she called over her shoulder passing the rooftop where Hayako and Tori were battling, Tori's blade clashing with Hayako's large clawed gauntlets, each showing signs of elemental infusion as Tori's blade sparked wildly with electricity while Hayako's claws blazed with intense black flames.

Higen turned and saw the two escape. They'd be back. Not even the paranoid, defense heavy structure of Suna could keep them out. They delighted in tormenting him. At that moment, he wanted more than anything to be locked back in that cabin behind the Hokage monument, dreaming of the world outside. Now he knew why he was hidden there. All these horrible people had waited twelve years to get their greedy hands on him. Higen began to shake. he covered his face again, tried to concentrate. Wisps of smoke sifted between his fingers. Fear may be the mind killer, but now his mind was alive with a worse sensation. He hated them. Hated them with all he had. He shook harder and slammed his fist on the wall beside him. Before, he'd smashed a wooden wall. This one was concrete. Even though he looked to be a smallish boy of 12, his fist cracked the wall from top to bottom, and left a deep circular indentation. He fell back against it, hands back on his face, growling through gritted teeth. Blood was all over both his hands now, and there was a smear of blood down the damaged concrete where he slid down the wall to a seated position. He was wounded from fighting Kanna, and he had just badly broken his dominant fighting hand.

Keiko and Hitomi knelt down beside Higen, they could tell that he was troubled (though denting the wall was an obvious clue), neither were exactly sure of what to say and chose the simple yet powerful action of embracing him, they remained that way for as long as they felt he'd need it in order for them to know that they would always be there for him, even if the world were to turn against him they would never abandon him...ever.

Higen stopped growling almost immediately when they touched him. He didn't cry, or say anything for a while. He just took deep, long breaths, like he had been holding his breath for a long time, and kept his eyes shut tight. After a moment, he put his arms around Keiko and held her. He didnt try to stop Hitomi from hugging him, but he was used to Keiko comforting him. He wasnt really aware of Tori still fighting, or what was going on around him. He was in shock, literally. The monster, whatever it was inside of him, had never manifested in the real world like that before. Everything sounded far away, and he could barely move. His whole body felt like a lead weight and he was temporarily blind. He just held onto Keiko and kept breathing. He felt like he couldn't get enough oxygen.

Both the girls would feel that blood was starting to soak through his very thick and heavy overshirt. It was running in rivulets down his right arm, and his left hand was bloody and swollen. His heavy shirt and ninja mesh undershirt had saved him from more severe injury.

Hitomi moved her hands down to the whole in Higen's side and began using a simple healing jutsu her brother had shown her, her chakra began to glow green and enter the wounds slowly sealing them while she aso did a small diagnostic Jutsu to ascertain the extent of his injuries.

Higen calmed down more. His wounds weren't deep, but he had lost a fair amount of blood. It was good that Hitomi knew healing jutsu. His hand would need the attention of someone more experienced, however. "Is everyone else okay?" he whispered. "Yugao? And Sensei?"

Hitomi was busy with Higen's wounds so she was unable to answer, however Yugao appeared through the door to do it for her "I'm fine though Onihime was hurt pretty bad by that witch, seems her weapons were poisoned so she's in no shape to fight any more tonight" she glanced out the window to see that a group of Suna-nin were on the nearby rooftop "from the looks of it Tori's opponent has just run off"

Higen sighed loudly. "Get her medical attention," Higen said tiredly. He let go of Keiko, winced, and cradled his left wrist. He sat back up straight and hissed through his teeth. The adrenaline and shock were wearing off, and the pain was taking it's place.

"she's already being transported to the hospital by some of Suna's ANBU who had been sent to check out the building" Yugao explained as she continued to watch the activities outside, it looked to her like a couple shinobi had stepped to either side of Tori and vanished with him while another turned to face the building they were in and leaped towards them, Yugao narrowed her eyes at this 'was Tori that badly hurt?' she wondered.

The Ninja who entered the room turned out to be Kankuro "everyone alright in here?" he said in a serious tone, he spotted Higen and the blood on his arm "I guess this is another one bound for the hospital" she said with a slightly raised eyebrow at the close proximity of the kid's two female team-mates.

"If it's over," Higen sounded exhausted and weary, "then yes, please, hospital..." he tried to flex his stiff hand, then moaned through his teeth at the pain. It was his first time breaking a bone. His hand felt like it was full of broken glass.

Kankuro nodded before he approached as the girls helped the kid to his feet, he placed a hand on a shoulder of each of the two girls, an with a quick flareing of chakra and a swirl of sand (don't ask me where it came from) he Shunshin'd them to the to the hospital where a Kunoichi in a jounin uniform approached them "More vitims of the Itami-nin?" she asked, Kankuro nodded "so it would seem" was all he said.

Hitomi's eyes widened slightly at hearing the word Itami, she had heard her brother speaking to Sasuke about it one time when he and Sakura had visited them, she knew the others would need to hear about this once she was sure they wouldn't be overheard as this was sensitive ANBU intel but if Higen was their target he would need to know just how much trouble they were all in.

It was starting to get late, and once he was helped into a hospital bed, Higen went immediately to sleep. He didn't get much rest, however. In his dreams, he talked with the monster inside him. It was not a pleasant experience. He would not remember much of it when he awoke, but what he would remember might not let him sleep ever again. The monster was a hateful, feral ferocious thing. She raged at her prison, but the seal held fast.

it was near dawn when Yugao peeked in on Higen, he was still asleep...as were the two girls who were sitting on either side of his bed, each gently holding one of his hands, Hitomi on his left side, Keiko on his right, she slowly closed the door and headed for Onihime's room, she would inform the three of Tori's situation later, she was just glad that Gaara had sent word to Konoha shortly after the incident so they should have new orders before midday.

At first light, Higen's eyes opened. He woke up at dawn most every day. He was thirsty and his head was throbbing. Still groggy, he let go of the girls hands and tried to slide into a seated position. When he put weight on his left hand, he clamped his mouth shut to muffle a scream. It was still definitely broken, but it was in a cast, so he didn't hurt it as bad as he could have. The cuts on his arms and back were bandaged up. They didn't hurt much, but they itched like all hell get out. He looked sideways at each of his teammates, then noticed a call button on the bed and pressed it. He really needed some juice.

Before Higen could press the button Yugao quietly entered the room, noticing he was awake she whispered "good morning" already guessing he might be thirsty she wnt to the nearby sink and filled a small plastic cup with water before taking it to the boy, careful not to wake the other two occupents of the room.

Higen nodded at her and took the cup. He reached with his left hand first then grimaced and took the cup with his right hand and drank. He looked expectantly at Yugao, as if there might be news.

Yugao sat in a chair at the foot of the bed "your sensei is currently unconscious, it seems his opponent did something to him that sent him into a coma, unless we can find out what was done to him..." she looked down and closed her eyes before continuing "he...may never wake up again" she said quietly.

Higen looked at her silently for a moment. "The seal." He said. He put the cup down. "He might be able to do that to Tori-sensei, but Raiju is likely unaffected. That's why you're telling me, right? I can help." He looked at her. He looked very tired and old. Not at all like a little boy. He also looked like getting told he was wrong would hurt.

Yugao looked at the boy "he told me that he was teaching you how to enter your seal, I think that you might be able to help him from the inside if you can locate Raiju and work together to fix whatever is wrong" she explained before she got up "do you need anything before your..'trip'?" she asked.

Higen looked from side to side at Keiko and Hitomi. "No," he said, and plucked the IV from his arm. He sat up fully and rubbed his face. The thought occurred to him that he was rushing stupidly into another crisis. He remembered just wanting to go home the night before. He also remembered being angry, and wanting to kill those strangers who tormented him. He looked down at the cast. "Well, breakfast, maybe. You can give me advice over eggs and tea."

Yugao nodded as she helped the boy to sit up properly "The nurse will be here soon with some food for you" she said before helping to adjust the two sleeping girls as she finished the nurse arrive with a tray of buttered toast,scrambled eggs bacon and sausages and a glass of orange juice, after the nurse had rolled the tray table over and set it in front of Higen and left Yugao began to talk again "first off those three weren't normal nin" she said as she turned to the window and had her hands behind her back "they were members of a unique village called Itamigakure, the Village hidden by pain" she turned to look at Higen "almost all of them have demonic powers and have cast aside their humanity to possess even greater power"

Higen ate a few bites, frowning. After swallowing, he said "I need to know how I can interact with the seal environment. How the rules are different from reality. What can actually harm me? What do I ignore? What constitutes success? Failure?" He took a drink of orange juice. He wasn't really hungry or thirsty anymore, but a body needs nutrients, regardless of how it feels. "These ninja, I don't care who they are or what they want right now. That I can worry about later." He finally pushed the tray away, too upset to eat anymore. "Just focus on the task at hand. I cant concentrate on more than that."

"I can't say for sure" Yugao sad with a slightly sad face "each sealscape looks different depending on the person's own mind, and whatever that nin did may have altered it, your best bet would be to locate Raiju's den, Tori once told me that Raiju's seal had been made to look like a large cave in tthe side of a cliff that opened up to a jungle or forest, he shaped it that way so Raiju would feel comfortable, but I don't know what to expect, but you should know a few things, first: Time moves differently in there then it does out here, out here you might only be out for a few minutes but in there it wil seem like a few days have gone by, and second if you get hurt in there your body will reflect that damage, so if you die in there, then you die out here" she crossed her arms over her chest and looked right into Higen's eyes "the rest you'll have to figure out as you go, any questions?"

