.An Old Friend's Memory.

[Umehara]

It was like a sudden dream that washed over my cognitive state.

...And I just couldn't ignore the possibility. The faint smell of the sea permeated throughout the air as I began to remember all that had transpired when I'd traveled with her. There was also the company of the oddest companions that I had had the eccentric pleasure of getting to know. While it wasn't the most important of ventures, the steady beat of my memories forced my feet forward. And so I began my trek, onward to the Land of Fire. Handseals had crafted the lightning jutsu that I had used to power my kunai, giving me the proper coordinates along my map as I took a day's worth of travel to move. Memories of Kouketsu also flooded my mind.

But why?

I picked up my pace, unashamed of the sense of emergency that most likely plagued me. My haste was most likely noticeable by those around. But I cared little for their opinion. I simply had to know what had become of the past.

- Move to Land of Fire -

[Tieren]

Moved

[Umehara]

Ah, the land of Fire.

I remembered vividly what I had done in the neighboring country. A moment to have persuaded the Kusakage to ally with Otogakure, and the glory that had come with showing Riful the power of the Sharingan Eye. Almost imperceptibly, my lips curled upward into a grin as I continued my journey through the lands. The lush forestry was quite impressive, though Konoha had always been known for the greatest hiding places within the trees. My travel through this place would be a bit slower. I had time to reflect once more on my travels with she whose name I would not yet speak until I had reached my destination. For it was there that I would find it the most appropriate.

My supply of food replenished quite a few times as I stopped through the bustling roads that pushed me toward Kusa, I found no need to stay for longer than necessary. The satchel of items that were with me made my trip a bit more tedious. But it was the blade, Tokihaga, that made the most eerie of connections. I didn't have time to dwell on it, however. Ensuring that my footing was consistent, I passed over into the Land of Grass with the lightning kunai at the ready to guide the road to inquiry.

-- Move to Land of Grass

[Tieren]

Moved

[Umehara]

"What you did here, Destroyer. It was a thing of beauty.."

The words were venomous to hear. I had surmised that he who slept within me had confined himself purposefully to watch what actions would have unfolded before me. Without his voice to edge me onward, the Curse Seal that I held was far from his doing. It had been mine own hand. As I traveled along the Land of Grass and prepared myself to slice through what shrubbery would hinder my progress, I could only grimace beneath the neck of my cloak. Burakku had tormented me enough. The snide remarks were ill-mannered - a shame that the faintest memory could still be temptingly quelled by the voice of a plague. Still, I was consistent in my journey toward the Land of Earth.

It was by now that I had properly made way of toting all that was in my possession. Even the Flying Technical Machine, hoisted by the likes of multiple clones who held it up and traveled behind me, were getting their use out of their creator's chakra. Passersby would most likely look upon me as I watched the lightning kunai lead me astray toward the Land of Stone. But I did not care - it was only that singular name whose voice stimulated the senses that coaxed me to continue. And with that resolve, I'd steel myself and cross into the next country with little hesitation.

-- Move to Land of Earth

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

moved.

[Umehara]

"...Pandoru."

- exit

[Umehara]

[. Travel to Grass]

I'd dwelled here long enough.

Gathering my belongings and adjusting the headband across my forehead, I pulled my cloak tight against my form as the Land of Earth took me into her bosom. Once again, I'd found myself doing nothing more than simply...."being". No doubt, the walls of my abode would surely have no stories to tell without a single soul to have given them cause. As was my usual stance, my left forearm pressed against the handle of my blade as I moved across such a large expanse of land. Whether I was coming to or fro was almost foreign to me. Only the power of the Lightning Kunai, a technique I'd applied only moments before making journey, had begun to push me into the Land lush with soft fields of endless emerald. The memories of recent events shifted through my mind endlessly - not that many things could remain relevant to a man who never truly settled.

My lips parted only to release a sigh as the hours of travel settled in. Training within the Fuuton Arts before leaving the area had been a wise decision; reserving my chakra, I would need it for the journey back home. With a small sip from a bottle of water I'd acquired before my departure, I set my sights forward and headed toward Oto's familiar rice fields.

-- To Kusa No Kuni

[|Ayame Unbound|]

Moved

[Umehara]

[. Travel to Fire]

The journey had become considerably easier with the kunai clutched within my grasp until I'd had need for it again. Even through the night, I managed to gain my footing as I vaulted forward from tree to tree in the hopes of reaching the Land of Fire by the next morning. The owls greeted me with their song as I slowed my pace, expert navigation possible as my Sensor's ability began to decipher the immediate surrounding. Once again, I had taken to seclusion. With my cloak still swathing me in enigmatic shadow, it would only be a matter of time before this land was once more mine to traverse. There was a certain peace about the screaming silence. Had I known no better, I would have slowed my pace and slept beneath the shade of the forestry.

But alas, there was a place to return to. People to see. Tasks to be carried out. The keeper of the Dragons was once more on the move. Casually, I checked every secondary weapon besides the tool that rest among my digits. There was little more than a keen awareness at the forefront of my being. In a matter of hours, the sunrise would break over the mountains in the distance and signify my closing proximity as the border saw me one country closer to Oto.

