[1] Obelisk of Tears

[Promeleon]

Obelisk of Tears
The Dead Remembered

Standing; gleaming before all who enter the city is a monument raised by the people of Sunagakure to celebrate those who have given their lives in order to maintain peace in the city. When a Shinobi falls in the line of duty, their names are carved into the old stone that villagers pay their respects to. The Obelisk stands in the middle of the central district of the city, where the most people trek everyday, and the Wind District has become home to many merchants and tourists trying to spend and make a buck. There are no guards stationed around the monument, but the people guard the Obelisk fiercely, as many people in the village have family members who names are etched into the ancient stone. Maintenance is regular, and the work is constantly touched up to ensure that any erosion or acts of vandalism are fixed as soon as possible.

The Obelisk is an important point for the Shinobi of the village; as it is often used as a meeting place by Jounin and Chuunin alike, to gather their teams as an unmistakeable marker that no one can confuse with any other place in the city. Often any time that the Kazekage needs to address the village, he will do so from a stage that is set up before the monument, and the people will gather in the streets around the leader.  Everyone is welcome to come pay their respects, but are asked to not leave anything of value on the steps around the monument as a token of appreciation, as gifts are not collected and are often stolen.  Enjoy the Obelisk, but do not touch, if you wish for a name to be carved into the stone, file a formal request with the representatives at the tower and ensure you fill out the form asking who and why the person is and deserves the honour of being remembered by all those who set foot in the village.  

[Promeleon]

"Who would do such a thing--"

"This is a disgrace--"

"If I caught whoever did this ---"

The sun was barely above the horizon when the first folks about the city found their national monument vandalized.  Word soon quickly spread through the town and shinobi and ANBU alike were working on finding a lead in regards to the people who would be despicable enough to deface a monument that honoured those who died for the village.  Noon struck and the market was at full capacity.  The chatter all involved the same thing, the vandalism and how it had been done right under the nose of the new Kazekage right before she was supposed to be inaugurated.  There was no official word released to the people of the village, but the rumours had already spread, and those blamed ranged from albino sand nomads to Xenophobic Shinobi from Kumogakure wanting revenge for the head of their Kage that was skewered and displayed at the village  gates.  These words were ultimately untrue, but the eyes and ears of Diomed helped the word spread, in order to cover up their own involvement in the attack against the village.  Not long ago; the bandit leader had gone to the tower to enact his plans, but his most trusted had been left with instructions.  

"Do you think we did a good enough job?"

Three young women looked on awkwardly from down an alley, watching the scene with interest, wondering what the purpose of it was for.  Diomed had instructed them to deface the statue, and then observe any people in the village who looked as though they supported anachronistic activities, then invite them to get involved in the project of a lifetime.  These three girls were not exactly fighters, nor particularly smart, but they were all capable actresses and they were sneaky and charming, even if ANBU had captured them and tried to find out the truth, they were all more than skilled at crying or lying their way out of a situation.  Even Diomed had fallen for their skilled manipulation at times.  The girl who had spoken was the shortest of the three by a couple of inches, and she looked quite nervous with her white hoodie pulled over her head, brown locks poking out of the front and falling over her downcast pale blue eyes.  Her skin was the usual caramel of those that resided in the desert village, and it contrasted greatly against the pale polar bear dog sweater that covered her as though she could not feel the heat.  Her tanned slender legs was partially covered by the short blue skirt, and completely naked from the mid thigh down to her bare feet.  

To the right of the brunette was a slightly taller blonde girl who chewed on her topaz nails as she regarded the situation developing in the market.  Her blonde hair fell down past her shoulders and was curly and bounced madly as she turned her head to spit the nails onto the sand, a disgusting habit that made the shorter brunette crinkle her nose.  The blonde wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top couple of buttons undone that revealed her more than ample cleavage.  The bottom three buttons were undone too, and her tanned stomach was in plain view, the top of a tattoo still visible from under the waistband of her plaid skirt.  The school girl look was quite sexualized in her hands, but there did not seem to be any complaints from anyone.  The tallest girl of the group wore the most thoughtful scowl as she scanned the the people in the market using her one good eye.  Her left eye was pupiless and the veins around the white eye were engorged with blood and chakra.  Her right eye was covered with a pink eye patch with a little black skull and crossbones that matched her angered look.  Her strawberry blonde hair was tied back in a pony tail that hung quite low considering the length of her hair.  Unlike her two companions, she seemed to be dressed appropriately for the weather, and wore a dark green shirt with a pocket over each breast, and matched it with a pair of black running shorts that clung to her athletic legs.

"All we have to do is lay low and find the people that we think will help out Bossman"

The school girl giggled at the taller girls insistance on calling the leader of their little group Bossman when he had made it clear on many occasions that he hated it.  Out of all the people that worked for him though, Zelda was the only one that would be able to get away with it ever.  The Hyuuga deactivated her Byakugan and sighed, closing her eye and leaning against the sandstone wall behind her, frustrated at the fact that they had still yet to find anyone who may have been interested in usurping the Kageship of the village.  The younger girls were here because they were handy when it came to dealing with men, otherwise Zelda would have worked this situation alone, knowing that she could convince even the most stubborn people to do what she wanted, even Diomed could be swayed by her sometimes violent persuasions.  Mika; the brunette seemed quite and reserved, but everyone that met her instantly felt the urge to try and look after her, and she had a knack for finding out way more about the person than they ever wanted to let out, and no one could ever be angry with her, as her natural disposition seemed as though she was on the brink of tears at all times. Unfortunately it took quite a bit of effort to get her to speak to anyone.  Luckily Bossman had given her a peptalk before they had gone on this mission.  