Higen shook his head. "Take me to him." He quietly got out of bed, holding his arms across his ribs. He probably should have both of them in a sling for a couple days. "And get that scroll. We'll see if he's still open to my access." He walked slowly to the door, looking like a tired old man instead of a kid. He was still numb feeling and emotionally exhausted from the night before. He was just grim and serious now.

Yugao nodded and signaled for an orderly to bring a wheelchair, after getting Higen situated she wheeled him down to the coma ward, one of the rooms had an ANBU guard, he looked at Yugao and nodded before letting them pass, When they entered the door closed behind them, there in sole bed in the room was Tori, and Gaara?, Yugao hadn't expected this at all.

Gaara turned to look at the two "I take it he has agreed to the task?" he said in his usual seemingly emotionless tone. After collecting herself she noded "hai Kazekage-sama, I just need to fetch a Scroll" This caused Gaara to raise an eyebrow "Scroll?" he looked at Higen "what scroll areyou talking about?"

Higen had dark circles under his eyes, and an empty look that would have reminded anyone there of Gaara in his youth. Gone was the shy, nervous boy who had greeted Gaara yesterday. "Yesterday night, Tori-sensei brought me into his demon seal using a scroll. I intend to use it again. Unless you think there is a better way?"

Gaara nods "simply focus your mind and chakra on his seal, I doubt the scroll actually took you into his seal" he explained as he lifted Tori's shirt to reveal a pulsing seal "that pulsing means that whatever Tori's opponent did to him is making the seal unstable, unless you and Raiju can stop it then the seal will break, killing Tori-san and releasing Raiju"

Higen frowned. "I do have one more question. Raiju...is docile, nice even. Did Tori make him that way? Or was he always like that?" Higen placed his left hand, that was all bandaged up with the plastic cast on Tori's seal. It was different than his own. It looked kind of like a circle with a sun in the middle, where his own was a circle with five points on it, with a five pointed star as five lines drawn between them. One of the lines had faded since a few days ago.

"Raiju has always been as you described, he is one of the guardian beasts meant to act as a balance to the Biju, he is kind to his allies, but make o mistake, he is still a force of nature and his power should be respected as such" Yugao replied "Tori told me about his family's history and how they have been allied with Raiju for nearly 300 years, since the end of the demon wars"

Higen nodded. In the short term, it was the answer he wanted. "I'm ready." He said. "I hope this goes as quickly as you suspect." He almost started putting his chakra into the seal when he shouted a curse loudly and fell back out of his chair, obviously scared. "I can't believe you almost talked me into doing that!" He looked mistrustfully at Gaara. "No, you get that scroll right now. Right this second!" His eyes gleamed as they shifted to Yugao. Were these imposters, too?

Gaara looked at Higen curiously as Yugao quickly mover to help Hen back to the chair, concern written allover her face "what do you mean, what happened?" Gaara inquired.

"Nothing happened. But I can't just put my chakra into him. It will kill him." Higen's eyes gleamed at Gaara. "My enemies would try just such a trick. To get me to kill sensei by accident." He got back into the chair himself, waving Yugao off. "The scroll. Or I leave."

Gaara looked at Yugao and nodded, she in headed out of the room to get the scroll, Gaara looked to Higen "while we wait why don't you tell me why your chakra would react in such a way when I've seen other Jinchuuriki enter Tori's seal with no trouble what so ever"

"I'm no jinchuriki. I'm an abomination. A worse perversion of chakra than even those nin that did this to him. They have some sort of demonic power, and I'm what they were trying to achieve all along." He looked at the seal on Tori's stomach. "A jinchuriki is apart from his Bijuu. I am one with the monster inside me. I was born this way."

Gaara leveled his eyes on Higen "a good friend of mine once told me something I think you need to hear, he said that the circumstances of ones birth are not what define us, it is what we do with the precious gift of life that determines who and what we truly are" he looked at Tori's sleeping form "tell me, how do you feel about your team-mates?"

"Until three days ago, I was a prisoner of the leaf village, kept isolation. I haven't had time to develop an opinion. I'll tell you when I do, Kazekage-sama." Higen looked at Tori, remembering the events of the past few days. There was a lot hidden from Higen as yet. This was about more than just him.
"As for Tori Makoto, I owe him this. This happened to him because he protected me."

Gaara nodded and continued to watch the boy out of the corner of his eye 'this child may be one of those with a unique destiny, much like Naruto's was' no sooner had this thought crossed his mind when Yugao appeared with Tori's scroll, noticing the serious look on both of their faces she chose to remain silent as she handed the scroll to Higen.

Higen rolled it out. It was a summoning jutsu scroll. Nothing about it seemed too complex at first glance. Higen was fairly certain Tori made it just for the purpose of that seal training. With any luck, it would place him at Raiju's cave. He rolled his chair, with the scroll laid out on his lap. "Kunai, please." He held his hand out to Yugao, his eyes still going back and forth over the scroll. He couldn't tell if there was a way to place himself at a specific point in the sealscape. Hopefully it would default to the last location they used.

Yugao handed a kunai to Higen and watched closely as the genin examined the scroll seal with the level of concentration of a seasoned sealmaster like Jiraiya himself, Gaara was also noting the child's hidden skills.

Higen lifted Tori's hand and nicked the end of his thumb with the Kunai, then Higen cut his own. He placed Tori's hand on one end of the seal, and his own hand on the other. Then he did his best to activate it alone. There was something like a stutter where Higen felt he was in two places at once. The seal started to turn purple beneath his hand. Something felt wrong, as if it wasn't working quite right. His vision doubled, showing an image of the seal world on one side, and overlapping that, the scroll. He had a flash of inspiration, realizing what was happening. The monster was trying to sabotage his efforts. She was trying to breach the seal before he could. He gritted his teeth, grappling with the force inside him. The purple color on the scroll suddenly resembled a claw reaching from Higen's hand. It rose from the page and stretched towards Tori's hand.

Higen focused on visualizing the chakra under his control, as Tori had taught him. Though the monster was quite competent at stretching the limits of his seal, it would not break. Higen felt his consciousness drift within him, where the monster screamed and cursed and fought the seal around it. Higen did as he did the last time he was in his own seal. He used his mind to visualize the monster shrink smaller, scream quieter, and be less fearsome. The beast clawed at his mind, but with the seal limiting her, she could not attack Tori and Higen at the same time. Yugao and Gaara saw the claw vanish, and perhaps saw Higen's eyes weep purple liquid. Higen let his mind go to the scroll once he had bested the monster. He emerged into Tori's seal exhausted. His projected self appeared battered and barely able to stand.

The area Higen arrived in was very different from what he had seen before, instead of a grassy plain it was a large forest, similar to the interior of Training area 44 back in Konoha, except for the feeling of being watched at all times, there was even the sounds of birds and small animals in the distance, before him were two paths, one looked like it had seen a lot of traffic it led away from the forest towards an open meadow, the other path looked like it wan't used very often at all and lead deeper into the forest.

Higen stretched and observed the two paths. He picked the small trail into the forest almost immediately. It seemed the obvious choice. If Tori had sheltered himself, he would hide. One does not hide in the open, not here. He set off at a jog. His exhaustion was meaningless here.

A black mist began to seep across the forest floor, hiding the path from sight "abandon this fool's errand child, it is beneath you, this man is beneath you" a voice said said from the treetops "why help one of the village that kept you prisoner only to turn you into one of their little soldiers?"

Higen ignored the voice. Words couldn't hurt him. He broke into a run, looking side to side for any clue. As long as it was only words hampering him, he had to cover as much ground as possible.

"foolish child" the voice said as the black mist began to get thicker "you have the potential to rule over all, the power over life and death at your fingertips and you can choose who will live and who MUST die"

"And why should I care? That sort of ambition is weak-minded and childish." Higen wasn't finding anything but more fog. He had no idea what to do. Then he remembered the rules were different here. He decided to go UP instead of foreward, imagining himself going up an elevator, above the canopy.

"a pity..." the voice said, sounding disappointed "one would think you would want such power to ensure you can no longer be manipulated by lesser beings like the ones whom you call your team-mates and so-called superiors" it explained as Higen rose above the treetops, off in the distance was a massive cliff wall.

The rock wall was the only feature of note in the mass of tree foliage, so Higen headed carefully toward it. He just kept aware that this was like a dream, and with enough will, the rules could be bent. "You have it backwards." Higen said to the voice. Talking helped him float easier. The less he thought about gravity, the better. "These people don't abuse me. Your people do. Maybe you could have lied, manipulated me into joining you. Instead you tried to force me, and I don't like to be forced." Against his better judgement, he was starting to get angry. He moved faster and less carefully towards his next goal.

"now who said I should manipulate you?" the voice said with a chuckle "the fools of the leaf have been doing that for years" before the voice faded away it said one last thing "your father would be so disappointed in you...."

