A Stroll in the Sand

Free from work today, Usagi found herself at liberty to roam about the streets of her village. Naturally she had paid a quick visit to the hospital to retrieve a few things and check in on the workers, but now she simply walked along the long, narrow reflecting pool that paralleled the main complex of the medical facilities. Today, she had no specific plans in mind and had agreed to no prior commitments; she needed not train nor perform any missions today and the remaining nurses and doctors had more than enough know how to care for her patients on such a slow day as this.

Today she wore luxurious clothing, wrapping herself in an elegant white kimono that nearly matched the shade of her hair. A field of light blue daffodil blossoms adorned the garment in a distinctly summer vibe, looking as if a breeze had picked them up and deposited them onto the woman's body. In a diagonal line from left breast to right hip ran a slash of crimson as if someone had carelessly run an ink soaked brush along the silk fabric, though the color brought attention to the red of her eyes.

She bore a parasol on this fine summer day, the sand colored sheets dredging up thoughts of simple rice farmers and their hallmark hats. With this she cast a pool of shade over the top half of her body to keep the sun from burning her pale flesh. As always, her gait was something at which to marvel, each step measured and certain, her posture impeccable, and her simple, practiced grace utterly unmatched. The only element out of place was that of a stethoscope hanging around her neck, an occupational hazard she had neglected to remove.

Shin was walking back through the village after finishing up another rather simplistic mission involving taking out a bandit camp. Jashin-sama had granted him many great kills and he was satisfied with the money he had received for his services. Though, he was annoyed by an odd tingling sensation just at the base of his neck and he couldn't figure out what it was. As the tanned skinned man walked down the streets of Sunagakure, he entered the hospital district. He had never actually been here since he had come years prior to study medical ninjutsu. It was much more refined in appearance now, obviously more funding had been put into the facilities. 

Currently the man could be seen wearing a white cape that seemed to have a metallic gleam to it in the sunlight. He wore no shirt, though his arms were covered in black cloth and his forearms had his usual gold plated arm guards. His hips were adorned with more gold plated armor while his legs had his normal black pants and gold plated ninja sandals. As he walked, he noticed a woman passing by who looked to be dressed in a rather elegant fashion, sporting a pristine white Kimono with an unusually bloody looking splash of crimson that really drew Shin's attention. The next thing he noticed would be the stethoscope around her neck, which in his mind, equated her to a doctor. "Excuse me, Doctor-chan~! I'm sorry to bother you but I have an unusual tingling sensation at the back of my neck and I can't figure out what it is, do you have time to check it out for me?" He would turn around to point to the area he was referring to, revealing to her that he actually had a kunai lodged into his neck just at the base of the skull. The back of his cape was stained red from the blood that had spilled across it no doubt from when the wound was inflicted.

Voltaire stood back, having just come from what remained of the hospital. He had been checking up on those whom he had assisted during the Bijuu attack, something that he was very proud of having done, and he had definitely been there to find ways to gloat while being likable to the people he was soon to rule over completely. Hiro believed that the people were going to bow down to whoever was the strongest, but this was really not a particularly enlightened view on how governance worked. The only thing that would work was to hold the will of the people indefinitely, not just through causing fear in the hearts of the people, though that was an important aspect for certain types of citizens, what you really had to do to own a people to their hearts and souls was to motivate them, to make them believe that you care, which Voltaire had convinced himself that he cared about people. And if Voltaire could convince himself that he gave a damn about the people in Sunagakure no Sato, then he could convince anybody of it.

Those whom he had visited were horribly grateful, and none even asked about the people who he had failed to save, he just allowed them to believe it was a failure as so many of the injured people he found were not medics or combatants. He only healed a couple of those regular citizens, just in the name of avoiding suspicion, and unsurprisingly it worked out perfectly.