Quinn on the other hand was capable of holding her own, especially when the targets were male, and when it came to convincing people that her way was right, her bubbly and positive personality seemed to be enough.  The three of them would be able to get their marks and they would find worthy people to bust their boss out of jail and help them take over the village.  The trio of girls were hand picked for a reason, once they set their eyes on their targets, well, hopefully they chose people capable of fulfilling the wishes of the soon to be Kazekage.

[Maō]

[Enter]

Rai yawned as he casually strolled into the hub of the village. It had been an harsh case that he was just in, impeded by the bureaucracy of the village. What did they know about the spirits? They deserved peace too. He had to report to a few of the village councilmen about the work he did as a mediator between this world and the spiritual world. They had reprimanded him after his case had interrupted another shinobi team's mission. He even remembered their exact words and muttered them under his breath.

"Stop wasting time with that side job and focus on your duty to this village!"

"...Like those fools in the council know any better..."

Please. The reason why he had even joined was for the few friends that he had. Making sure to avoid being too close to others, he maintained a wide distance from the others in the area, at least at much as he could. It had been a few hours since peak hours so people were starting to leave the area. He was currently in his work clothes so he blended in with the locals very well. Unless one noticed the headband tied around his arm, no one would have guessed he was a shinobi since he was usually wearing a mask and a cloak within the village. Reaching the center of the area, he stared up at the Obelisk. A ghost was currently lying on the ground. His name was Hira, one of the local spirits of the village. From the looks of it, Rai had noticed no one else who was supernaturally sensitive within the village so when he made contact with Hira and the others, he had received quite the welcome. He whispered to the ghost.

"Hey Hira, anything interesting happen today?"

"Rai! Nah, nothing much here. Though there was a bunch of girls who were doodling on the Obelisk earlier. I overheard something about someone asking them to do it but not much else."

"Ah interesting...I will go take a look. Enjoy your nap."

Giving a nod to Hira, he moved around the Obelisk, looking for the so-called "doodles". Once he got to the right side, it couldn't have been more obvious. The mess of colors combined with the taped off area made it easy to see. It seemed the investigation had been done since no one was there. Rai imagined it would not be long before someone would come and clean up the mess. Mao, who was hovering behind Rai, gave what seemed to be a mischievous laugh. Rai stared at it a bit longer. He always had mixed feelings about this monument here. Sure it was a matter of respecting their fallen comrades. But it was not how he would have preferred to honor them. If they truly wished to respect the wishes of the dead, then the living should focus on getting things right in this village. Not to mention some of the local spirits had conflicted feelings about this too.

"You think they would have come up with a better way to honor their dead then to lump all their names together. No body, no grave. Just a name among the many. Ah too troublesome to report what Hira said about those girls anyway. I should probably just take it easy today, eh Mao?"

Rai was more talking to Mao but he made sure no one was close enough to hear him say those words. His "unique" way of seeing the world had gotten him in trouble several times already. Sighing, Rai walked down the steps to the lowest step and sat down on it, taking a drink of water, wondering what he could do to make this day better.

[Promeleon]

As the three girls chattered amongst themselves, Zelda did so with half a mind, as her thoughts were more focused on the mission they had been given.  It was obvious that she was the only one really taking it seriously; as usual though.  Her Byakugan scanned the crowd, and most still wandered by, eyeing the obelisk, but not paying too much attention to it, and not reacting in a way that supported their vandalism.  The blonde woman sucked her teeth as the shorter girls spoke about how they were getting bored and how they should go break Diomed out of the jail themselves, but if they had been paying attention, they would have realized that this whole set up was to get information to use against the Kazekage and to take over the village.  It was a relatively simple plan given the power that the current Kazekage, Gallows possessed, they needed to be sneaky in order to get everything in order.  The only reason he had gone to jail was to cause a diversion.  It was working wonderfully too, as there had been no more searches for him in the darker areas of the village now that he had been captured. 

There was a strange fellow who had approached the Obelisk, but he was speaking to himself and generally looked unsatisfied with the events that had unfolded, and more insultingly, with their work.  Having taken a seat by the steps, he looked quite lost sitting in the middle of the market on the steps of the tribute.  Mika was the first to become aware that Zelda had caught an eye on someone, and it was her part of the conversation that faltered first, forcing Quinn to investigate the reason also.  All three of them looked to the male who was on his own, seeing if he was going to be an interested target.  There did not seem to be much coming from him, but he was one of the only ones who had even remarked upon it at all since they had been watching, so it was worth a shot.  The eye patch wearing blonde looked at her two companions, trying to decide which of them would be better at dealing with this male.  He looked positively depressing, so Mika seemed like the obvious choice, but then she feared it may be too awkward to have them try and discuss something of this sensitivity.  

This was definitely more of a job for Quinn, whose bubbly personality and sexual nature could rile even the most stoic of men up,  The shorter blonde already looked excited at the prospect as though she knew what Zelda was going to say.  