"I dont have a father." Higen grumbled. He landed on the cliff edge, looking around. "Tori??? Raiju??" He yelled back and forth. He wanted some indication of which way to go.

There was a loud roar like a a mixture of an angry tiger and booming thunder coming from a large cave at the base of the cliff, inside was Raiju wrapped in black tendrils the were coming from the mist on the forest floor, they were binding him as the mist seeped over the engraving on the back of the cave, attempting to erode it away.

Higen spread his arms to the side and let himself tip over off the cliff, then started sprinting down the side. Now he had to hope that he could actually help. It was the moment of truth. The world blurred as he picked up speed.

Halfway down the cliff more black mist appeared, this time coalescing into a solid form, the mist then changed to become Hayako himself "I cannot let you go any farther young master" was all he said before surging forward, his cloak and mask still hiding his form.

Higen closed his eyes. Silently, he prayed to Tori, to Raiju, that this would work. This wasn't genjutsu, it wasn't precisely real. It was a mindscape. The winner would not be the strongest, the fastest, or the one with the best jutsu or most chakra. Here, ingenuity and imagination would triumph. Or should, Higen thought. He opened his eyes, and found himself well behind Hayako, still running down the mountainside into the mist.

Suddenly the world around Higen vanished and he was in a featureless room "not going to be that easy BOY!" Hayako said as appeared before the genin "I'm the one in control here, you're just visiting" he said as he stared Higen down.

Higen reacted without thinking. His mind worked hard. He forced the room to have corners. Where a room has corners, it has walls. Where it has walls, it has boundaries. Featureless is white, white is paper, paper tears! He hurled disks through one side of the room and threw his body into the tears in the white fabric.

Beyond the wall was another featureless room this time with no wall just vast blackness "starting to get the picture, or will you continue this futile struggle and keep running away?" Hayako said appearing out of nowhere.

Higen stopped. He put his shuriken away and looked at Hayako. "Okay, it's futile," he said passively. He needed Hayako to stop focusing on controlling the environment, and he needed to stay calm and not panic. So he watched Hayako very closely. "Now's a good time to try a pitch, sell me the goods." Higen eyes glimmered dully, but the color was there.

Hayako nodded "earlier when you said you had no father, it was disappointing, and not just the fact that you never once asked about the one who gave his seed to give you life, I also refer to the one who granted you your power, not who's blood flows through you"

Higen stared at Hayako. It never took long at all for this predictable asshole to infuriate him. "So many people go through life desperate for meaning, identity, validation, and approval. They need to know where they came from, why they exist. They crave purpose, destiny, devotion. I don't." Hayako noticed the change in Higen, even though the boy didn't notice a thing. The blackness of the room started to ripple, bending towards him. Higen's appearance started to go out of focus. "I don't. I don't need you. I don't need Konoha. I've spent a hundred thousand hours alone with me. I've slept weeks with her in every dream. I've had my whole life to accept what I am." His appearance began to fade, and his eyes began to brighten, until they were like twin beacons in the blackness. "And to choose WHO I am." One by one, pairs of eyes opened and gleamed in the blackness, surrounding Hayako. "When you are alone for hours, weeks on end, fed from a slot in a door, taught through a glass window, you spend a lot of time with yourself. IN yourself. A mind is a curious place." More eyes opened, and a purple mist that smelled like the breath of a predatory beast started to choke the room. "Sure, I hated Konoha for a while. But I had too much time. I wore that hatred out. I got desensitized. And with nowhere to seek blame but within, you find out how deep, how dark, how secretive the mind can be. You find the untreaded places, where hate festers, where it waits." And without warning, all the eyes closed. And Hayako was alone in his construction, Higen was gone.

Hayako fades out, and reappears outside Raiju's cave which he immediately seals to look like the rest of the cave wall, making sure that the only way for Higen to get to the Guardian beast would be to face him instead of continuously running off, he had to test the boy properly in order to fulfill the mission his lord had given him, even if the twins had fail in their missions, he would not.

Higen was watching. Again, the rules were different here. He didn't have to be himself. He could be a blade of grass, a tree, the air. But certain things were harder than others. He couldn't harm Hayako this way, and he couldn't enter Raiju's prison. Higen performed the same trick as Hayako, speaking to him out of the air. "I know you wanted me to come here. This is part of your plan. What could you gain from me here? No matter what you change, this is an unlocked cell for both of us. We can both enter, we can both leave. But in here, nothing of real consequence can be achieved. Except for killing Tori Makoto, that is. But you don't care whether he lives or dies. Not as much as you care about me."

"there is much you are unaware of child" Hayako stated, making no sign that he knew the boy's location "and there is more to gain than you know, what do you think would happen to Suna if Raiju were to be released while in a berserker's rage, I'll tell you, glorious chaos, it would sound the death knell for this village and act as an example of what can happen when a village allows Jinchuriki within their walls, how soon do you think it would be before all hidden villages reject their Jinchuuriki and those with similar powers, I wouldn't be surprised if the foolish sheep actually start hunting them down like dogs" he starts to laugh as his mist seeps around Higen and begins to act like tar.

Higen struggled, as his form became himself again, but did not struggle anywhere near as hard as he could. He wanted Hayako to underestimate him when he chose to strike. "If there's much I don't know, and you want to capture me, then why would you release the five tails when I'm right there??? You'd kill me instantly!"

Hayako looked right at Higen he seemed to be smiling beneath his mask as he replied "you might die, but She will survive...and thrive" his mist begen to envelop Higen from his feet to the base of his neck.

"As if I would answer to you, Hayako!" Higen suddenly blurted out in a voice that was not his own. The light shined from his mouth instead of his eyes when he spoke. Almost immediately after that, Higen broke loose of the fog. He turned it to ice with his mind and shattered it. "What are you doing, making this up as you go along?" Higen demanded with his own voice, as if he had no idea about what just happened. He sunk into his fighting stance, left hand outstretched. At least, here, his hand wasn't broken.

"I would not be the one you answer too, I am but a humble servant to the master" Hayako surged forth "if anything I would answer to you once you have entered into the master's service" his arms stretched out to reveal a pair of large clawed gauntlets (like what the Demon Brothers wore when team 7 faced them during the Wave Mission) the claws flashed as his cloak flapped around him, withing seconds he was nearly on top of Higen and ready to strike.

Higen tried more than once, in the space of that second that Hayako took to dash at him, to bend the rules. To change the space between them, or to move himself mentally, but it was to no avail. It seemed the closer they were to each other, the more rigid the rules of the seal scape became. He had no choice but to try, try what? He had no jutsu. His Taijutsu might stand a chance, but he felt frozen in place, intimidated by failing to out-think the situation. if Tori couldn't stop Hayako, how could he?

The black talon of Hayako's ninja claw came right for him. He knew it was too late. He braced for the blow, closing his eyes, foolishly, fearfully. He felt a gust of wind and a jolt through his body. A shock went through him that rattled his bones. But he was still standing! He opened his eyes, and saw a mass of gleaming feathers, translucent and ephemeral. Before him was a wing, a single wing as wide as he was tall, and long enough to bend around his front like a shield. Hayako's claw was stuck in it, as if he'd rammed his claw through ice. The blades were inches from Higen's face.

Hayako's claw flashed with black flames as he jumped back slightly 'good' he thought 'now the true test can begin' he went through a series of handsigns before grasping his left hand pointing it straight down, the flames grew stronger and the sound of a roaring lion could be heard, as Hayako charged the intense flames scorching the ground as he moved he shouted "KAZUKI!!" momnts before he thrust his attack through the wing shield towards Higen's heart.

Higen was shocked into reacting. He twisted and spun sideways to a crouch to the right of where he was before. The wing moved with him, complimenting his movement of it's own accord. It connected with Hayako's Kazuki blade attack and shattered like glass in a brilliant, dazzling display of light, but almost as fast, it reformed into a wing again. The wing was growing from his left shoulder blade. It was almost twice the size of his whole body when it flared back out, arching behind and above him. It looked like the wing of a giant, neon purple glass owl, not so much like an angel. Higen's eyes were wide with shock, and he was hyperventilating on instinct. He felt exhilarated, euphoric. But he felt a cramp in his stomach as the seal across it, too, started to strain.

"someone is finally waking up" Hayako said calmly as the black mist circled his body "the question is, will it be enough to stop me before the seal's power and your sensei's life are gone?" he charged again this time vanishing seconds before striking, only to appear behind Higen and slashing with his flaming claws.

Once again, the wing shielded Higen of it's own accord. As he spun around, the wing pulled the claw along with it, drawing his arm straight and across Higen's body. The young genin grabbed Hayako's wrist close to his hand and twisted. One of only three thing's could happen. Either Hayako would flip head over heels onto his back, his claw would snap off and break the gauntlet, or his wrist would badly break.

As Hayako flipped landed on the ground he vanished in fog and reappeared a few feet away from Higen "excellent, I expected no less from you young master, the question remains can you work with your 'ally' to defeat me or work with me to fulfill your father's wish?"

"I don't HAVE A FATHER!" Higen screamed. The wing burst again into a thousand sparkling feathers and streamed at Hayako in a beautiful, but deadly blizzard.