An enormous part of being beloved by the people was to always be presentable when going out in public. Voltaire had previously been dusted up by the sands and even looked somewhat rugged, but this faux pas had been corrected now that he had reclaimed his old living quarters, which were largely as he had left them. His parents must have had the cleaning lady keep doing her job when he was away, he would have to thank them later, or at least inform them that he had not died.

He was wearing his finest clothing, and he had even purchased more clothing. He wore all light colors, a white dress shirt; a long, white lab coat; a white leather belt with stainless silver lining and ornaments in the shapes of hourglasses; and white dress pants that were somewhat tucked into the silver boots that came nearly to his knees. This was polished off with a pair of crisp, white, leather gloves with silver studs on the knuckles of the gloves. He was gorgeous, the most beautiful thing there, but then something else caught his eye, a woman who also understood what was being done. He was not attracted to her in the way that a man was attracted to a woman, in fact he was not attracted to any woman in the way that a man was attracted to a woman, something he was going to have to give some thought at some point. But she really did understand presentation, and on top of that, he recognized her as trying to help save the Kazekage, so she was good. But who was this buffoon?

The man was far from attractive, but the clothing was gaudy and that looked like a very realistic fake Kunai, that or he was immortal, which meant he was going to have to be dissected. He was bothering one of the few people worthy of his mentorship in this village, she understood the importance of looking nice and she was apparently a medical shinobi, that or she understood the sex appeal of a labcoat and a stethoscope. A thread of Chakra so thin that it seemed invisible and so strong that it could have yanked most humans across a room threaded through the leather of the middle finger tip of the glove. The thread quickly reached the kunai and then Voltaire yanked his wrist back to free it and see for himself if this was a jokester or an immortal who needed death.

Midway through her leisurely jaunt about the complex, a man spoke, breaking her from her thoughts. Her mind had wandered to those facilities in which she spent much of her time and the extent to which they had needed repair after the attack on the village. She had, on that tragic of days, thought that she needed to use her abilities to recreate these buildings but, as it so often did, work had gotten in the way of her most wonderfully laid plans. She had a vision for this place, one of lacquered wood and gleaming crystal, but such a vision would need to wait, especially with the lack of a formally appointed leader. She would not want to step on the new Kazekage's toes nor draw undue attention to herself or her rather special abilities.

She turned towards the voice, he having spoken from a bit more inland the reflecting pool than her. To some extent her peripherals had picked up on him but, to her eyes, no amount of bare skin nor gilded fabric would so easily ensnare her attention. She glanced at him, instinctively running a rudimentary diagnostic on sight, and tried to think of how he would know her. Certainly she did not recall having him as a ward of her office, though she tended to have a great deal of shinobi come in and out. His gaze told her all that she needed to know and her left hand wandered up delicately to the instrument she had accidentally worn out.

"Oh, yes of course I would be happy to take a look." They were close and she stepped forward to grab hold of him by the arm and turn him around to the side so that she could examine his neck. As she did, a kunai thrust itself from his neck, flying a few feet until it clattered to the cobbled ground. Her eyes widened, perhaps in alarm, and she touched the man's neck with her right two fingers, feeling for an exit wound and finding a deep laceration. "Sir, how on earth...? She remained, staring mystified at the human - or perhaps non-human - before her who, for all intents and purposes, should have been dead. And yet here he stood, nearly unaware of his grievous wound and clearly unhindered by the gash.

"Just going to for groceries, fresh air and that's it," the only audible thoughts of the male as he slipped on his hat and stepped from his home. The self defined hermit of the village rarely came out for some reason or another, deciding to live a life of seclusion and boredom for no other reason than because this was what he had been used to. From one person to another you couldn't honestly tell what was going on through the males mind as those gears turned a devilish turn. Was he just a loner for no reason or was there something...else? A male of rather plain tastes, his looks were sure to be of any females taste, his sleek look setting him up to be either some rich boy or just someone who wanted to look nice. Wearing his usual white suit and black shoes, he trailed through the village whistling to himself for a bit, noticing their stares.