"Quinn, the guy by the statue, he's all yours"

The blonde did not look nearly as enthused as the older woman expected her too, but that was a complication a girl like her was able to ignore easily, as she was a startlingly good actress.  Unbuttoning yet another button of her white shirt, now held together by one button that strained under her breasts, she shook her head haughtily, her bright blonde hair bouncing and gleaming in the sunlight.  A picturesque image that would have looked at home on the front of a sporting magazine.  Or an adult monthly.  The blonde smiled her innocent smile and giggled, preparing herself to introduce herself to the boy that was lounging on the stairs.  Her plan was already worked out in her head, it was so easy thanks to her good looks, he would not even see it coming.  Striding away from the other two girls, she walked her usual hip swaying walk, not towards the boy, but to some of the jewelry stands that lined the outside of the market place here.  It would not do to go straight for her mark.

"Do you think it was a good idea to send her Zelda?"

The brunette looked a little uncertain about it, but Zeldas authority was something she had submitted herself too, and even if it was not the case, the older girl was experienced in the underworld, and had saved her life from an abusive home.  It was strange to hear Mika question it, but it was also nice to hear her thinking for herself.  

"Good isn't the word I'd use, but she can handle herself"

Mika nodded, but the uncertainty did not leave her features.  Nor did it leave Zeldas.  Quinn; however; looked as happy as a clam as she investigated the shiny wares of the tables, listening to the hum of conversations around her.  Of course the dark haired male by the statue was still her target, but she was enjoying knowing that she was making the other two nervous with her addled actions.  They did not think much of her.  She knew that they loved her like a sister, but she also knew that they thought she was a bit stupid, and that was not fair.  This was going to prove to them that she could hold her own, even if she did not know math like Mika, or was not as much of a captain like Zelda, she was really good at other things, and this was one of them.  Her mental chastising was brought to an end as an emerald colored charm caught her eye and she immediately seized it, holding it up in the sunlight, which caused it to dazzle and made small shapes of translucent green dance over the table and the other trinkets.

Tossing down a couple of coins of ryo, she slipped it over her head, and felt the cool metal of the back of the necklace immediately tingle the skin between her breasts, which caused a slight shiver to run through her body.  With that in order, she turned and walked towards the obelisk, looking around at everything as she did so, not looking remotely interested in the boy at all.  As an actress, her skills were unparalleled, and he was about to get a taste of pure talent.  As she approached the obelisk, her foot caught on something, and she 'tripped', sprawling forward in a tangle of blonde curls and limbs, crashing to the ground in a heap.  Quiet sobs arose from her curled figure on the ground, and her shoulders shook gently as her hands clamped tightly around her wounded knee.  Truth be told, this had only half been an act, she had taken a tumble on purpose, but her knee was skinned against the cobblestone earth and it stung quite a lot, the tears welling in her eyes were real, but she was able to make it seem many times worse than it really was.  

[Maō]

Rai was half-mindedly flipping through the pages of his pocket notebook. In its pages were the notes that he had jotted down during his previous investigations. He had never used it for shinobi missions since he found them all too dull and boring for him to need to take this out. It was about half filled and he had carried this for a long time. He decided it would not be a bad idea to take a trip down memory lane and entertain himself on some of the more humorous cases. One good one was how a spirit came back to haunt her husband after she found out he had been cheating on her the whole time. The spirit was able to manifest her voice at times and she said some of the most ridiculous things while he was with that girl, regardless of time and place.

Crash!

A sudden girl had crash landed near the Obelisk and the noise drew quite a lot of attention to herself. Immediately noting that she was a girl by herself, which was strange at this time of day, he wondered if he was one of those "girls" Hira had mentioned. His eyes momentarily glinting blue, he observed her emotional state. Going a slew of colors at once, he swiftly noted the passing colors. Interestingly enough, she was not as surprised, angry and/or upset as he expected a girl who just unexpectedly fell down to be. He noted the colors of pride and was that some desire that he saw? The colors passed by quickly before they settled on her pain, which was not as strong as he had noted from others in the past.

If she did happen to one of those girls, she must have an agenda for doing this. But for what?

Rai actually waited for someone to offer to lend her a hand but when he saw everyone bustling through town all too busy to help her, he frowned. What had this village come to? Keeping the possibility of her being part of a hostile force in the back of his mind, he went over to help her. If she was helping someone who harbored harmful intentions towards him, he would not be surprised. His work as a Spirit Detective had earned many a foe over his two decades of wandering. Sighing since he had to put in an effort to restrain his aura, he restricted Mao's influence on her. However, he let her have a taste of what it was like to be next to him. For one second, her very soul would cringe. Then it would disappear as he leaned over and held out a hand for her.

"Need help?"

SPOILER: Click to show

Soul Sight
Rank: "D"
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: A Soulcaster can see the auras of others.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: User isn't able to see the alignments of people but can indicate an emotional state, such as anger, depression, or love. Using this ability, Soulcaster can see other Soulcasters. This technique however does not allow the user to see in the dark, nor see through invisibility techniques. The sight mostly comes in colors. Different emotions emit different colors. (What colors the user sees is by their own choice OOC)
Limit: Must be a Soulcaster.

Ruinous Ascension
Rank: "A"
Skill: Supplementary
Effect: A Pulverem gains resistance to Curses and all natural "1" rolls are treated as natural "2".
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A Pulverem undergoes a perfect apotheosis of misfortune. They are permanently immune to any Jutsu or Seal that is considered a "curse" that allows Resistance. In addition, their Aura of Misfortune is especially oppressive. Any creature within the Aura treats a roll of natural "2" as if it was a natural "1", with regards to both saves and abilities like Strife Surge.
Limit: Must be a Pulverem. Automatically gained once Mastered Pulverem.