The spray hit Hayako dead on, as his his body and the black mist dissipated all he said was "don't be so sure of that....young lord"

Likely Hayako would notice something was wrong. The wing reassembled on Higen, but he looked different. Something about his eyes was wrong, his posture. It looked clumsy. And maybe he might feel something going on behind him, the rock wall starting to distort and weaken.

The barrier vanished but the tendrils around the thrashing Raiju remained, as did the mist eating away at the seal engraved into the cave wall.

The real Higen, not the substitution jutsu behind him, slipped quickly into the cave. He probably wouldn't have time at all to do this. The truth was, Higen was gambling with his own life. The real Higen might not be outside standing before Hayako, but the monster was there. As he looked upon the giant Tiger, blue lightning and tremendous aura shaking the cave in his rage, he knew he might die here. He made up his mind. He had a plan, one, final gambit. It was a terrible gamble. Anything could happen. Tori might die. Raiju might die. Hayako's plan might just come true.

Outside, in the hospital room in Suna, Gaara and Yugao would start to see an eerie purple liquid, almost like grape juice start to fall out of Higen's eyes like tears. More seeped out of his nose like a nose bleed. Yet more seemed to be dripping from the bandages under his cast. Higen's body remained perfectly still. But the seal underneath his undershirt was starting to pulsate. And it was pulsating much faster than Tori's.

"RAIJU!" Higen shouted over the din. "HEAR ME!" against all the fear in his body, he hurried as close to the monster as he dared. He believed he could free the beast from Hayako's grip, but maybe at a terrible cost.

The Tiger demon ceased his struggle upon hearing a familiar voice, he looked down and saw Higen "Ah! young Higen" he said sounding relieved and glad to see the boy "I'd offer to give you a tour of my home, but as you can see I'm in no way able to do so at the moment" he sounded slightly embarrassed at his inability to free himself from Hayako's bindings.

Higen looked sad and tired. Truth was, he could already feel the damage what he had done was causing. One of the rules he could break here was separating at least a part of the monster free from his body. He already feared the consequences that might have in the outside world. But, as so few seemed to understand, he and the monster were the same being. "I can break that man," he felt puzzled, realizing he knew the shinobi's name "Hayako. I can break his hold on you. The problem is, it's probably going to kill one or both of us." Higen relaxed some, seeing that Raiju was just angry, and not apparently in pain. "Tell me, if you can get free, can...can you and Tori go back to normal? Can you fix this?"

"There is a chance" Raiju replied "if Tori and I merge our power, then this shadow of Hayako would be purged from Tori's body, though the strain from even a temporary fusion will more than likely drain Tori physically and mentally, but only for a short time, during which, I'm afraid he won't be of much use as your sensei" he explained.

"Hayako is trying to destroy the seal that holds you in Tori. The only way I can think of to destroy your bonds is either for you to absorb my chakra, which will likely kill all three of us... or... um...." Higen's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed. While on the ground, he muttered. "I left her outside. To...distract Hayako. She can break his jutsu..." Higen flopped his arm over to land in the fog. "Maybe I should try to break the...myself. Tired.." he sounded delirious.

Raiju looked at higen, obviously concerned "why has she not healed you?" he asked, slightly annoyed that Higen's 'other' hasn't seen fit to do so.

"No no," Higen mumbled. "I'm not gonna live much longer with her outside... so make up your mind..."

In the hospital room, more of the purple colored liquid came out of Higen's eyes and nose, even his mouth. His breathing and heart-rate began to slow down.

Outside Raiju's cave, another wing had sprouted from the substitution jutsu. What looked like a skull was starting to replace the clone's face. The monster grew distracted from Hayako. "No!" The monster shouted. "Not NOW, you worthless little human!" The clone disengaged from Hayako and took off for the seal chamber.

Raiju nodded "I will not sacrifice your life to preserve my own" he said as he freed one of his tails a wrapped it around Higen, pure chakra surged into Higen's body, repairing all his wounds and reinvigorating him "long ago, I sacrificed my body to protect humanity, it would seem the time is fast approaching for me to give up my soul for them as well"

Higen snapped out of his stupor. "No, don't kill yourself!" Higen said, getting up. "Just hold on a moment! If I can put down Hayako long enough to come back the...the way I'm supposed to be, I can free you!" Higen was thinking of Tori, and what would happen to him without Raiju. He sprinted out of the cave, and was shocked to see the substitution jutsu almost completely replaced by the skeletal monster. Her power was immense. Higen realized he'd made a mistake. If he couldn't rejoin with her very soon, his own seal would break. Feeling invigorated by Raiju's power, he ran towards the monster, hoping he would just know how to fix what he did. He was surprised to see the monster disengage from Hayako and run right towards him. Surprised, he felt more than heard her tell him that she could not free herself, not here. She needed Higen alive. And, perhaps knowing this too, Hayako came for him too.

Hayako flexed his claws, intent on keeping Higen from re-merging with his demon, secretly he was smiling, his plan was working despite how it looked. Once he was in position he thrust his hands forward and launched a pair of razor edged chains from his gauntlets, one from each arm, the chains slashed between them "sorry, but I'm not done with either of you just yet" he said as the chains flailed about between them, controlled by his unique chakra.

Higen somersaulted over a chain and leaned out of the way of another, but the first came back whapped him upside the head and stunned him. The monster flew straight up, choosing to go up and over Hayako's chains.

Hayako monopolized on this by having some of his tendrils launch from the treetops in an attempt to ensnare the monster while his chains prepared to take Higen out of the equation.

Higen grabbed one of the chains, wrapped it around his fist and yanked on it, pulling Hayako off balance. The monster weaved through the tendrils, shrieking so loud, ripples of energy came from her mouth, blasting leaves from the surrounding trees as they bore down on Hayako.

Hayako leapt towards Higen to avoid getting knocked off balance, he readuied his claws at the same time 'that's it' he thought with a mental smile 'keep focused on me, forget all about what's happening to Tori's body an the seal'

Higen closed his eyes and concentrated. Hayako's tendrils found their target dissapear. The wings and glowing skull became a part of Higen again. But the boy was surprised to feel a burst of pain in his gut followed by an intense surge of energy.

The second point of his seal had broken.

The hatred of the monster overwhelmed him, and in the confusion, he felt Hayako's claws pierce his chest.

"you have lost boy" Hayako said in a dark tone "such a pity too, you were showing such promise" he twisted his claw as if to gouge out the boy's heart.

Higen reached out and grabbed his neck. "No, you lose." His hand was now a gnarled claw, long enough to reach around the circumference of Hayako's neck. He squeezed with brute strength.

Hayako's mask cracked "looks like a stalemate" he said evenly "we could easily kill one another here, the only difference is,I'm hot really here...but you are" he finished with a cold chuckle.

Higen only responded by sneering. The bright pink skull over his face bore it's fangs, mouth yawning open. He ripped Hayako's head off. Then he set off at a jog back to the cave. Blood poured from his chest and and began to seep from his mouth. He re-entered the cave, wings beginning to fade. He put his hand out, and the fog tentacles dissapeared. "Fix it, just fix it," he said, then sunk to his knees. He clutched his chest.

Outside, in the hospital room. The purple fluid began to recede back into Higen. Even the small puddles on the floor came right back up and traveled up his arm like a tape on rewind. But the purple fluid coming out of his mouth was replaced by blackish red fluid. Blood.

With the death of Hayako's shadow, his tendrils also vanished freeing Raiju and revealing an unconscious Tori near the seal, The Thunder Beast quickly wrapped both Tori and Higen in his tails, two around Higen, two around Tori and the fifth was touching the seal to repair the damage that had been done, his chakra surged effortlessly to all three targets now that the shadow's taint had been removed.

Higen nodded off. His injuries were severe, but his heartbeat remained steady. The monster couldn't exactly just heal him, but she would keep her vessel stable as long as possible. As he drifted off, he went to the place where he often was, while asleep. Sitting quietly in the hot, dank red room, watching her. Here, she was just a mass of chakra, drifting back, and forth, bouncing against the walls like a fly against a window. Restless, angry, helpless. She wasn't so angry today. Today she had gotten to stretch her limbs, and hurt somebody. Even if it didnt really count this time. "Thank you" Higen whispered. This made the cloud of chakra stop for a moment. Then Higen felt, rather than heard laughter. Such mad, insane cackling. He hoped he would wake up soon.

Raiju gently placed Higen and Tori down once her was certain they were healed, all they needed now was some sleep to regain their mental and physical strength, with a single swipe of one of his tails he sent Higen out of the sealscape and back into his own body before curling up around tori and closing his eyes for a little catnap of his own.

The seals of both Shinobi stabilized. Higen's seal reappeared still with four bars, but the forth bar had faded, and weakened. Tori's seal ceased pulsing. Gaara and Yugao saw Higen slump over in his chair, unconscious over the scroll Yugao had brought.

As Yugao situated Higen more comfortably in his wheelchair, Gaara rolled up the scroll as he examined the now restored seal on Tori's body, nodding upon seeing that the ninja's seal and health were both safe he hands the scroll to Yugao "let him rest in his room and when he wakes let him know that both Tori and Onihime will be fine and up in a day or so" Yugao nods before taking Higen back to his room.

Higen didn't look any the worse for wear thanks to Raiju. But he remained unconscious, perhaps only asleep. If Keiko and Hitomi were up, they might not even know anything abnormal had happened.

Before Yugao left Higen to rest, she used a small damp cloth to wipe off the traces of blood from the corners of his mouth as well as the traces of purple fluid from around his eyes, once done the slipped out of the room to rest a bit herself.

---

Some distance from Sunagakure, Hayako's body stiffened as he felt the destruction of his shadow pulse through him, he turned to the twins "it seems that the child's power is finally manifesting to the point where he would let her out for brief periods" he said evenly, the twins silently nod before Hayako "it is time to report back to the master, our mission was a success"

Nanaki tilted her head slightly "but we failed to retrieve the boy or the sword" Kanna nodded "won't he be mad about that?" she asked.

Hayako shook his head "retrieval was secondary to testing the boy" he explained "we'll have other chances to get them, for now let them savor this 'win' it will make our victories all the sweeter" he added before turning away from them and leading the way back to their home to get their new orders.

---

When Higen awoke again, it was early afternoon. He jolted and gripped his chest, but found he was fine. He only succeeded in making his hand hurt. He was back in his own room. He shuddered, remembering the events of the morning.

Keiko was the first to wake up when Higen shuddered, she blinked the sleep from her eyes as she looked at him "what's wrong Higen?" she asked quietly seeing as Hitomi was slowly trying to wake as well.

He saw them both, realized they didn't know. "Nothing, nothing. Just...a nightmare. Hehehe" he smiled, not very convincingly. "You two ok?" He said, blushing a little.

Hitomi raised her head but remains silent as Keiko answered for her "we're fine, but we were both worried about you" she got up and stretched before looking at the others "I'll go get us something to eat" she said before heading out of the room leaving Higen and Hitomi alone.

Hitomi looked at Higen with a slightly sad look "is onii-chan okay?" she asked quietly.

Higen paled, thinking about how close to catastrophe everything came this morning. It seemed so anti-climatic, everything happening in a quiet little hospital room. "I think he's going to be fine," Higen said. "Maybe you should go check on him? It was sweet of you to be here for me, though." He added. He looked at his hands in his lap, worried he was mistaken.

Hitomi blushed slightly "you're important to me too" she said shyly before giving him a quick peck in the cheek before heading out the door to check on her brother.

Higen blushed, rubbing his cheek. But, honestly, he really wanted Keiko to come back, and hug him like she did. Higen didn't have much physical contact in his life. When she hugged him, it felt like the world went away, and he could finally relax. Sitting in the room alone, even for a few minutes, made him anxious.

Keiko entered the room with some food from the hospital kitchen, she stopped when she noticed Hitomi was missing, she put the food down on the table beside the bed, and upon seeing the unease in Higen's body language reacted on instinct and wrapped her arms around his torso, holding his head to her shoulder as she embraced him.

Higen smiled. He didn't have to say anything to her. He sniffled some and started to cry. After all that happened, it was the relief that made him cry and hug her back.

Keiko just sat there with her arms around Higen, letting his emotions wash over him, she didn't say anything, she didn't need to.

He stopped after a minute or so and wiped his eyes, feeling embarrassed. "Sorry, stressful morning..." he said, a bit hoarsely. "And...I really thought...last night...that you were dead..."

Keiko pulled back slightly, just enough to look him in the eye but not break their embrace "from what I gathered that woman wanted to rattle you, try to push you over the edge, in order to do that she made it look like she had killed one of your friends, it was by chance that she chose me for the illusion"

Higen just shook his head. "No, she chose you on purpose." He looked down at his hands. "But, uh.. let's not go on about that. Hopefully Tori sensei will be up and giving orders by this evening, and we can head home." He chewed his lip for a minute. "What's your home like, Keiko?"

Keiko was curious about what he meant by Kanna choosing her on purpose, but allowed him to change the subject "Konoha is a nice place to grow up in,, it's prided itself on being one of the strongest villages in the elemental countries, that strength comes from our unity, something that father and mother have worked hard to reinforce as well as spread to the other hidden villages, there are many that I know you'd get along with, though I think you'll end up butting heads with the Inuzuka twins, they always try to establish dominance, something about being pack alpha, though you might get along with Denji Yuhi, his father died before he was born so his mother had to raise him alone"

Higen paused for a moment. "I see, you hear "home" and think "village!" Higen smirked. "No I mean your house. With your mother and father." He looked at her, feeling sheepish. He wanted to know what it was like to be normal.

Hitomi blushed a bit "oh! well...my parents have done their best to let me live a normal life despite their stations in Konoha society" she explained "Keiko and I have been inseparable for years, though we each had clan issues to deal with we still had fun and made friends like normal kids"

Higen nodded. It wasn't really what he was asking. But he was okay with that. He was quiet for a moment. "Hey..., where is Onihime's room? Do you know?" Higen felt like he should go talk to her. She at least claimed to be his family.

Keiko slowly got off the bed "Onihime-san was placed in the room across from this one, she was being treated for sword wounds as well as poisoning" she explained, she offered her hand to help him out of bed.

Higen took her hand, and got out easily enough. To tell the truth, he felt better physically than he had that morning. Raiju probably deserved the credit. Mentally, he still felt shaken and fragile. He followed Keiko to the room, and stopped at the door. "Do me a favor, check on Hitomi and Tori for me? I need to talk to her alone, okay?"

Keiko looked at him worriedly "are you sure? You aren't at your best and I know you still don't trust her"

Higen turned and took her hands. "I'm not the most trustworthy. person either. But Onihime is injured, and she got injured fighting on our side. I have to hear her out. She deserves that much." Higen took a deep breath and put on the brave face that originally attracted Keiko to him. "I'll see you in a few minutes, ok?"

Keiko gives him a small nod before she gives him one last hug, gently resting her forehead against his "I trust you" she said gently before pulling back and leaving to find Hitomi and Tori.

Higen watched Keiko go down the hallway before he opened the door to Onihime's room. After all that happened, he expected this room to be monitored, one way or another, but he didn't care about that. He sat down by Onihime's bed.

Onihime slowly opened her eyes, she was still weak from the poison's effects but she could tell she wasn't alone, out of the corner of her eye she saw Higen, this alone told her she hadn't been captured when she lost consciousness "some night huh?" she said weakly in an attempt at humour as she slowly turned her head to look at him.

"Wait til you hear about my morning!" Higen grumbled. "But we'll get to that. Tell me what you know about Hayako." He looked serious, but not angry at her, not like he usually was. It was a step up.

Onihime's eyes widened slightly "Hayako!?" she said, not hiding her surprise, she looked towards the ceiling and closed her eyes "he's a high ranked member of Itamigakure" she began "according to our informants he is close to ANBU level in skill and is said to possess several skills and weapons that only he can wield, he is often called the Itamikage but he does answer to someone else"

"He sent those kunoichi after us, and nearly killed Tori-Sensei. I had to save Tori this morning. I don't know if they're trying to keep that secret or not, so keep it to yourself." Higen took a deep breath. "They think I belong to them, but they aren't your people. So I'm wondering just what the hell is going on."

Onihime looked at Higen "I suspect they're after Jyuubi's Legacy" she explained "when you were born, you were selected by Jyuubi to be his successor, to that end he gave you several special powers that would be unlocked over time when you were ready"

"That...doesn't make any sense." But he shook his head. He was trying to be productive. "So you are my sister?"

Onihime nodded "yes, though when you come of age, I will be in service to you" she replied.

Higen shook his head. "You know that's not going to happen. But that doesn't mean I can't have...some kind of relationship with you." He looked at his hands, looking solemn.

Onihime looked at Higen with a gentle smile, she knew that asking him to think of her as his sister would be asking to much, to say nothing of forcing the issue, so for now she'd settle for earning the right to be called his friend "I'd like that" she said softly.

Higen sighed, feeling terrifically awkward. "So what's so special about your sword? Is it like, a sacred artifact, or the key to a ritual? They want it almost as bad as they want to drive me insane."

"It's called Kagegenki, it means Shadow Energy" Onihime explained "it's one of three weapons crafted by a master smith using fangs from the Nameless One, the three are secretly owned by our family, each possesses very unique powers, the other two are Benihime's Kusarigama Kazechi (Blood Wind) and the dagger Kokushibyou (Black Death) which was meant for you, I'm unaware as to what they want with my sword, but I remember reading that the weapons are connected to the Nameless One somehow" as she finished she didn't hide her concern for the possibilities for the attempt on Higen as well as her sword.

This gave him pause. "Hayako mentioned something, I didn't really understand, that some demonic...thing, was my father... and the legends of the Nameless One don't... Onihime," Higen was afraid to tell her this, "What is inside me is not a Bijuu, not a tailed beast. It's a part of me, but it is separate. It is something, but it's..." he blushed a little, thinking it was embarrassing to admit, "It is a she," he finally said.

Onihime tried to sit up so that she could look at Higen properly despite the pain of her injuries "if I were to guess I'd say that 'she' was a combination of our family's heritage and Jyuubi's 'gift', the fact that it took a female form might have been your doing"

Higen froze, then actually looked at Onihime. "M-m-My doing?" He backed away from the bed one step. "Why would you say something like that?"

