เ'שє l๏รt ค lเttlє קเєςє ๏Ŧ ๓ץ ร๏ยl (Blazy)

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

The battle was swift and bloody. The rogue ninja entered the village, attacked, and left many bodies behind. One man, so much destruction. Taka stood on the rooftops, watching the others carry away the bodies and tend to the wounded. He'd never seen someone so powerful. "The nine-tails," he murmured. He'd always heard jinchuriki were the most powerful beings in the world, but he'd never seen it first-hand. For the first time in a long time, he'd actually felt... frightened. Power that awesome, that destructive, it was something anyone would cower in the face of. And now it was his job to hunt down the man responsible.

He'd gotten the assignment that morning. He'd been called in, along with another jonin he hadn't talk to much before. Really, he hardly ever talked to anyone. Taka turned away from the blood-soaked streets and walked along the rooftops to where he was meeting his new partner. It was time to chase down the only thing that scared him.

[Blazy]

Karyu Yukikuro arrived in the village after the battle, receiving the message to visit the raikage shortly after arriving. She accepted the assignment with no outward signs of emotion, though her belly churned with the unfamiliar feeling of fear. Her partner was a jonin as well, though she had never spoken to him before. She had seen the aftermath of the beast, and was loath to go after such a powerful adversary.

Karyu walked silently through the streets, avoiding the large pools of blood staining the earth as she made her way to the meeting place, apprehension drawing up small beads of sweat on her face that she quickly wiped away. The meeting place was a ramen stand, still in fairly good condition, though not open for business due to the destruction of the village. Karyu sat upon on of the bar seats, her senses ranging out to detect any person approaching her from any direction, her honey colored eyes downcast, staring at her folded hands on the wooden bar.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Taka jumped down from the roof and landed beside her. "Ready?" he asked without a greeting of any kind.

[Blazy]

Having sensed his presence above her, Karyu was not startled by his sudden appearance beside her. She nodded once in affirmation, and stood to walk with him. Karyu remained silent, unsure of whether to talk to this virtual stranger, or to break the ice and discuss their mission.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Let's go," he said. "The jinchuriki already has a huge lead on us. We'll have to push hard to catch them."

[Blazy]

Nodding once again, Kurya set off, her footsteps silent on the dusty ground. After a moment, she spoke, "Do we know where it was headed?" She asked quietly in the silence as they left the village, her honey colored eyes scanning the rocky landscape for any hidden dangers.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Taka paused and narrowed his eyes. "Either he'd cut through the forest, or he'd stay on the path to avoid leaving a trail," he said. He tried to put himself into the mind of this person. What would he decide to do?

[Blazy]

"This ninja is not in his right mind." She replies, thinking about the way he attacked the village suddenly, in the early hours of the morning, and then left as suddenly. "Almost like he wants to be found. I'd say the forest is our best shot at catching up to the jinchuriki quickly."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Taka nodded. "We'll head south. If our ninja wants to get away, they'll head out of our land. Maybe into the Land of Fire."

[Blazy]

She nodded as well, "Let's go." She answered, leaping up into the branches of the nearest tree. Using a small amount of chakra, she pushed hard against the branch, leaping quickly from tree to tree. Her golden eyes scanning for signs of someone passing through.

Stopping suddenly, Kurya pointed, "There. We were right." A path had been carved through the forest. Massive trees cleared, the undergrowth ripped up and thrown around. Leaves and broken branches littered the ground.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"He certainly doesn't seem to be worried about being tracked," Taka murmured. "That could mean this is a trap."

[Blazy]

"Or a diversion." She added, her brows furrowing in thought as she scanned the surrounding forest for signs of life. "The birds are silent. If this was a trap, they would have returned to sing again."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Taka grunted in agreement. He considered splitting up, but that sounded like a bad idea to him. At risk of sounded conceited, he knew he was a good ninja. But he'd seen what this thing could do. He wanted all the help he could get. "We'll have to take the risk," he said. "It's time to make a choice."

[Blazy]

Karyu agreed quietly, and thought of splitting up as well, though discounted it quickly. The enemy was too strong if one of them found him while the other was far away. She considered taking this as a trap, and turning around, but after a few moments of debate, decided that proceeding with caution was their best option at this time. "I think we should follow this trail, see where it goes." She replied at last, looking over to where he was crouched on a tree branch.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Taka nodded. "Agreed." He took off through the forest, following the trail. He moved swiftly and silently, his eyes focused ahead in concentration. He ran through everything he knew about taijutsu and ninjutsu in his head. If he was going to face this rogue, he would have to have every weapon he possessed at his disposal.

[Blazy]

Following after him, Karyu let her senses range out around them. Her ears picked up the shuffling of heavy boots not too far ahead of them. She signaled to Taka that they should hide, as she leapt into a particularly leafy tree. She masked her presense, and watched the ground silently, her ears still picking up the quiet shuffling as it neared their location.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Taka concealed himself as well and peered down at the ground. He was ready to attack at a moment's notice.

[Blazy]

A lone figure wandered down the path of cleared trees, muttering to himself, though it was just quiet enough that Karyu couldn't pick out any words. Her breathing slowed, time seemed to stand still, each heartbeat slowing as the world seemed to stand still. Her gaze sharpened, focusing in on their target. He seemed distracted, though no outward signs of fear or paranoia showed.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Taka glanced over to where he knew Karyu was hiding and then back at the man. Who was he?

[Blazy]

The man looked to be a hermit. His back was stooped, either from age or hard labor, or both. Karyu focused on his hands briefly, heavily callosed, and missing the last two fingers on his left hand. Those were the hands of a worker, not a ninja, but how had he cleared this path? The answer came a moment later when, in what seemed to be a fit of uncontrollable rage, the man struck out against a tree too near to Taka for her liking. With a sound like thunder, the thick trunk shuddered and cracked under the onslaught, and toppled over. She turned her golden gaze to Taka, this man was dangerous, but not their target. She wondered what they should do, leave without a trace, or deal with him now to prevent possible future trouble?