Selective Aura
Rank: "A"
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: The Pulverem gain greater control over their Aura of Misfortune.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: The Pulverem can choose a number of targets in the area of their aura up to their Impeccable Will. These targets are not affected by the user's Aura of Misfortune. For each round the user modifies their aura, the user must expend 1 strife per target that is unaffected.
Limit: Must be a Pulverem.

[Promeleon]

As he approached her, Quinn channeled more of her acting abilities into her sadness, letting a few tears trail down her pink cheeks, the mascara she had been wearing was running with it, and she looked rather distraught.  Looking up as he held out a hand, she looked truly pitiful, a specialty of hers, and then looked down to her knee again.  A small trickle of blood ran from the wound.  Up close, she had managed to examine him, but he looked  pretty plain to her, but quite out of place here nonetheless, just as Zelda had pointed out.  Taking his hand and using him to stand up again, she wobbled a little, trying to adjust to the feeling of pain in her knee.  The drip of blood slowly created a rivulet of crimson that stood out against her bronzed leg.  Keeping the weight off of her leg, she was able to maintain her balance and stand up properly, facing him.  With on hand, she tried to wipe her tears, but the mascara was smudged more than before and it made her look even more than a mess.  She let out a loud sniffle.  

"T-thank you, I was just- I mean- that was stupid of me, I don't even know how I fell!"

Another sob erupted from her and she tried to hide her face behind her hands, embarrassed by the situation, even if this was supposed to be an act; she had just fallen and cried in front of a complete stranger.  Breathing in deeply from her nose, she pushed her breasts out and clenched her fists, pushing them down exhaling hard, trying to collect herself.  

"Thank you for your help, can I have some of that water?  My make up is a mess..."

Off to the side in the alley, Zelda leaned against a wall and her Byakugan active, watching the scene closely, assessing the danger.  So far she had seen the male do...something.  Her skills had never prepared her for the techniques she was seeing, but there was seemingly no threat yet, and even if he did try something, up close he was more likely to have his eyes gouged out than be able to get her.  Mika still looked uncomfortable, but the older woman paid no mind to her, she always looked uncomfortable.  Clicking her tongue, not happy with the situation at all, the taller blonde maintained her stoic appearance, knowing that if she made it obvious she did not like what was happening, it would draw attention to the pair, so she settled with the usual scowl that adorned her face.  There was still no one else that looked remotely like they were interested in a revolution.  Why was this city so boring without bossman?

[Deleted]

ryota we are the warriors that built this town Ryota had contemplated it often: Death. His own, specifically, though in the context of that of the many others that were carved into the spire amid the central marketplace. That was what a shinobi's life was worth? But the chipping of stone certified your passing? How pathetic. One must make greater use of their limited span, before it is inevitably, invariably stolen from them. The mark they gouge out must be so much larger than the tiny carvings offered on the Obelisk. So he mused, shifting idly about the bustling stalls, standing a good few increments above virtually everybody else. His six feet and five inches were clad in white undershirt and black jerkin, with matching pants, ever his own tall spire of formality. Ryota did not venture out of his home very often, but he did have to make routine adventures out into the public to resupply his apartment with food and other essentials. As the boy perused the stalls, he internally bemoaned - for the umpteenth time - the general lack of appeal that Kaze no Kuni's palate held. Thoughts of the Obelisk drew Ryota's eyes toward it more easily when he grew close enough to recognize the congestion that was occurring near its base, denser and far more incredulous-looking than usual. Curious, Ryota narrowed his eyes, pulled at the end of a bandage upon his right hand, and approached. Ryota had not been expecting a kerfuffle, per se, but he had had prudence ingrained into the fiber of his being: the butt bag that resided on his left hip held two kunai, fifty-seven senbon and twenty shuriken. The boy's eyebrows raised a fraction, once he saw what the rest had; a monument to the dead, defiled? Low, thought he, thinking it the work of common miscreants. FUNNY, THOUGH, yelled November in the back of the mind; Ryota rolled his eyes. "My son's name is on there!" Fretted an old woman from nearby. Ryota being the only being within earshot amid the babble, he felt obligated to respond. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his relatively unbesmirched left extremity. "Many are," Said he, without looking her way. The fragile old lady made some feeble sobbing noise, moved further away from the standoffish display and merged with a nearby cluster. Ryota stood relatively alone. Mission accomplished. Not even this petty commemoration is left pure, Ryota reflected; he sighed. It was relatively cold today, but the dry, crustiness of this world endured, and it irked him.

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Tetsu]

VOID

[Tetsu]

Amira wanted to honor the memory of her grandfather. That was all she expected to be taking part in on that arid afternoon. The wind greeted her face like an old friend as she slowly opened the front door of her Family home. The warm sun kissed her face as her grey sandal like shoe touched the soft sandy earth that resided in the streets of village. Amira slowly paced through the street as the Sun slowly rose in the sky; her destination was the monument that honored all of the shinobi that had previously protected their village. The streets were full of activity as Amira stepped into the main street where many markets and other things were placed all about. The street vendors shouted things like "buy your fresh fruit here" or "get your first rate scarves." The thought of the vendors petty lies about no where near fresh fruit made her giggle just a little. the thought of anything fresh in the desolate wasteland of the land of wind was impossible.

As Amira arrived at the Market place that was not too far from the monument Amira noticed small children playing with a small round ball. She though about times when she had been so naive to the way the world actually worked. The peaceful nights siting in here granddad's lap, listing the many adventures he had as a younger man brought tears to her eyes. Just thinking of the man that she loved so dearly being dead made her feel as if her heart has been utterly ripped from her rib cage. She felt utterly mortified thinking about how eventually everyone you care for will parish. She rubbed her eyes dry and tried to think about happier thoughts. About the times where she had laughed and been happy. The morale boost helped her lighten each step she took as she wondered thorough the market place.