"I'm just guessing here" Onihime said holding her hands up to attempt to placate Higen "it could be that deep down you see women as stronger or harder to understand"

Higen nodded slowly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude... Um... How are you feeling?" He asked sheepishly.

Onihime lowered her hands "I'm still a bit sore in some areas, she really diod a number on me with her poison" she explained "her skills were good too, I'm actually quite good dealing with Genjutsu but what she used were illusions, not genjutsu actual illusion techniques used by certain demons, thye trick every one of your senses into believing what you see, it's obvious those skills were why she and her twin were chosen, since most ninja can detect Genjutsu but very few individuals can spot a demonic illusion"

"Yes, the other twin could do that too. If she had intended to kill me, I would be dead. But they had something else in mind..." Higen pursed his lips, hard in thought. "I can't figure it out."

Onihime thought about it for a moment "whatever it is, it can't be good, that why you need to keep close to those you trust, know how they would or should act in any situation, know that they'll have your back because you'll have theirs, you'll have to lower those barriers you have around your heart and mind, stop trying to push others away or you may end up being easy prey for people like the ones from last night" she watched Higen closely to see what his reaction to her advice would be.

Higen tilted his head back up, and used his right hand to brush the hair from his head. Then he took some deep breaths and looked at his left hand. He turned it back, forth, flexed it, then made a scoffing sound. He pulled at the straps and took the cast off. Higen looked more nervous as he flexed his left hand again and again. There was no pain. There was a slight glimmer to his eyes as he frowned. But his face changed again as he looked up at Onihime. He noticed he had spaced out. Or just got distracted. He gave her a sly grin that didn't look 100% genuine. "Now you're overstepping your bounds, Onihime." He said. He touched her hand. "We'll talk again soon." He nodded to her, then left the room and shut the door behind him. Once in the hallway, he pulled off his skintight blue undershirt. His heavy coat and muffler was still in his room. Against a mirror in the hall, he looked at his chest. Just over his chest was four light, not obvious, but very real scars on his skin. He touched them, and could feel the indentations under his fingertips. He put his shirt on. He leaned forward and looked in the mirror and wiped the sweat off his brow, closed his eyes, and breathed deep again. When he felt like he could stop shaking, he headed back upstairs to Tori's room.

Onihime watched as he left 'I truly hope you take my words to heart, for if they truly seek Jyuubi's legacy then they will continue their mental and physical attacks on you dear brother, though I doubt you will ever see me as your sister, I will keep you safe and help you find happiness....even if it costs me my life in the process' she rested her head against her pillow as she considered the possible steps she would have to take in the near future.

Higen stopped outside the door to Tori's room. He could hear the girls inside. Suddenly, he felt adrenaline peak in his system. Goosebumps stood up on his arms. His eyes widened. 'I'm on the outside of this door,' he thought.

And more than Hayako ever dreamed, more than anything Tsunade said, or those twins did, that thought rocked him to his core. He looked down one side of the hallway, and then the other. No one was in the hall. No shatterproof glass windows, no steel walls, no guard, no Tsunade, no cabin, no Leaf nin. There was a window on the far side of the hall, with pale desert sun coming through.

'I can leave,' he thought. And if he had to, he could kill the first people to try to stop him. After that, he could create a false trail, and dissappear, just like that. Leave these Shogi pieces to their game and...and...Find another cage? Another hole to wait in? Higen balled up his fists. His eyes shown fiercely, but then he finally had a sane thought. 'They know I'm out here. Just put it away for now. Now is not the time. First things are first.' He made his fist unclench, and knocked on the door.

Keiko answered the door and smiled upon seeing Higen and stepped aside for him to enter, as he entered he could see Hitomi sitting beside her brother holding his hand in both of hers, relief written all over her face, Tori was sporting only a few bandages as Raiju's chakra had already dealt with the worst of it, though he still didn't look ready to be doing somersaults just yet, but that would probably be a different story by nightfall.

Tori looked over and Higen and smiled "come on in, join the party" he said with a light laugh.

"Tell them what happened." Higen said. His voice sounded like a different person. When he saw Tori, the anger came rushing in. "Tell them, tell ME about the Itamigakure. Tell them who's idea this team was. Tell them" Higen gestured emphatically to the ground. His eyes simmered like purple coals, "Tell them why they are in danger because you put them on this team and put them in the cross-hairs of those ninja. You couldn't protect us. You can't."

Tori's face lost it's cheer upon hearing those words, a degree of sadness took it's place "first off, I didn't choose the team, the Hokage was the one who selected the teams and the council approved them, secondly these two already know what happened and Raiju informed me of what happened when you were in my seal, as for Itamigakure, I had heard of them before but this had been the first time I ever faced one of their nin, I received a missive about them just before we set out for Suna, Yugao would know more than I, but all I really know is that they are more demonic than any Hanyo or Jinchuuriki, from what Sasuke had told me they are less like a village and more like a demon cult that believe they are the elite strike force for some secret demon lord whom they believe rivals that of Jyuubi" he explained "as for protecting you, I have every intention of doing that, woith my life if need be, my mistake was holding back in order to capture Hayako or buy time for Suna's ANBU to show up, if and when we cross paths again, I'll introduce him to my and Raiju's full power"

That took a great chunk of the heat out of Higen's anger. Everyone here was so connected, calm, collected, in sync. And here he was, freaking out. He kept his eyes on Tori, he was too embarrassed to look at the girls. But the events of the morning still had him scared out of his wits, and he found himself responding to fear with rage. So Higen spoke to Tori as if they were alone in the room, because the 'young master' needed to say this. "You know what it's like to have your body fill with that power that terrible destructive force. And you know what it feels like when your grip-- your control slips away, and that power is in something else's hands, completely out of your control. And you know what it's like to watch, completely helpless, like a insignificant ant while that power does whatever it damn well pleases." Higen's eyes were no longer purple. It was his own eyes that stared right into Tori's own. "And in that moment when you are so small, then you know what it's like to be me. All right, Sensei, as long as you're telling the truth. Can you swear to your other students that you can protect them from me?" It was too much for the boy to handle. He was too young, too warped by isolation, under too much pressure, and far too unsure of who he could trust.

Hitomi and Keiko looked at each other in confusion, why would Higen ask Tori to make such a promise? it didn't make sense.

Tori looked at Higen with an even expression "If it'll ease your conscience, then I'll make that vow here and now, but ask yourself this...you've already 'lost control' a few times around them but has that power ever been directed at them, even unintentionally?"

Higen just shook his head, backed over to one of the chairs along the wall and just slumped down into it. He was sulking. "Fine. I'm done complaining. I'm sorry I ruined a good moment."

Tori smiled "actually I was expecting your reaction after all that happened" he replied as Keiko sat down next to Higen and took one of his hands in hers and gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze.

Hitomi watched Higen closely, did he actually think he might end up hurting them? sure they haven't been a team very long but she could tell that beneath the troubled defensive exterior there was a kind soul that just needed the right people to help bring it out, she hoped she would be one of those people, only time would tell.

Higen caught Hitomi staring at him out of the corner of his eyes. The confusion on her face made him want to squirm. So he just sat there staring at his shoes. He felt like he was right to demand answers, and right to be angry. But after saying it all, he felt like an ass.

Tori's eyes seemed to go blank for a moment before changing to solid white with no obvious pupils "perhaps I might be better able to answer your questions regarding our attackers" he said with a slightly deeper voice that didn't see all his own.

Hitomi looked at Tori and smiled "Raiju-san!" she said with a mixture of surprise and cheer, she had encountered Raiju a few times when she went into the 'special dojo' and she knew that Tori could partially or even fully trade places with Raiju, but this was the first time she'd seen the partial swap.

Higen's head perked up. This was important. He was worried that Keiko was so quiet, though. Was she still thinking about what that Itamigakure kunoichi said?.

Keiko looked at 'Raiju' "what exactly were they trying to do with making Higen think I was dead?" she asked quietly as her hands squeezed Higen's slightly.

Raiju nodded "I'd guess they were trying to break him, show him the death of someone close to him to make him believe he had been powerless to prevent it and force him to weaken his hold on his seal, seals like mine and Higen's are based on willpower, if he believed the only way to survive the encounter was let go of his control over the seal and relinquish his will to that of his other, then he would be easier to capture as it would have taken the entirety of the village to subdue him and they could retrieve him once Suna had done the dirty work" he explained.

Higen blushed deep red when Keiko took his hand, but he was still focused on the topic at hand. "I agree with the first part, but I didn't really choose to..." he bit his tongue, as if the word tasted bad "transform. That happened when I was shocked, and in grief. And I doubt they can achieve their goal through those tactics. Every time I see them, I can adapt. And after two fights, they stretched part of my seal, but its still very much intact.

"make no mistake, they have learned from each encounter like you have" Taiju replied as he looked right at Higen "they too will adapt and alter tactics to achieve the same goal, break you mentally and claim what you possess" his tone was serious "you must learn to stop keeping others at arms length, therein lies the path to your own defeat, find your true strength in your friends and loved ones, there are those who only with for your happiness"

Higen found Keiko squeezing his hand. He felt very insulted for being told that twice. He thought he was doing just fine getting along with his team. But he opted not to say anything. He squeezed Keiko's hand in return.