He could have sworn he had heard someone ask how could he possibly wear clothing like that in this heat, a small smirk playing across his lips as he internally chuckled. It was so simple for him to wear something like this in this place only because he was already accustomed to its heat. Kiseragi only spent a few moments in a store before walking out with the things he needed, the only thing left was to return home. Of course the cosmic law of the universe had other plans for him as he came across a site that would normally make most question life. A male had apparently had a kunai lodged within his neck, a spectacle to behold for sure though something was definitely wrong with this picture. Standing exactly to the right of the white haired female, the raven haired male mused to himself on how such an act could happen without the other male dying...something he wasn't going to quite ask.

His own mind warned him to just simply walk away and let this play out however it wanted to, but that naturally unsatisfied curiosity brimmed to the surface as he used his right hand to shift his fedora back only slightly in amusement as the kunai had been plucked from the males neck and the question was asked. For him at least he would chuckle lightly and then speak," It would appear your friend here is quite the unique body no?," though he wanted to leave it at that and continue with his day...something just...wanted him to remain.

Many things happened all at once, the moment he had turned around, he could feel the kunai being jerked out with great force. He was just glad that the kunai was not stuck any deeper, even though the wound looked grievous, an S-ranked med nin could patch it up easy enough, hell, he could patch it up himself no problem. He just had decided to have a bit of fun at the nurses expense as he did from time to time. Though, it had been a while as he had been away on a mission during the attack and returned to find his village had been decimated by the group known as "Black Sun". He knew that Lord Jashin would demand their heads, so he took a day or two of rest from his extended time mission and then took a few lesser missions to make some money before he took the fight right to Black Sun. But, it would seem that this little prank had turned into a full on debacle as it had attracted the attention of two more passersby. One who was wearing a rather stylish hat and another who was dressed extravagantly, similar to the med nin he had just attempted to spook. 

Standing up he would chuckle slightly and apologize for the mischief. "Gomen, gomen. I didn't mean to startle you all, it was only a joke." He would activate the Yin Healing Wound Destruction technique as he started talking, his back facing away from all three of the people now, the wound slowly closing. Turning around to wipe the 'fake' blood from his neck to reveal no damage, "See? Sorry if I startled you, I have been away from the village for some time." He wasn't sure how they would react, he had been chased form the hospital numerous times before with startled or angry staff throwing whatever they could get their hands on at him, at times it could be quite comical. Though, he hoped there was no surgical gear thrown at him this time.

A Sand Storm whipped up suddenly, easily blinding most in the general area. At the epicenter of the storm, And then as quickly as it had started, it had vanished. Standing in its place was a young man with black hair, his head angled so that his hair was in front of his eyes. A Breeze stuck around after the Sandstorm, and whipped the white cloth he had wrapped around him. Under that wrapping of white was a black and gold cloak. The very essence of Sagely is how he appeared. He was not in the middle of the group but rather directly across from one man, Voltaire.

When Hiro looked up, his eyes showed a clamness that had not been there for years, If the Sandstorm did not give away who he was, now that his entire face could be seen, Usagi could Reconize him, Volt assuredly would know simply from the sandstorm. The Jounin and ANBU Captain however would have only heard tales of this man. The man who Stopped the Would be assassin of the Kazekage before the Kage sacrificed himself. The Man who sealed two tailed beasts inside of worthy holders for they held the beasts off themselves.

He stood there and with a soft smile he said in a tone of pure peace "Hello...Old Friend" as he smiled his eyes closed as he looked at Voltaire. It had been a week since he left, and he had accomplished much. But now was the time to keep his word to his friend. a Fight was Promised upon his return, and that was what he was here for, to determine the power between them and which would succeed as Kazekage.