The spire that stood erect in the middle of the Wind district now greeted Amira as she turned the rounded corner. Its point glistened as the monument itself cast a huge shadow to the south of where she was standing. Its shear size amazed her every time she saw the memorial. She smiled thinking of Yetsua, one of her grandfathers comrades that died saving his life. She remembered the story as if he was there to tell it himself. Yetsua had been in the academy together and were best friends in their early years. Yetsua and himself had eventually grown apart however, and they followed their own path. It had been eight years later before they met on the field as members of a group assigned to protect a merchant traveling from the land of trees to the land of earth. During this assignment a exploding tag had been placed as a trap for the squad and would have killed them all if Yetsua had not thrown his own body on top of the tag to absorb the explosion. There was hardly enough to bring back after all was said and done. She pondered on this story as she arrived in front of the spire. She prepared to go and honor Yetsua when she noticed how defaced the spire actually was. The monument that represented the memory of the shinobi that protected their village was disgraced. She frowned sadly as she stepped back to see what the real damage was. "who would do such a..." she began to say as she tripped on her own heels and fell flat on her back. "ouch, why is it always Me?" she asked momentarily forgetting the damage that had been done to the national monument.

She sat on her bottom dazed out of her mind. The spire hovered over her head as she lay there in the warm sand. Her filthy vest clung to the sand as she chose to lay there in anguish. Finally remembering the Spire she slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position. "who would do such a thing? she asked quietly as she regained her bearings. She looked about at the any others who made comments of their disapproval of the violation and adulteration of their dear monument that may have represented children,husbands, and wives that gave their lives to protect the village. She could hear tears and slowly watched everyone that stood around the monument. Slowly she stood up and pulled a hankie from her vest pocket. slowly she step forward towards the monument and began to attempt to rub the paint off of the Memorial. With every wipe he hoped that another name would be whipped clean of disrespect. Amira did her best to be there for those who were there for her village when it counted most.

[Maō]

The girl seemed to be in tears. His Soul Sight was still on so he noted the strange color of her sadness. It seemed odd. Well, if she was acting, it would make sense. A very old and dead friend of his told him the other day that one cannot act out emotions, only actions. If the emotions came with the action, then it will be natural. The raison d'être of acting is to cause a reaction. While Rai was no expert in acting, he was interested in seeing what kind of reaction she would have with his plans.

"Of course, here. You can have it all if you like."

Rai loosened the cap and handed it over to her. In his mind, he sighed. He was probably twice the age of this girl even if he only looked 18. He noted her obvious way of dressing and noted the possibility the situation if he was connecting the dots correctly. Her defacing the Obelisk and approaching him in this manner. Did he happen to stand out in this crowd? Indeed if one were to look for loners, he would not be difficult to spot. Was he still being observed now? Using the moment to look around, he caught Hira's eye. He gave a thumbs up. The Uchiha could not resist a smile as he turned back to Quinn. Never underestimate a man who is the friend of every ghost in town. He leaned forward towards her ear, slowly so that she wouldn't be alarmed and whispered to her.

"Do you want to go somewhere to take care of that? Little as that is, you wouldn't want to risk getting it infected right? And while we're getting it treated, you can tell me all about why you decided to come talk to me in this roundabout way."

[Tetsu]

The paint would just not come off. She sighed putting her hankie back into her vest pocket. She slowly grew more and more frustrated with how unyielding the paint actually was. She pounded the obelisk in frustration. She grumbled in malcontent for the shear pointlessness in her effort to clean up the gargantuan monument. She slowly stepped away from the monument and noticed a loud cry as if someone had crushed some sort of small creature with their foot. She looked over at an older girl being coddled by a man. The blood running down the woman's leg concerned Amira greatly. She slowly approached the two.

She stood just about a meter away when the two were now having a conversation. Amira thought to herself how rude it would be if she just intruded upon their possible private conversation. She put her small hands into her vest pockets and contemplated addressing the two. She weighed the options and thought silently until she finally drew the courage to actually approach them. She quietly muttered "um excuse me, but is everything alright?" She asked almost instantly regretting speaking to the much older people.

She shifted her line of sight out of theirs and looked down at her exposed toes in her shoes. "its just that you appear to be injured and I was slightly concerned." she said quietly. Her eyes never lifted from the ground as she waited for any type of response. Her newly earned head band shimmered  in the hot blistery sunlight. She was unsure of how they respond, but decided to remain quite until one of the two responded. She shifted her hand in her pockets not really looking for anything, but trying to keep herself occupied and comforted in this period of possible distress.

[Deleted]

Kaius had been following Ryota from the beginning, though not from the street. The shinobi waltzed about on the flat sandstone rooftops without a single care for the intense, humid heat that cursed the air. To avoid attention he had cast a genjutsu on himself to become invisible, beneath the genjutsu he was wearing his casual clothes. He had no good excuse as to why he was stalking his partner, but if he had to offer any it would be out of boredom. He had been denied the chance at going to the chuunin exams, yet again, though not officially; the decision was by his own accord.

Gallows was becoming a huge pain for Kaius to deal with, her plans to banish all of the criminals from Sunagakure conflicted with everything he had been working for. A peaceful hidden village where everyone could get along. The teen was well known by many of the delinquents though not all of them were on friendly terms, in most of their eyes he was more like a demon who kept them all in order; and would punish them if they were up to no good, which was why he had managed to keep them under control.

