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"Hrmph."

My first thought was that he sounded like an old man, grumbling that like; then it was as if a switch had been flicked on in my head. It activated a voice that screamed behind you! as my body tensed, ready for the killing blow to come, even as I slid a hand very carefully into the sleeve of my cloak.

Instead, there was a dull thump as another kunai sliced down, this time embedding itself into the dirt right next to my face. A few inches to the left and that would have been my head, and perhaps the death of me, too. I heard footsteps moving away in a different direction, and suddenly a burst of anger shot through my body like molten lava. It made my fingers twitch, and they retracted from inside my garment, not bringing with them the item I had been searching for. No, it was no longer necessary. Instead, they came together in quiet seals, made slightly difficult by the coldness pressing in on my bones, making every joint stiffen.

Without another thought I grabbed his kunai and stood up. A green aura seemed to seep into it just before I whipped my arm back and threw it straight at him, faster than a normal kunai ever could have been. It was aimed for his left shoulder. I wanted to hurt him, but I did not want to kill him or leave him incapacitated ... Not until I found out who this man was, anyway.

SPOILER: Click to show

Kaiten Shuriken ( 10 m / 5 projectiles. )
Rank: D
Type: Supplementary / Fuuton Ninjutsu
Range: 10+ meters
Chakra: Low (Very Low)*
Special: Wind boost travels up to 10 meters and can control up to 5 projectiles at a time; when relearned, the wind gains 10 extra meters of travel and 5 more projectiles to control.
Description: One of the simplest Fuuton techniques, this supplementary technique allows the user to take any secondary/projectile weaponry they have on them and coat them in Fuuton chakra. This allows the user to shoot them at high speeds under the wind manipulation, adding rotation and tumbling power to increase the speed of normal weapon attacks, as well as its deadliness.
Domain: Fuuton.

* Fuuton Chakra Mastery II.

The power of Kusanagi's voice in my head was overwhelming by itself; while he spoke, I could not even so much as hear my own thoughts or gauge my own reactions. Movement near me was the catalyst that made me tilt my head up, blue eyes locking upon the figure of my fiance, whose hand was reaching out to me as if he could have bridged the sudden gap with the length of his arm. I was going to move toward him, except I felt a strong tug, and the blade soared out of my grasp and into his own. Thankfully, he sheathed it, and my ability to comprehend the situation came rushing back like a glass of cool water on a particularly hot day.

" . . . Why, Tsuma? . . Why would you do that?"

The pain in his voice was palpable. It hit me; as if someone had just thrust their fist into my diaphragm, the air rushed from my lungs. I could not breathe for that moment, and the sensation alone was enough to bring a prickling to my eyes. It was silly of me, I know, but the tears that slowly swelled at the waterline could not be helped; I felt as if I were a child being scolded by the person they looked up to the most, or like an apostle forsaken momentarily by their God. It was worse than that, though. So much worse. I had injured the man I loved more than all else, and even if I had been unintentional, I wanted to throw myself at his feet and apologize.

Instead, he seemed to give me a way to make it up to him by asking that question: what are you planning? I raised both of my arms so that I might pull the hood down from my face, revealing the stoic expression that was so betrayed by the tears still shining very clearly in my eyes. I was a sorry sight to behold, I knew it. I parted my lips; they felt cracked with the effort of having, apparently, held my breath for this entire time. I inhaled, and then jumped into an explanation, eager to have him build back the bridges I had just inevitably burned. The distance between us now, though it was short in reality, felt like miles.

"Kusanagi mentioned to me while we were traversing the desert ... that he thinks I should contact the current Kages and try to form some bonds with them. Despite being a Nuke Ninja, he thinks I could still have a usefulness in this way. I told him it was far too dangerous, and that I didn't see the point. I still don't, and I still believe it could be risky, but with the Soaring Short Swords I know I could defend myself. I'll be honest with you, Shujin, I don't know what he plans to do with these contacts ... I'm sure it's evil and horrible, but I see no harm for now in agreeing to it. That's all."