A woman's scorned look. Well this day was by no means going well for him. No surprise that in the time he left to get groceries this had happened and when he could've made a friend of the white haired female he was met with a scorned look. In any case he simply smiled to the female all the while retaining his groceries in his hands, " apologies for the uh...situation here but I don't have anything to do with it. That being said I have," and if on cur a freak sandstorm would come as quickly as it came.

A furrow of his brow as well as a quick hold of his Fedora would show a male just standing there...well things were now getting too weird. Tipping his Fedora up he would listen for a moment before signing and looking over to the female Usagi once more," Well this was certainly fun...but I think it is time for me to go and put my things up, " and with that he simply went into a store that has been just beside him and from there he was never seen again. Back doors were amazing after all.

[Exit]

Shin chuckled slightly as she guessed at his technique, close but not quite. While he wouldn’t mind sharing his technique with her, he would prefer there to be less people privy to it. Before he could reply the village celebrity arrived in a flashy manner. He knew the blonde man apparently, so this was becoming a lot more than he bargained for, he would take the other man’s cue and leave. “Not quite that technique miss. It’s actually an ability of my own invention, I’d be willing to show and explain in more detail in a more private location. Just look me up whenever you’d like to swap notes so to speak. For now, I must be off to aid in the rebuilding of the village. Ja ne~~”
He would then wave to those that remained as he walked down the road towards a residential area a few blocks down that he had been aiding in the repairs and such for.

[EXIT]

Voltaire felt ignored by the immortal, and he was not going to have any of this nonsense. This man possessed so much power, but where was he was the Bijuu attacked? And why was a technique of such ferocity, the ability to move his body even when his brain stem was severed was not something to be taken for granted. And this freak in front of him was taking it for granted, making a joke out of the whole thing, and trying to make a mockery out of the medical skills of the Shinobi, something that many of the more masterful ninja in Sunagakure no Sato had reached high levels of knowledge in. He formed the clone hand seal and created three shadow clones which surrounded the immortal freak upon materialization. "I can't say that I have no desire to hurt you," Voltaire began, "However, I do assure you that it is not my intention at the moment. You say that you're going to help rebuild this village, but where the hell were you when this happened in the first place? he asked. "I believe that between myself, who defeated the Sanbi while healing the injured, and this woman who was a part of defending the Kazekage in his final hours, would be very capable of figuring out what you are and why this Village is yet to benefit from it."

He saw the sharp dressed man, so elegant, but sadly also ignoring his skills, also trying to walk off, but this was not very important in comparison to the zombie who was not doing jack shit apart from some rebuilding. But suddenly, something so much more important than any of this came. There was a sand storm, and the walls of the village protected them from the brunt of these, unless it started inside of the village. "Hiro..." Voltaire whispered, full of hope and passion. His one close friend from before the disappearance was now here to help him deal with the degenerates, and to give him a chance to prove to him once and for all his worth as Kazekage.

Voltaire knew the danger of being on the ground when these sands started to pile up around him, so he leaped up into the air and he made absolutely sure that he would not land directly back on the sands. He reached into his pocket and pushed his thumb onto the point of a kunai as to not have to bite himself like some sort of a dirty commoner, and then he weaved the glorious hand signs that brought to him his other comrades. Hiro had with him the power of a Bijuu, but Voltaire, with this one comrade, had defeated the three tails. Once he pushed his hand down towards the quickly approaching ground, black seals extended from his palm, as did an enormous cloud of white smoke. As it dissipated it revealed a beast of terrifying proportion: Jericho. This spider was larger than a tank, with fangs that could crush a car, and legs capable of toppling buildings. And all that kept Voltaire safe from the senbon-like hairs that came from every inch of its back was the thick soles of his boots. "The man trying to get away, that my shadow clones are shadowing?" Voltaire prompted. He was hoping that Jericho would ask who he meant or affirm that he understood, but as to be expected the tarantula had no social graces and just sat silently. "He appears to be some sort of immortal. And if he isn't nice, you can see if ripping him up and eating him keeps you full forever. But in the mean time, we have an old friend to greet." Voltaire smiled sincerely over at Hiro, the only man to ever understand him.