He still considered the hooligans to be family, and most of them treated him the same way in return, though without Kaius around the village would become a lot more chaotic than people would like to believe. Which was exactly why he had problems with the up-and-coming Kazekage, he was not a criminal though neither a native of Sunagakure; furthermore he had ties to most of the criminal organizations in the village, he would end up being thrown out of the village. His hand had been forced, there was no telling what could happen within the village once he was gone.

His pleasant waltz came to an end at the Obelisk of Tears. His normal calm and nonchalant demeanor changed as his face contorted, consumed fully by anger. His fangs were uncovered, his nostrils flared and his pupils flickered. He had snapped at the sight of the defiled monument, the final straw. His family weren't making a good impression, if there was any hope of convincing Gallows to let him control the hoodlums it had been lost. The attack on the Obelisk also hurt Kaius on a personal level, he had the names of deceased friends on the tower.

The teen slowly calmed himself and sat at the edge of the building observing as the scene played out in front of him. Many shared the same anger or sadness he did though they had managed to keep it contained, he refused to give in to this rage. Kaius would save his anger for when he found out who did this, it was unfair to assume it was done by one of his delinquent family members because they were criminals.

The teen hung his legs over the edge of the building, his palms firmly grasped the edge, whilst a carefree and curious expression gradually formed on his face. He had an ominous feeling that the culprit behind this would present themselves to him, if it be directly or indirectly, so he waited.

SPOILER: Click to show

Permanent Invisibility
Rank: "A"
Skill: GenJutsu
Effect: As Invisibility, except the effect is permanent or until diJutsued.
Special: "Handseals"
Drawback: ---
Description: Affects anyone who sees the target. The user is able to perform this technique on the target they touch. The duration of this technique lasts until negated or removed. This technique may be negated.
Limit: Must know the Glamour Perception. Must know Invisibility.

[inthegame]

There was plenty of commotion coming from over near the great obelisk erected in Sunagakure, and Surya was just now waking up from over hearing it near his bedside window. The boy rolled out of bed and scratched his butt; with his free hand, he slung a used tissue out the window and then yawned. What a fucking night, he thought as he pushed through his room and got ready to head out.

Once he stepped outside, he was dressed in total black. His new medium-sized field pack matched his attire, but was empty; his butt bag held all of his items and he kept his puppet Vasuki home today. He felt like it would go unused right and stuck to the few kunai he possessed. The sun beat down on him, but he shrugged it off, even with a mild hangover. He quickly turned the corner and saw what every other Chinook saw: a defaced village monument. His mouth fell open and he scooted towards it, surprised by this revolt.

"D'awww.. I wish I had thought of that," he muttered, not caring about the names that'd been written on the towering stone; his people where from outside of the village, so he knew none of their names had been listed here. Noticing a green haired boy standing near the obelisk, Surya figured that he was another Genin weirdo; that's when he turned and noticed an even more sight to the eyes—a busty girl. The  puppeteer slicked his hair down and moved forward to aid the injured girl; along the way, he managed to avoid running into the smaller female and knelt beside Quinn. The boy who was nearest to her tried to offer a helping hand, too, but Surya was quicker to react.

"Let me help you up," he said, taking her by the hand and actively tried to converse with her. He didn't care about what they'd been talking about before he'd come over---he was a douche like that.

"Are you crying because of the defaced obelisk?.. It's not so bad---at least it wasn't destroyed by an explosion." His train of thought would shift from the girl towards one of the puppets he had been working on... for a second, his hand went to rest at his chin before he noticed two sulking figures standing near the alley ways surrounding the Obelisk of Tears.

[Promeleon]

Zelda hummed and hawed at the present situation unfolding itself.  There were many shoinobi presenting themselves now, and one of whom she recognized, seeing straight through what he had thought would have been a good enough to disguise not to be noticed.  Too bad he had not expected his Hyuuga acquaintance to be there.  Kaius was someone she was quite familiar with; and introducing herself to him right now would likely cause a poor reaction, especially as he seemed to be following someone she did not know.  There was one thing she knew about how to play this, and that was that the only person of the three that the Sungakure genin would respect and possibly not attack for the defacement, was her.  It helped that he would likely not be pleased by the fact she was seeing him walk around as plain as day, but there would be no real pleasantries involved in this confrontation, as the two had never really seen eye to eye.  Particularly because of her temperament and her penchant to beat up some of his friends when they got drunk and tried to harass her.  

"Mika, go help out Quinn, it looks like she has company"

The small brunette nodded brusquely and made her way over to the small group that was now growing in size in front of the obelisk. 

Quinn; however; was feeling quite confident as she spoke with the male before her, and she took the water gratefully, pouring it on her leg to clean the blood and the dirt from it.  It really was just a scratch, but she was a sensitive girl, and falling over hurt.  He spoke of infection, but it was not a bad enough scratch that would get infected at all.  She was about to respond when from the corner of her eye, she could see a small child trying to erase her handy work, and she looked quite surprised at the girl.  It did not work, and she looked quite deflated, making the busty blonde girl feel almost a tinge of guilt, since they had defaced something that was meant to honour family members after all.  The mission was more important than grief though, so they would have to guide her target away from the small girl if she was going to question this strange, dark haired male about possibly helping with a coup.  Before anything could be said though, the small girl seemed to take note of her injury and invited herself over.  Mentally she swore, but luckily she was able to keep paying attention to her scratch to mask the annoyance that was quickly growing, not knowing that a far greater source of annoyance was on his way right now to make things worse.  

---

As Zelda approached the tall green haired individual that Kaius seemed interested in.  Provoking the male face to face was a fun idea, but having his target find out he was being followed seemed like it would help keep most of the heat off of her back.  Nearing him she looked up, the ponytail hanging lazily over her shoulder, the tip of it resting on the right side of her breasts, tickling her bicep.  Although the eye-patch wearing girl was quite tall, this man still towered over her, but the spunky blonde was not easy to intimidate at all.  As she came up to his right, she was about a meter away before she spoke, and threw all cares of what happened next aside. 

"Hey, seaweed, you know you're being followed?"

Her right eye was visibly pulsing thanks to the active byakugan, and the veins were thick and alive as she stared at him hard, her eye seeing everything around her.  As he would turn to look at her, she would gesture, pointing to the spot behind him where Kaius was sitting on the edge of one of the surrounding merchants buildings.  There was obviously nothing there to someone who did not possess a Doujutsu, but being called seaweed and being told they were being followed usually jump started people to action.  Drawing her hands in, she held her hands palm down just above her shoulders, making a thoughtful face as she spoke, trying to describe what the stalker looked like.

"Hair down to here, looks like someone spilled black yarn on his head"

The ball was in their court.  

---

"Ah....?  No, I'm not injured, and no I don't need to go anywhere, I'll be okay, really, I'm just here on business"

Right when she thought she had everything under control, yet another voice called out for her, and a hand reached for her open, clasping around it, making her draw it back in surprise.  Standing up with her own strength she looked at this new arrival, who seemed to think he could walk in on a conversation with his lines and expect her to pay attention to solely him.  What had forgotten was that she was the one with barely anything holding her ample breasts back, which she could see his eyes straining to not look at.  Swatting his hand away, she listened to his blathering before holding her hand up and looking at him with distaste.  

"Uhm, no, the Obelisk doesn't bother me, and my leg is fine, it was just a scratch, I was just surprised --"

"Big sis!  Big sis!"

Mika skipped over, her usually downcast eyes bright and shining in the sunlight with her chocolate hair shaking wildly as she bounded across the distance between them all.  

"Who are all you guys?"

Her face held such innocence as she looked up at them all, considering the only one her size was the small girl who had valiantly tried to wipe the vandalism from the Obelisk.  Quinn, seeing her chance to get some breathing room, backed up and wrapped an arm around the shorter girl, grinning madly that her 'sister' was here.  The two of them did not look too similar, someone incredibly skilled at observing things would be able to tell, but most people would be fooled by such a simple lie.  Her timely arrival brought two things, it allowed the taller blonde to get some of the attention off of her, and also would hopefully have the trio introducing themselves so that the two would be able to discern their motives and find out if they were truly going to be able to aid them in the rescue of Diomed and the overthrowing of the government of the village.  One thing as for certain though, the rude boy who had tried to help her stand would probably follow Quinn to hell and back just to see that last button undone.  

[Promeleon]

Posting order: Myself, Mao, Ryota, Tetsu, Kaius, Fufu
IIC: 2 Days

[Maō]

As Rai was talking to the girl, two others had come into the scene. One was a girl who Rai had seen out of the corner of his eye trying to clean up the Obelisk. He had not met her before but he had seen her around. That distinctive scar was what made him remember her. Hopefully, it was not a battle wound, incurred at such a young age. The other guy seemed to have good looks and seemed quite sure of himself. The Uchiha sighed to himself, more people was more trouble for him. He gave up on restraining on his Aura of Misfortune and let it run unbridled. If any one of them tripped, fell, got hit in the face by something or whatever, it was not his fault anymore.

As he was frustratingly interrupted by the guy who seemed intent on getting into the good graces of the girl, he smiled to himself when the girl batted his hand away. It was a bit rewarding to see, given that he knew more about this girl than the other two and wanted to question them in private. And that was when another girl came into the scene, smaller than her alleged sister. The Uchiha would not be surprised if they were in cohorts with each other. Rai's Soul Sight was still active and he noted the emotional state of those around him. The little girl had nothing distinctive, being polite and all. The guy seemed full of pride. The two sisters' moods seemed to correspond with each other's. It was a mix of happiness and excitement. Perhaps the reason why they were getting excited had to do with the reason why they defaced the Obelisk in the first place? Then the girl asked the three of them a question.

"I'm Rai and I'm new to Sunagakure. Before, I wandered the world for over thirty years dealing with the supernatural. By the way, you still haven't told me why yet."

He gave a quiet smile as he introduced himself. The fact that he looked 18 while actually having lived more than twice that age tended to throw people off. Yet he was not lying. Moreover, he directed his question towards the older blonde who had heard what he had said before. Rai was growing more and more curious by the second as to why he had been approached.