I hoped he didn't notice the way I had to keep glancing away from him, staring at the trees or my own feet in an attempt to keep from sobbing through my speech. I hate that he was upset, and I further hate the fact that I was the one to cause it. I just hoped he could forgive me. That my explanation had soothed some of his undoubted paranoia over the subject. But ... did he really think I would ever plot against him ... ?

Apparently my attempt to close the distance between us had alerted his primal nature, his will to survive; I figured it would be so, as a drawn kunai typically set of alarms in the normal shinobi's head. Did that mean this man was a ninja as well? The thought was seeded in my head, enough to let me be on-guard, should he try to hit me with some variant of ninjutsu, but I would not make judgments just yet.

A ... little further! A bit closer, and then I will see his face! My plan was—despite the head-on collision we were bound to make at this pace—to get close enough to identify him and then veer away, into a retreat. I squinted through the darkness of my hood, but then I realized that his arm had swung forward. My instincts proved positive as I skidded across the surface of the water, shooting spray in front of me in a vain attempt to not run the course of whatever weaponry he had thrown at me.

BOOM!

Water exploded up around me, immediately breaking my concentration and hold on my chakra as I panicked, sure that I had been hit. No pain came to me, but that hardly mattered, as the stability of my feet was removed. Indeed, I plunged into the icy depths with a muffled cry of surprise, almost animalistic in its sound: "Nyaah!" The water cut it short, filling my open mouth and threatening to asphyxiate me. If anything, I managed to regain some control over my senses and pushed myself toward the surface with all my might, glad when fresh oxygen was allowed to gulp into my lungs.

Unfortunately, though the current was not strong, it was a bit difficult to stay afloat when one was weighed down by such a heavy, wet cloak. Water was still covering my eyes; it was hard to see anything, much less where in my confusion the stranger had gone. Instead, I turned toward the closest bank—the one, as it happened, that he had been on not but a second or two prior—and swam for it until my hands sunk into moist earth.

I hacked, spitting water out onto the ground in front of me, shivering as I crawled up the bank toward dry land. So cold! And I had lost my kunai somewhere too, I realized: my hand was empty.

I hardly noticed it until the expression had already settled upon my face: my lips were curved into a frown, my eyes narrowed slightly, perplexed. It wasn't that I felt Asato's description of the sword's voice inaccurate, because it was the exact one I heard every time that foreign presence infiltrated my very thoughts. No, it was the fact that this voice was indeed the Kusanagi that worried and confused me. Why was it taking the time to force thoughts into my head, when I did not own it and could do very little for it? I had never even touched it, save for the short periods during my practice fights with my fiance.

"He sounds awful. I'm glad the sheathe helps you to tune him own ... I think going on a murderous rampage at this point would be bad for our cover, no?"

I forced a smile, but even I knew it wasn't reaching my eyes as I turned my attention back to that accursed blade. Interesting that Asato could muffle the voice by sheathing it, and yet, it was ever clear in my own head during those times. I mused that is, perhaps, because he was asserting a dominance over the sword, where I was visibly frightened by it.

I blinked.

"Has he—I mean, it—ever said anything to you about the other kages? I ... I was just wondering, you know?" I hated myself for the stutter in my voice, and despised myself even further as I stumbled over another root before stopping at Asato's side. I hoped he would not ask me why I was inquiring about this, it would be too awkward to explain. There was still that small chance that I was hallucinating this voice, as I tended to hallucinate the other one in my head. Except, ironically, I almost wished I thought it was truly just a figment of my imagination. The alternative was far, far more frightening.

Why? I didn't have a strong will, like Asato ...

I was not entirely in agreement with Asato about Soratsu's first target being Konohagakure. My brother had spent months in the country and village gathering knowledge per my request and his thirst for revenge, so I could not fathom how he might catch a new lead now. It was logical for him to come back here, but it seemed like a waste of time ... if indeed I ran into him whilst meandering in the fire country, I would be very disappointed indeed.