Raiju nodded at the subtle gesture between Higen and Keiko before continuing "as for that Hayako character, there is a great deal mor to him than we have already seen, his control of that mist seems to exceed Gaara's sand manipulation, then there's that black flame, I doubt it's an actual jutsu, more like a demonic ability that's disguised as one, I suspect it's stronger than whet we've seen already, because of this I think once we return to Konoha I'd like all three of you to train in the Astral Dojo, it will aid in your training and increase your overall strength so you'll better be able to deal with future threats from Itami's agents"

Keiko and Hitomi gasped but for different reasons, Hitomi because she had no clue that things were rapidly getting to the point that Raiju would actively request to utilize the Astral Dojo for the whole team, while Keiko was considering the possible dangers that would require such drastic training methods.

Higen only looked grim. The monster could manifest so much more easily in a seal like environment than she could in the real world. Not that the astral plane wasn't real. Higen felt even less safe there.

Raiju looked at Higen "remember, the seal will manifest itself in the Astral Dojo in the form of restraints so she will be bound tight while we train"

"Whatever you say," Higen said. "Are we at least going to return to Konoha first? Suna is staying out of this so far. We're not safe here." He looked at Keiko quickly. He wished to be alone with her before some big event happened yet again.

"Tori and Onihime should be fully healed by morning" Raiju replied "so we'll be able to set out for Konoha at that time"

"And I think I misspoke. Gaara wouldn't allow us to be on our own here in the village. But... I would recommend requesting Nara Shikimaru as an escort. Even travelling as a group of five, I would feel much more comfortable with a support class shinobi on our side. You must surely recognize that we are little more than a mismatched band of pure C.Q.C.s," he said, meaning Close Quarters Combat specialists.

"guess that's our cue" came a voice from the door, when they looked to see who spoke they saw Shikamaru, Yugao and Kankuro standing there, Yugao spoke up "until Onihime and Tori have been cleared to travel, these two are going to be our escorts, when any of you three are outside the hospital or the hotel, at least one of us three will be around even if you can't see us"

Higen stood up and bowed, out of habit, more than anything. He found himself trying to take a second look at Shikimaru. He still couldn't really see what the legends said of him in his appearance. But maybe he'd get a chance to puzzle it out today.

Tori's eyes returned to normal as he addressed his team "for now I want it clear you are not to go alone when out in the village, especially you Higen since you seem to be their target, but for now you're free to do as you like"

Higen looked at the girls. "I could use some tea. I'm feeling kinda worn out." He tried to just let go of the fact that he wouldn't get any privacy, either by himself, or with Keiko. "Anyone here still drink tea?"

Keiko smiled "I'll have some too" she got to her feet still holding his hand "come on, I'll show you the way"

Higen let her half lead, half drag him along. She was curiously strong for a young girl. He caught back up to her speed and whispered in her ear. "You were amazing last night!"

Keiko blushed at the praise "you were pretty impressive yourself" she replied shyly.

"I was just worried about you," Higen said quietly. "I keep forgetting you can take care of yourself." Once they got to the cafeteria, Higen managed to find some Jasmine tea. They didn't have the Oolong tea he wanted. He turned bright red when he asked for the tea and hot water with Keiko still holding his hand.

Keiko gets some simple Green Tea, her light blush still present as she was well aware the she was still holding Higen's hand, when she got her tea she allowed Higen to lead them to one of the empty tables so they could enjoy their tea and talk.

Keiko nodded "Aunt Hanabi taught me, under Uncle Neji's supervision of course" she replied with an embarrassed smile "I don't normally get that aggressive thought" she looked down into her cup "it's just that she kinda struck a nerve with the way she tried to manipulate you"

"In this case, aggression is good. We should seize every opportunity to take these bad-guys down." He licked his lips, shifted in his seat. "Do you think you can teach me how to focus chakra into my hands like that?" He asked.

Keiko considered the possible backlash from her answer "I don't see why not, but you won't be able to strike your opponents chakra points without the Byakugan, also I won't be able to teach you much without breaking the clan laws regarding teaching the Jyuuken to a non-clan member"

"I'm not asking you to teach me Gentle Fist. Just the chakra focus part. I have something in mind for my own techniques. Something that might give us an edge against the Itamigakure twins." He said, feeling embarrassed.

Keiko smiled as she looked Higen in the eyes "of course, I'd be happy to help you"

"Great!" He sipped his tea, still watching her. She was quirky. He wondered exactly why he liked her so much. It was probably that she was very physically attractive, and very sweet on him. But there was more to it than that. Higen didn't yet see that Keiko had the pure heart that was the great strength of her father, as well.

Keiko sipped her tea as her mind went through how she would teach Higen how to focus his chakra into his hands, it wasn't all that different from feet, though it does require finer control since the chakra is focused over a smaller surface area.

"I figured I can try to hit them with my chakra.. it might not kill them, though it could be fatal to most anyone else. But if I mark those twins with my chakra, we might be able to track them, and maybe see through their illusions. What do you think?" Higen leaned forward and finished the rest of his tea. He'd calmed down from earlier.

Keiko nodded "it sounds like a good idea, one worth trying anyway" she replied as she thought it over "though that woman's illusions didn't feel like they used chakra" she added thoughtfully.

"I'm stumped, then. Nothing about them makes sense" Higen said, and rubbed his temples with both hands.

Keiko gave him a reassuring smile "don't you mean nothing about them makes sense...yet?" as she placed her hand on his.

Higen slumped his shoulders and exhaled wearily. "How can you be so calm about this?" he asked. "And how can you have so much faith in me?"

"it's because I have faith in you that I can stay clam" Keiko replied "and as to why?.." her voice trailed off "I can't really explain it, I just do"

Higen shook his head. "Funny how that works. You're so nice to me that it makes everything else easier." He smiled. "And be extra nice to Hitomi. She's jealous."

Keiko simply smiled and drank her tea while trying to hide her blush.

"Well..." Higen said, shielding his face with his tea cup too. "I doubt you want to share..." he said in mock seriousness, then stuck his tongue out.

Keiko chuckled, it was nice to see him relax again, she knew the recent incident had rattled him and she wouldn't have been surprised if he considered trying to run away, but she was glad he had started to relax around her and even joke a little, she liked being able to see this side of him and hoped to see more of it in the future.

"What did Tori say about... this morning?" Higen scrunched his face up, but still looked to be in a good mood. "It was a big deal. He always makes light of serious things..."

Keiko placed her cup down as she looked into it "most of what he told us was second hand information, since Raiju was being bound by that man's trap" she began "ehat he told us was that Hayako was from Itamigakure and during their battle he had been seeping some strange black mist that he couldn't prevent from getting inside him as it even entered through the pores in his skin, it weakened him and after he left Tori-sensei started to black out, according to Raiju the attack on the seal happened as soon as Sensei lost consciousness, the attack was fast and direct, it's like they already knew the layout of the sealscape and where to strike to get the best results" she looked up at Higen "the fact that they knew so much was a little scary" she said with a slight tremble.

"He didn't mention me?" He asked, eyebrow raised. Higen was beginning to wonder just how classified information on him was, and how much Konoha might be risking with such a loose leash on their stolen youkai boy.

"not much" Keiko replied "just that you were sent into the seal to kick Hayako out of sensei and save him and Raiju from being killed" she smiled at him "thank you for saving Hitomi's Onii-chan"

Higen gawked at her. "Like I said, serious things." He rolled his eyes. "The mission, though." Higen absently played with his empty tea cup."what about that scroll. Does that have anything to do with this?"

Keiko blinked at Higen "what scroll?" she asked curiously.

"The Kazekage gave Tori Sensei a scroll to take back to Konoha. That was the mission, remember?" Higen started to feel antsy. The last 24 hours were so hectic that just having a conversation was hard. Not that talking to people wasn't hard all by itself.

"oh!" Keiko answered "I nearly forgot after everything that happened" she replied blushing a little in embarrassment "Yugao was given the scrolls earlier, but she hasn't said if it's been opened or not, I doubt it has as it's supposed to be given for father"

"Well, now we have time to kill... um, maybe we should go visit Shikimaru Nara?" Higen rubbed his hands. He wanted to tape them up again. "I think his daughter would like to see me again..." Higen kept looking at his hands. He was teasing Keiko to try to see if she'd get jealous.

Keiko chuckled, she knew he wasn't really interested in Sakyuu Nara.....or was he?...the possibility just crossed her mind as her hands, still gripping the cup, squeezed involuntarily before she realized he hadn't had much opportunity to interact with either of Shikamaru's daughters, this caused her to relax again "sure, though we won't have to go far" she replied before pointing behind Higen as Shikamaru and Yugao walked passed the Cafeteria in deep conversation.

Higen had noticed Keiko stiffen. "Hey." He made eye contact with her. "You can't be jealous," he tsked at her. "I may not know, because I've been a prisoner all my life, but I think you have to be "going out" with someone before you can get jealous...oh!" He said turning around in his chair, "There they are!" He said, pretending he hadn't just teased Keiko again.