-- Move to Hi No Kuni

[|Ayame Unbound|]

Moved

[Umehara]

[. Move to Oto]

It was here that I would make my final push of exertion, the song of the morning giving me life as my feet carried me without pause. I'd only had a few minutes to consume a snack that would have given my stomach a momentary calm. For now, time seemed to be of the essence. I faintly wondered what those I'd called my "family" were now taking part in. Had I missed a war? Had the village been overturned by news of a new Kage? The possibilities were endless, it seemed. Time was a common enemy of mine. Nevertheless, my speed would only increase as I lifted a hand and pushed my locks from my countenance.

It was only after a full day's journey that I'd found myself at the border. A sight that I had rarely given much attention to, I looked to the lightning kunai within my hand as it surged to life and brought me ever closer to my intended destination. Little more than my own will could halt me now. Still, I would slow my pace in anticipation of what would transpire upon my arrival. Perhaps Oto would not recognize one of its own. Though with my headband in its perpetually clean state, such a thought was quickly tossed to the wind.

-- Move to Oto

[|Ayame Unbound|]

Moved

[Umehara]

Onward.

-- exit.

[Umehara]

That sudden feeling washed over him again...

It was the second time in the night that the Curse Seal had beckoned.

He adjusted his armor as he lingered on the outskirts of the rice fields, his eyes settled onto the moon that loomed overhead. Folded arms prevailed seconds later, and the gears within his mind were no stranger to turning with such haste. "Bane.." he muttered, lifting a hand and touching the Mark upon his cheek as he habitually did. Glancing back behind himself, he stretched vertically before allowing the thoughts of his small meeting with Kogaku to press his curiosity further. Having abandoned the building and leaving her to her own devices, he still hadn't answered to the call that seemed to pull to him. And so he would vanish into the darkness, crossing forward along the country and toward the border that would see him into distant lands once more. His fingers had weaved the symbols that would allow the use of the Lightning Kunai technique The Tactical Vest beneath his cloak fit snug against his form as he managed a while's travel, both butt bags fit securely against his form. He'd retrieved both the Niiro Kougou blade and adjusted it diagonally along his back, along with the Apashi blade to his western flank. Slipping his AnBu Mask over his features, he faintly remembered the brothers he'd met in Kumo. Along with them, the card he fingered in one of the slots of his gatherings.

The Communications Device was placed toward his ear as the gas mask built into the porcelain wolf's visage was fastened across his countenance. His locks were disrupted as he fit his Sniper Goggles just above the headband. Twelve slots worth of exploding tags, two of incendiary, two of lightning, and two of ice were all neatly stacked one behind the other in his tactical vest and butt bags. Six smoke grenades lined his cloak. Six slots worth of shuriken did the same, sharpened and at a finger's touch. A single flash pouch was snug upon his person within the vest, near his right side. Sixty-five senbon were noiseless within his butt bag. Lastly, three soldier pills and three blood clot pills had been quietly wrapped and placed within his vest with the blank C-Rank Scroll he'd purchased.

He'd grown accustomed to walking in the manner of an armory. Almost subconsciously allowing himself to cross over into the land of Fire over a day's time, his thoughts had not truly come to hit him until the Sun had begun to peak over the distance. It was a wonder that he hadn't heard from Burakku in so long. The rice fields grew distance as the large trees of Hi No Kuni became plentiful. He'd make no stops, the chakra coursing his form ultimately keeping him cognizant of his surroundings as he made his negligible haste. "I'll never get used to seeing these lands.." he said out loud. It was why he enjoyed stretching his legs, so to speak. To have explained to anyone would have been to surrender a cause that not even he fully understood. And after what had transpired with Juliet, there was no denying the question of who he was and what it meant for his future. He had hoped to bring news back to Oto. Still, he knew the incredulous looks he would have received.

Anotsu's eyes lifted toward the heavens as he moved, having kept his course forward through the duration of his travel. Before long, he would find himself vanishing beneath the shade of the trees and into the bosom of the forest.

[ Move To Hi No Kuni]

[The Roar of the Falls]

Moved

[Umehara]

"The water is calm here. A contrast to what used to be, for sure.."

He kept his travel casual, hands managing to slip deep into his pockets. Anotsu's eyes wandered the still waters of the country's border, a myriad of emotions casting themselves to and fro against his heart's strings as he silently remembered the Uchiha Temple and this being the general direction in which one would have had to travel to get there. He could still hear the voices of the dead rising and filtering through his ears; somehow, he figured, they had clung to the thought of his Curse Seal's power. Would the spirits receive him now? Would they, too, treat him like an outcast?

Atsuhiro took a deep breath as a large boat waited at the dock, his pace quickening just slightly as his resolve took its turn. If there were questions, then certainly there would be answers. On a whim, his feet beat against the wooden dock that held entryway to the boat which would see him to Mizu no Kuni. Few patrons waited around with nonchalant postures as he found himself leaning against the railing of the boat. He let the weight of his being push down and into the murky depths below, an idle fingernail tapping against the metal of the rail as the sound of the engine roared to life.

"To the past, Ekirei.." he muttered.

-- Move to Mizu No Kuni

[Draven]

Moved

[Umehara]

To old temple grounds.

- exit -