Walking home {Anti's home}

<------------------------- Entering from 'Adminiring the Beauty'
The rain. . . It truely never stops. That's alright though. It's a really nice way way to cool off a day and because of the resulting humidity we are engulfed by a tropical forest. Anti's thoughts wandered off slightly. He previously was thinking of the old days, back when another fight awaited the resistance every day. Really, Osira Anti is a person who loves to dwell in the past.

After a few minutes of walking through Amegakure the town's center was right in front of him. It was crowded today and alot of people were going around. It startled Anti slightly to see that many people on the streets again, Just like on the day when Seraph announced the fall of Azazael, huh? Hehe. Now the day is growing late. I must hurry home. Even though in his thoughts Anti was speeding up his pace to arrive at his appartement as soon as possible, he had actually gotten far slower in his walking pace. Almost it appeared as if this Jounin ENJOYED being in the middle of many people.

He raised his head upwards as he was very close to the center of the town square. His face was now being hit directly by the rain. That man's mind was wandering off again, I wonder. No no. I mustn't let my thoughts get too distorted. I must refind my focus. Anti had gotten very carefree and almost depressive lately. That mind of his didn't exactly fit a Jounin. He had no real focus on his training anymore, if he didn't even stop training completely after the fall of the Tyrant, so was he still fit to be a Jounin? Maybe he would find out soon.

He readjusted his head, facing towards the tower so close to the town's square on which he was standing. It was truely a formidable tower which dates back to that Shinobi who gave the legendary Sannin of Konoha their name. Today it is somewhat of a museum that holds the newspaper remnants of the resistance's victories - A memory of Anti's happiest time.

Anti saw a shadow descending out of the Tower, maybe this was the Amekage, maybe just an ANBU troop of this village. Osira didn't know and didn't know perfectly either. Anyway, Anti then walked onwards towards the souther parts of Amegakure where his appartement is located. It were only a few minutes of slow-paced steps, nothing exhausting at all, but it was a joyful walk through all of the hidden shinobi village. In front of his appartement's door he stopped and looked around. I thought. . . I felt a presence? Must have been my imagination. He then entered the appartement which was rather small for the kind of income Anti has.

<<<<<< Coming in from The Highest Tower Topic

Seraph was out of breath as his hand reached the front door. He knocked twice with his right hand as his other held the now crumpled up piece of parchment that held the information for the mission. The scar on his chest seared as his breathless lungs burned in his chest.

Seraph hadn't ran like that in ages. Though in pain the rush he had gotten was welcome to him. He grew slightly impatient as he knocked multiple more times. He wasn't one to enter a house without being invited in, even so he had a slight urge to kick the door down.

Anti had just entered the small appartement he called home. It was, but a two room living area – much like poor people use to have them. Yet, Anti isn’t poor, at least not concerning his financial situation. In that area he is more than secured as long as he remains as a Shinobi and loyal to this village he helped to free from tyranny.

Anywho. As he heard the knocking he felt a certain aura. . . one that he had always enjoyed feeling. He took a stab into the dark and guessed that it would be his friend, his comrade, his leader – Seraph.

As Anti then opened the door it was very much that way. It was that gentle Amekage who he had gotten to know in the time of the resistance. Something about him was off though. He was so out of breathe, almost as if he was completely untrained these days. He was drenched, which is extremely uncommon for this man. He also held a piece of paper in his hand. Only one thought then crossed Osira’s mind – A mission. . . He didn’t know what kind of mission, if he would go alone and to where, but it would not be long until he’d know.

“Please come inside Seraph. . . I hope we don’t have a lot to discuss. Obviously we don’t judging by your appearance before my door.“ Anti cleared the path for the village’s leader, the way into Anti’s most intimate area.

[First topic o.o]

He was seen in the distance, approaching fairly quickly. As he came closer, it became visible he was jogging lightly as he was warming up in preparation to do some training soon. When he neared Anti's house, he noticed Seraph, the Amekage. Slowing to a walk, and then a halt, he stood to observe what the two were doing. Similar to Anti, he noticed the paper in Seraph's hand, and came to the same conclusion. Following that, he began to watch, to see how events would turn out. He was certain that the Amekage would be able to feel his presence, and if he would be chosen to go on the mission, he would be noticed and asked to do so. If he wasn't, then it wouldn't have made a difference to go closer and beg for it, so he decided the best course of action would be to take none at all.