Post Info:

The Sandstorm had gathered sand around the feet of those before they moved, the only one who moved before it could get them was Voltaire, the tricky bugger knew him well, however then the others tried to leave, the sand would hold them in place, and much like a fly caught in the web, Hiro could feel them when they went to move.

He looked to the closest one to him, which was the Sharply dressed man in white who tried to head for the Store, and he spoke to him "Do you not wish to watch the ascendtion of your next Kazekage?" Hiro's eyes open as he looked at the man, it is a key point to make clear that since Hiro's Arrival he had not moved , and unless someone could sense or See chakra, no one would know that Hiro was gathering the Natural energy that surrounded them, as the beast inside of him did the same.

Hiro knew that with the beast alone he could still do as he needed and still hit his mark, but he figured this way was faster, he tilted his head curiously at the sharply dressed one. This was a odd ball that was for sure, Hiro could not figure out the ninja's name, but could tell from the way he carried himself that he was a Ninja for certain.

He then took a quick moment to look at Usagi and nod at her with a smile saying to her with a voice as calm as when he first entered "Pleasure to see you again Usagi, I do hope you have been taking care of the Kage hat as requested till Voltaire and myself could have this fight" His smile struck once more with eyes closed, he was being genuine. His head would turn back to the white dressed man with dark hair, His eyes open once more and smile faded. Any further Attempt of this man escaping would be thwarted with Sand blocking his way or piling up around his legs more and clenching down to hold him in place.

Hiro now took this moment to look at the Immortal one, albeit he did not know that particular trait just yet and saw his rivals attention was focus on that one with clones around it, he would deem that situation rather handled as he returned to look to the white dressed man. This mans answer would determine Hiro's further attitude towards him, as of now it was neither pleasent nor unpleasent.

Shin didn’t flinch as the three clones appeared around him just as he attempted to head off to help the construction workers. Seems he would be late again… he was not looking forward to being chewed out by mr.Suzukimi. Oh well. He glanced around at the rubble of the hospital and the shops nearby with their wares displayed under small canopies to deter the sunlight. It would seem that the man who made the clones was intent on keeping him there. His feet were also covered by sand clearly by the latest entrance. “I was out of the village on a mission when it happened, returning apparently only hours after it was all finished…” the tone his voice took on as he recounted his return on that fateful day, proved sincere as his voice wavered ever so slightly, “seeing the plumes of smoke rising over my home… it’s something I never want to see again. I immediately rushed to the nearest area to find out what was happening and lend my aid where I could. As for who I am, I am a loyal Sunagakure Shinobi. As for not being useful to the village… I’d say those Sunagakure citizens and Shinobi whom I saved from the rubble would disagree with you there. But, rest assured, we will get our revenge on those Bastards that attacked us. Sunagakure will wipe them from the earth.” He was unsure why these two ‘heroes’ of the village would so readily show such hostility to a fellow member of their village. But apparently this was turning into the battle ground that would determine his new kage and he would be lying if the thought didn’t interest him.

Shin waited for the man to respond in some way but nothing came. He just stood there, surrounding him and focusing on the large spider and other sand man. It was clear that this was about to become a battle zone and he wanted no part of it. He had no dogs in this fight and he wanted to keep it that way. In his peripheral vision he could see a potted plant outside a shop with only a cloth covering the doorway. Activating his jutsu he needed to be quick. Luckily that’s what he is good at. The moment he reappeared 30m away from his previous position, out of the hospital courtyard and just outside of the opening to the flower shop. The moment he reappeared he activated his Shadowless flight and rushed away into the shop all within a fraction of a second. He needed to get back to work on rebuilding the village so he could get enough money to get his vengeance on the bastards that did this.

[exit... again]

Chakra: 530/680

Jutsu used: