-Reroute [Travel]

[Not Masakuni]

-Reroute To Remain

Sigh.

He had stayed in this country for far too long. He gazed at the southern horizon, a faint frown marring his features. His pale skin reflected copper tones in the fading sunlight, the same colours that played in the light on his golden hair. He shifted his pack on his back, contemplating his next path. Perhaps it was time to return home. With luck, he would find some of his fellow shinobi, and they could work on establishing the village. He thought about that for a long moment, vermillion eyes closing in memory.

A faint, bitter chuckle escaped from his lips. It wasn't likely. After seven years, he despaired that there were others out there. He didn't think he would live to see Kusagakure restored. But he could plan. He could dream. If not in his lifetime, then in those of his successors. With a terse shake of his head, he set off into the woods. His feet carried him up sturdy branches and into the trees before long, and soon he was soaring through the canopy, with little regard for such mundane things as gravity.

Hyoka... Blanche.

Perhaps he could find the two of them; the only two others he had ever found, save for traitors and broken victims. The only ones with the drive to bring their village back to strength. He grit his teeth, kicking off harder. Soon enough, the scrub of harsh pines would fade away, revealing trees of a broader-leafed nature. It would not be long, he knew, before he returned to the villages of his homeland. He shifted the weight of sand on his back, prepared to soon leave it behind forever.

Home.

-Travelling To Kusa No Kuni

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[Messatsu!]

Moved!

[Not Masakuni]

-Impossible Odds

Step.

Shiro's feet settled lightly on the thick loam of the Kusa no Kuni forest. It felt good to be home. He shifted for a second, breathing in the sweet smells of nature; grasses and tree sap mingled with flowers and fruity accents in the air, underlain with the faint animal scents of the wild. His trip had been a long one, but it was now coming to a close. He planned to make camp near the old gates, deep inside one of the thickest forests in the nation. It wasn't far from here, close enough that he would be able to seek out it before the sun fell.

Silent footfalls marked his unseen passage through the trees, and all the while a frown was growing on his face. Something wasn't right. The forest had been changed. In subtle ways, for sure, but it had changed. There were marks of passage throughout the forest, changes in the patterns of animals and insects. It was not the place of complete emptiness that it had been on his last visit, a year back. He hurried his pace, his pulse quickening. Raiders, perhaps, looting the village remains?

Impossible.

Shiro lost control of his chakra for a moment, slipping from a branch and plummeting towards the forest floor. He focused chakra into his limbs, tucking himself into a roll as he hit the ground. He emerged unscathed, but his body was the least of his concerns. Before him stood the wall of Kusagakure. And it was repaired. He hardly dared to believe it. Once a shattered shell, the protective walls around his home city were in place once more, repaired and maintained. It could only mean one thing.

He ran.

-Exit

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[Messatsu!]

+20!