Maikeru walked along side the houses as he approached Anti's home, or in other words the designated meeting spot sent to him by a messenger-nin. He knew it was obviously to receive a team mission from Seraph.. and it'd be common knowledge to deduct that it was important if he had to hold a meeting at a random shinobi's house just to give the details of the mission.

For this reason, he was already prepared... A few kunai hidden under his cloak and sleeves, a thin transparent layer of crystal covering his skin, a small newly made information storing crystal strapped to his back, and several small floating 'orbs' of crystal hovering by him in a continuous flow.. Which held no apparent battle purpose, but because of the Kesshoukei's ability to see through their crystal gave him a make-shift 360 degree view. This was really all he needed.. Most likely even the kunai would become a nuisance weight wise.

When Seraph and Anti came into view he quickly did hand signs.. Flickering forward in order to minimize any wastes of time and physical energy. "You called," he said. It was more of a statement then a question.. The young but already battle worn shinobi wasn't into wasteful theatrics, even if it was just speech.

Seraph entered the doorway and smiled a deep caring smile towards his old comrade. He looked around the room and noticed that it was practically in shambles. "Hmm...He has let his house go a bit..." he thought while he moved the wet hair from his face and traced it towards the back of his head. Strangely enough his hair was now instantly dry and combed back. This was an ability he had developed after finding it tedious to dry it every time he went out into the village without an umbrella.

Suddenly he felt the sudden surge of chakra that flickered in the falling rain. As the old Village Leader Pain had done, he had learned to tell who was walking in the village due to the falling rain and any chakra that was used under it. Just as he felt the surge a faint swooshing sound was heard near him. He smiled to himself and then turned around to greet the new arrival. “Hello Maikeru…” he said nodding towards him. “You arrived a lot faster than I had expected…that’s all for the better. Now I do not have to explain twice.” He twitched for a moment and felt a third presence. This one of a person he himself had trained just a few years back. He turned towards the door and placed his hand on the frame.

“You don’t have to hide Isseiryu…you might as well come in and listen.” He moved back into the room and once again directed himself towards Anti and Maikeru. Before beginning to speak he took a deep breath and began to speak. “You two obviously must know I have called you here to give you a mission. Now that the arrivals are out of the way I would like to give you the details.” He said while straightening out the paper in his hand as he held it forward for all 3 people besides him to see. Seraph smiled as he saw the other three beginning to read the following:

Mission Rank: A

Shinobi required: A two man team consisting of one Jounin and a ninja of rank Chuunin or above.

Mission description: Sunagakure has been suspected to be decaying and its government failing. With rumors that mist shinobi have been sent to follow and gain information on one of Suna’s ANBU captains, the high council of Amegakure has deemed it necessary that, due to the close proximity of Suna to Ame, a two man squad will be deployed to investigate the relations between the shinobi of the sand and the mist shinobi. We do not want our country to be the battle ground for another Shinobi War. They must not be seen they must not be found out. Stealth tactics are a must.

Payout: 7000 ryo each.

After they had finished reading he looked at all three of them. “Alright I know it says a two man squad, but seeing that Isseiryu is here as well…I think it’s about time he went out with the big boys.” He said while smiling towards the boy. “Alright…the mission requires utmost stealth. If you are caught or if a squad member is caught, you will send for help immediately, be it by reverse summoning or if one of you escapes and comes back to Ame. Also I will hand you these.” He said the last part while pulling out a set of paper tags. “These tags are linked to each other. When separate and one of you falls into trouble force some chakra into these. The other two will burn and your squad members will know you are in trouble.” He paused for a moment and looked at the two jounin and then the chuunin before continuing his speech. “Since the payout was of 14k ryo for both and since I added another member I have to divide that 14k between the three of you…so that would mean…” He fell silent and began calculations in his head to get the sum of the pay out for each. He then smiled and continued “…that would make a total of 4700 ryo for all three of you...just to round it out. Now go…time is of the essence…and remember do not under any circumstances get caught. I do not want to hear anything of the sort at the nearby Kage summit…” At this last sentence he handed them the paper tags and began to walk out the door without further word.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Exit to Amegakure

As long as Anti’s attention span was, the reading just overdid it and he skipped through it. Shouldn’t pose much of a problem. . . Common intelligence mission. Although the team is wicked. Two guys who I have never met and who don’t seem like they have ever met each other. . . Sigh~ Eh. There would surely have been better teams available for this mission. Like Anti and Seraph, back in the day. Dream team may be a weird, but still very fitting expression for their teamwork. Sadly, that team was eliminated and burried as the new village leader Seraph was announced.

After Seraph had left, Osira turned to the two shinobi in his appartement. A kid. . . and an inexperienced dude. . . Oh yay. I’m sure this mission will go without any casualities. Yes. Sarcasm was one of Anti’s favorite monologue toys. “As much as I’ve picked up. . . You’re called Maikeru.“, he said towards the young boy whose head hardly went up to Anti’s chest, if even that far, “And your name would be Isseiryu. . . I am Anti Osira.“

Usually this would be everything that this Jounin would say, but since it was the mission briefing, there was more need for words that if these guys had met in the streets of Amegakure. “I suppose that you two have certain qualities appropiate for stealth missions, or you would not have been chosen. If have the desire to fulfill my wish of knowing more of your abilties and capabilities, then don’t hesitate to talk. I do not have the exact training for a spying mission as I was raised to become an Assassin. Of course, stealth is a must there as well.“ Now Anti was done talking. Really a damn lot of words for a guy like him.

Maikeru thought nothing of the mission.. Simple information gathering, no flashy tactics. His kind of thing. He looked towards Anti, although not bothering to turn his head up in order to make eye contact. "I am a crystal manipulator. I have mastery over the Shouton style." Sweet, simple, and to the point.. No need in wasting breath on useless words, at least that was what Maikeru felt. "I am capable of seeing through crystal I've created, thus it is wise that i shall scout the area we are to be investigating before we run in." As it was already becoming obvious, Maikeru wasn't a social person. He'd prefer minimal speech among the team, and to finish the mission as quickly as possible.

"Um..", he began, slightly nervous. On the team, he was the lowest ranked, and consequently, the most likely to be killed, or caught. "I specialize in Earth element techniques and I suppose for the mission, I could also scout by moving beneath the ground to listen to what's above." He mentally sighed at his inability to contribute too much to the mission. All he could hope is that he would not become a liability. He idly lightly rubbed the tags he had received from Seraph while thinking of what else he could be useful for. He figured, if worst came to worst, he'd be a sacrifice. He swore silently to himself that he would not use the tag which called his teammates, as that would disrupt the mission. He'd instead reverse summon himself back to Ame if he needed to do so.

(Please x.x Excuse my absence and my lack of posting, but there was quiet some trouble in my life the last few weeks. I will get more active from now on so let’s get on this mission.)

As the two young Shinobi finished talking a decent number of thoughts and strategies came racing through Anti’s mind. It was hard to determine an actual strategy and what would be best on a mission like this without properly knowing the teammates. ”Well. Your ability to see through the crystals you create can be of extremely high usage, Maikeru. With that technique of yours it is possible for us to separate and still collect all information. Teams I would suggest for Isseiryu and you to tag along.”

It was then that Anti turned around and untied his headband. The Amegakure headband, the sign of this man being a Shinobi of the village hidden in the rain. Concealment is the highest case of importance on such missions. . . He took the headband off his forehead and laid it onto the desk before him. ”You two should leave your headbands here as well. With that it will minimize the latent danger of being recognized as Amegakure-Nin.” Anti then turned once more. His black coat was moving along, almost as if wind was blowing into the apartement through the open door. Osira stepped out of the door and walked away into the distance, slowly but steadily accelerating his pace until he seemed to flicker already. He had gone off to the journey now and knew that the other Shinobi would not waste any time or at least that’s what he hoped.

"I rarely wear my band anyways," Maikeru said as he followed behind Anti. He wasn't too into "village pride." His staying with Amegakure was more of just a convenience.. If he had a choice where he was born there would of been a million different options he'd of picked before going with the battle-worn Rain village. Of course, he wasn't one to complain. He had little need for unnecessary pleasures in life. He had food and shelter here, which is all he needed. Thus, he continued with the mission, excreting liquid crystal from his fingertips as to create more mediums for his Crystal Orb technique.