[Deleted]

ryota we are the warriors that built this town Ryota had thought - hoped - his antisocial display would have given him a bubble of unpleasantness that no other mortal would hope to approach, but he was mistaken. There was the distinct sound of footsteps to his right, a more personal invasion. His eyes still upon the obelisk, he frowned deeply. "Hey, seaweed, you know you're being followed?" Somehow, his frown deepened. The speaker was a girl; Ryota looked sideways at her with his imperious stare, though he could not quite muster his usual aversion to this newcomer's presence. Pretty women had a slight edge, in that regard, and much as Ryota never would have admitted it or even discussed the fact in vagary, he had a certain inclination towards those of them that were not of the infuriatingly demure sort. She only had one eye, and it was malformed with nervure, though not in an altogether revolting fashion. Her news, too, was significant; followed? The first thing that came to mind was, Kaius? "Hair down to here, looks like someone spilled black yarn on his head." Kaius. Ryota was now staring roughly at the place where Kaius was standing (sitting, lying(?)), though his face was expressionless. "I'm going to have to start adding the xenophobic remarks to my list of aversions to this place," Ryota said with the toneless voice he used in the presence of strangers. He was almost talking to himself, though his stare fell upon the girl once again. "I did not know, though I am not altogether surprised. Most likely it is Kaius; he seems to have made a habit of stalking me wherever I go, for better or worse. What interest is it of yours?" Now that was an astute question. Speculation flitted this way and that in the mind of the teen boy; was she a friend of his? an enemy? curious bystander? how had she discovered this information; had Kaius informed her, or was she simply able to see him because... of her eye, perhaps? It was unlike she was being dishonest, for her description matched Kaius well enough... "And what is your name?" It would be vaguely worth knowing, were she a figure of import to Kaius in any way. Her response would also perhaps assist him in discerning the true nature of her position.

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Tetsu]

Amira sighed as she realized how unwanted she was in the conversation. She knew that speaking to the strangers was a terrible idea. Who would ever want to talk to ugly old Amira. She suddenly became very aware of the long scar that ran along her face and nose. She sensed the woman's repulsive mannerisms that truly showed how unhappy she was that Amira had approached. "sorry if I interjected." she said apologizing. The mid day sun blazed overhead as she became utterly unnoticed yet again. Then the man looked over at her as if he had seen her somewhere before. She shared The mutual feeling of having seen the fellow around the village somewhere. His odd eyes were the key to what she remembered of him. when he began to speak and introduce himself she was taken back.

He was a lot older than she had originally thought. She thought about how young he looked and laughed saying "well mister, you really age well." The abrasive tone of her comment was intended to lighten the mood for herself and hopefully others. She tried her best to smile contently with her previous words and contemplated her next statement. The wind blew sand across her feet as she opened her mouth to preform her own introduction. "well met Amir..." she stopped herself in mid phrase realizing they most likely wouldn't care. She contemplated just leaving like the blonde hair woman lead her to believe.

She was Just about to turn her torso to exit without a word when a thought crossed her mind. The fellow, though mainly speaking to the blond woman and her companion, also include Amira. She stopped and rotated on her heels trying not to feel distressed. Her smile had faded leaving only a blank staring face waiting to see what would happen. Amira took her hands from her pocket and looked down at them. Nothing worth wile, she thought hoping for something to say. She stood there stolid as if she herself was made of the fine sandstone of the obelisk they stood nearby.

Then Amira clamped her open hands into fists. "I was only trying to help" she finally said deciding that the way the woman had brushed her off had annoyed her.She needed to get over herself, and Being self-loathsome would not help anyone. She grew bold and looked at the injury along the woman's leg. Laughing she stated "besides, you need realize that I am smarter than a box or rocks." obviously noticing the plain and visible blood flowing along her leg. "you are obviously hurt, and surely need something for that wound am i right?" she asked looking over at the man who had introduced himself as Rai. "anyway, i'm sure your "business" can wait til you've received something for that gash." She added, making finger quotes when she said business.

[Deleted]

Kaius observed the scene from his rooftop vantage point, up until his eyes stumbled upon a woman approaching his partner. His immediate reaction was to examine her for any weapons she may have on person, though the first thing the teen would notice would be the thick veins that covered part of her face. As if that wasn't enough to surprise the shinobi, what she said next would come as a much greater shock to him.

"Hey, seaweed, you know you're being followed?"

At first Kaius perked up in reaction to what was said, not everybody could see him although genjutsu could definitely be dispelled by certain individuals. The teen swung his legs back and forth, considering the many ways she could have seen him, then abruptly stopped...

"Seaweed..."

He puffed up his cheeks in an attempt to not burst out laughing, tiny pieces of the emotion escaped his lips. A few moments later and his sniggering had stopped.

Then she pointed at him at which he leapt back a bit, exaggerating his surprise in a very child-like manner; he may have had doubts earlier but now it was clear, she could really see him clear as day.

A cheerful yet mischievous grin then spread about his face, his eyes narrowed as he looked back down on stage. Her description of his hair was creative to say the least. His grin faded and was replaced with a curious expression as he inspected the woman further, even leaning in closer off the building to get a closer look.

He turned his gaze to Ryota as he looked in the teens direction, given that he hadn't shown Kaius his usual death stare he didn't seem to mind that he was being followed. The shinobi smiled then turned back to the woman, leaning in closer he looked a little perplexed.

Why did she look so familiar?

[inthegame]

The people around Surya seemed to increase by a bit; while he had been studying the two figures from the alley askance, he noticed one of them approaching. During this time, he had missed the interaction between the man and the busty girl, and only snapped his head back to her when she responded to pushing his hand away.

"True.." he stuffed his hands inside his deep black pockets and then the man addressed himself as Rai; Surya, shocked at his age, rose his eyebrows after hearing that this teenage looking man was actually over thirty. Surya sorta grimaced at Amira, but couldn't hold too much against her for she was just a brash child. 

"Surya.. and who are you two?" the laid back boy didn't have much to input into the conversation, but he figured he should at least know their names---especially the big-chested chick.