Keiko took both their empty cups to the basin so they could be cleaned before taking Higen's hand again "let's go before they get too far away" she said in her normal friendly tone.

Higen nodded, smiled at her, and squeezed her hand before letting her lead him along. He was still curious about Shikimaru, but he was thinking more about Keiko at the moment.

As they neared the two Jounin Keiko could hear a little of what they were saying to each other "do your spies really believe they're holed up there?" Yugao asked with more than a hint of disbelief, Shikamaru nodded "that's what Gaara believes anyway, I know it's troublesome but he's adding into that scroll a request for a joint scouting mission between Suna and Konoha to check it out, I know at the least Naruto will want to check it out, for his mother's sake" he stopped when he heard the two genin nearing him, he noted the fact that they were holding hands as Keiko spoke "Shikamaru-san, we were hoping to have a word with you" the resident Nara nodded to them to let them know they had his attention.

Higen blinked at Keiko. "Well, if you're talking about something important," Higen frowned, "It can wait. I uh...wanted to get to know you some, since we'll be travelling for a couple days, and likely will be seeing combat together..." Higen glanced sidelong at Keiko. It was amusing that she still had hold of his hand in front of everyone. He blushed a little.

Shikamaru nodded "I don't see why not, come on" he said as he turned and headed down the hallway towards the back courtyard where they could be comfortable as they talked.

Higen was mildly irritated that Keiko was embarrassing him by keeping a grip on his hand. He tried getting revenge by making eyes at her with suggestive glances whenever the adult's backs were turned. He intended for her face to be redder than his when they reached their destination.

Needless to say, his plan was working as Keiko was doing her best to avoid looking at him...and failing horrifically as every time she did her face would take on a deeper shade of crimson that would not look out of place on Hinata during her younger days.

When they eventually stopped. the adults looked back to see Higen making kissy faces and Keiko about to faint from blushing. Higen noticed the quiet moment, and was startled to see Yugao and Shikimaru staring at him. He smiled and sweatdropped like a waterfall.

Shikamaru and Yugao quickly glanced at each other and smirked, each thinking the same the 'kids!' they then gestured to a pair of benches under a shady tree as Shikamaru laid back on the grass beneath it and looked up at the sky to do one of his favourite pastimes: Cloud Watching "now, what's on your minds" he asked casually.

Higen chewed his lip, thinking before beginning. "You once used tactics and planning to defeat a supposedly invincible enemy back when you were still a chunin. Hidan of the Akatsuki. Our team has been dealing with enemies who have seemingly impossible abilities and near unstoppable jutsu. I can't find a weakness in their tactics." Higen grumbled. "We're only alive because they are toying with us."

Shikamaru looked at Higan out of the corner of his eye "troublesome...look, first off, you need to remember no technique is unstoppable and every enemy has a weakness, the trick is finding it and exploiting it before they know what your doing, when I fought Hidan I realized his jutsu had two major flaws, the first was it wouldn't work on you if he didn't ingest some of the victim's blood, and the second was that if he did then he'd have to stay inside the diagram he'd drawn earlier for his attacks on himself to actually affect you. so think over how your enemy fights and try to see a pattern or telltale signs that would help you understand their next move before they do it" his eyes return to the passing clouds "but that's just me he added almost sleepily"

"Well, jeez. When you put it that way... The kunoichi I fought... I don't think she was even in the same room as me. Any time I actually scored a hit, it was a clone. And if that's true..." Higen looked at Keiko, frowning hard, "Then that idea I had earlier is trash."

"Don't say that" Keiko piped up "just because it might not work for one opponent doesn't mean it wouldn't be useful against others, I say we still work on your idea anyway, you never know what skills would come in handy until the situation calls for it" she said trying to cheer Higen up.

Higen was unable to look that far ahead, not yet. "Invisible blood clones, rapid transportation jutsu, contagious chakra that can penetrate skin, not even just an orifice or a cut, but simply exposed SKIN!" Higen face-palmed. "I'd have to fight them again just to narrow the possibilities down to affect a strategy."

"don't set the burden on your shoulders alone kid" Shikamaru said calmly "you have friends, teachers and allies who can give you added insight through their own first hand experience, not to mention tools and training to improve your chances of coming home in one piece"

Yugao felt she needed to say something "I seem to recall Tori mentioning something about making a technique that covered the user's body in a protective armour of pure chakra" she mentioned thoughtfully.

Higen eyed Yugao suspiciously. He had half a mind to tell her that was insane, but he quickly realized that was a good strategy. For everyone but himself. "Do any of you know that technique?" Higen looked from face to face.

Yugao and Keiko shook their heads "he was still working on it when we last talked about it, he said something about it being a hindrance rather than helpful during prolonged fights, something about the level of chakra needed to maintain it I think" Yugao replied.

"Well don't look at me," Higen grumbled. "It'd be highly effective for me to try that on just about anyone BUT these guys. They aren't affected by my particular chakra nature." He was regretting starting this conversation. "The best I can do is try brute force and hope for the best..." but then an idea dawned on him. "I bet you can do it, Keiko!"

Keiko blinked a few times as she looked at Higen, then a sudden look of surprise appeared on her face "me?!" she asked pointing to herself.

"Tsu... somebody told me something once about your father. That he was the son of an exceptional man, your grandfather... but that Naruto was very special." Higen realized the next few things he said might sound like sacrilege. "While determination, courage, and integrity are the intangibles that really make a ninja. But the fact remains that The Sixth Hokage is exceptional for a very tangible reason as well. Nearly limitless chakra, not at all from the Kyuubi, but within his own self. It was the only way he could have imprisoned the Nine Tails within himself for all these years, and still be alive. You may not be quite like that," Higen said, "But you are... "tangibly exceptional," as well, aren't you?"

Keiko thought about this for a moment "my grandfather Hiashi once told me that I had inherited father's chakra reserves and mother's degree of control, but father had told me that my stamina and strong chakra are traits from the Uzumaki clan which was why they were used as the Jinchuriki of Kurama, so it might be possible, especially since father had been able to master a technique that his father wasn't able to" she looks as Higen with a small smile "maybe it'll run in the family" she added with a quiet laugh.

"If I understand Yugao, its something that your Eight Trigrams technique is perfect for. It can't be too different than Rotation..." he looked at the two adults. "Ideas? Anybody?" He was glad he wasn't asked to explain why he declined to learn the technique. It was clear that they knew, as Higen did, that his chakra was probably enormous. But it was dangerous. It was deadly, and had a mind of its own. The only way it didn't kill Higen, was that it was actually HIS chakra too. He would die without it.

"from the sounds of it" Keiko said as she thought about it "the two main differences between Kaiten and Sensei's jutsu are, range and duration, the Kaiten surrounds the user in a bubble of chakra for a seconds or two, this other technique surrounds the user in a layer of chakra that remains for as long as the user can maintain it"

Higen thought about that. "And that means there's some ranged jutsu I need to practice... But, there's something else I needed to ask you, Shikimaru." Higen felt awkward about asking, and a little worried. "I want to practice my techniques too, but I think it's best if it's done in a secure location. Probably underground, and under the Kazekage's supervision.

"you could try the Kazekage's private training grounds" Shikamaru suggested "it's location is so secret, only the Kazekage's aides know where it i and how to access it" he said with a small yawn.

"Secrecy is not my concern." Higen said. He seemed to focus in on Shikimaru's seeming lack of interest or concern. "You Leaf Nin," he said, apparently forgetting the Konoha symbol was on his OWN collar, "Have a confidence that is as admirable as it is stupid. My concern is safety, Shikimaru-san."

"in the case of the Kazekage's training grounds, it's the same thing" Shikamaru replied as he looked at Higen out of the corner of one eye "you asked for a secure location where the Kazekage could oversee your training, and it fits the bill"

Higen couldnt stand how nothing seemed to phase these people. Maybe the wars of the past 20 years had jaded them, made them conditioned to catastrophe and danger. Higen still didn't understand them. "Okay, fine. We only have a day to do this, so... I propose Keiko practice with Yugao. And I request you take me to those grounds right now, Shikimaru."

"sorry, can't help you" the Nara replied "like I said, only the Kazekage and his aides know the location and how to access it, you'd have a better chance with Kankuro"

Higen rolled his eyes. "Okay, where is Temari?" Higen said, deliberately ignoring Shikimaru's mention of Kankuro. So far, Higen did not like Shikimaru at all, and didn't want to talk to that Kankuro either. That sibling of the Kazekage seemed like a numbskull.

Shikamaru yawned "most likely at the Kazekage's tower" he replied "with Kankuro tasked with helping to keep your teammates safe, she's only got Sakyuu to help her keep things organized for Gaara"

Yugao got to her feet and looked to Higen "guess that's where you and I are headed then" she said to Higen "shall we get a move on, or would you rather spend some more time on your date?" she added with a small wink as she eyes the fact that Keiko hadn't left his side at all.

Higen shook his head. "No, you go with Keiko. I'll go find Kankuro." He said. He turned and smiled at Keiko. "I'll see you soon," he said. He pulled on his heavy overshirt and started out of the cafeteria. There was no way he'd let Keiko near him. The seal was weakened around that second wall. He wasn't sure what would happen if it snapped.

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