I felt my excitement growing as the trees swallowed us whole, blocking at last my view of the usually ever-present sun. The temperature had dropped significantly, although now it felt uncomfortable in a different way: there was a heavy moisture in the air that made it difficult to breathe, and I was sure my hair would have been going wild if not for the protection of my cloak's hood. I stumbled to a halt, my foot catching against a particularly large root that grew out of the forest floor. You certainly did not have this humidity or the oppressing presence of trees in the desert of Kaze no Kuni, and even my memories of my clone's trip to Kaminari no Kuni held no useful tips.

"The air is particularly heavy here," I noted out loud, turning to face Asato, certainly careful of that root; it was looking to trip me again, I could feel it. I did not want to faceplant in front of my fiance, who seemed so very graceful and coordinated, even here. "From the knowledge we've gathered of Konoha, it certainly isn't much of a legend anymore. A threat, yes, if only thanks to the bijuu ... but I feel we are in no immediate danger here."

In fact, I felt better now that I was out of the desert, as far away from my home as physically possible in such a short span of time. In just this I felt accomplished! I carefully trekked over to Asato's side, my gaze flickering to Kusanagi hesitantly. Why was this happening to me?

"Does Kusanagi ever speak to you?"

I knew I sounded crazy, but it could not be helped. I needed to know if this voice constantly infiltrating my head had ever spoken to him as well. How did I know it was that awful, evil sword? It told me so, and I could feel the aura ... the ill-intent, the urge to kill—not me, but others, everyone it could get its blade upon.

It was odd, really, to be without Asato. Ever since our first meeting—even before our relationship started grew from hate to love—I struggled with loneliness outside of his presence. This affliction only managed to grow worse through the months that we spent together, compounded with my separation for three during his quest for the Kusanagi. I needed him, but I realized the importance of gathering supplies for our journey, and that was why we had parted to each perform a specific task. He was hunting our dinner, and I was scouting the area for a water source.

It had only been five minutes since we split, but already I had traversed deeper into the forested area of Hi no Kuni. It was so much different from Sunagakure, with its sand and lack of water; here, there was lush grass growing beneath my feet and the ever-present sound of wildlife around me. To be honest, the buzz and thrum of the insects was distracting, almost deafening. I could hear nothing besides their call, broken only occasionally by the chirp of a bird, or the twitter of an animal of some kind in the tree tops.

But, what—?

I stopped in my tracks, shock radiating from my figure as I realized the ground had softened and the air was thick with moisture. The buzzing had almost ceased, replaced by the background noise of rushing water. I would not have been able to identify the noise myself, had I not been face-to-face with that gigantic body of water. It was crystal-blue in areas where the sky reached down fingers of sunlight; in other places, I noticed, it was dyed the color of the trees that grew up around it.

Needless to say I felt awed, staring at this beautiful sight from under that sand-colored robe. I stood out like a sore thumb now, where once this garment had helped me blend into my surroundings. I refused to remove it still, not wanting the prying eyes of others to potentially recognize my face and confront me for leaving my village. Perhaps it was paranoia, but I cared not.

Once again, my train of thought was broken by a surprising twist of events. As I turned my head to the left, I noticed the figure of a humanoid sprawled out across a rock on the riverbank. It appeared to be ... asleep, maybe? At the very least it was not moving, and had not been alerted to my standing there. There was no blood to be seen staining the ground around it, so I chose to assume it had not been killed by some monstrous beast and left to rot. My lips twitched into a frown, wondering privately if I should leave before I was spotted. This was exactly what Asato did not want!

I was the most intelligent in these situations, unfortunately. Curiosity got the better of me. Instead of calling out to the person, I bent down and picked up a rather large, round stone. It was half-covered in mud, and so my fingertips were stained; I stared at this contrast of brown and white for a moment before pulling my arm back and lobbing the rock across the river. I was not exponentially strong, but it made it across the vast distance, close enough that when it thunked into the depths of the river, it splashed some of that ice-cold water onto the stranger and its perch.

Then, I waited.