Could this be it?

Angel was aware of her course of action.  One of the enemies had escaped the others sight but from her view point she was made aware of the smoke bomb that went off and As they ran past the building she was on she would pursue.  She kept her presence a secret as she moved silently and her aura was negligible. She was even capable of sending out her invisible chakra threads in an attempt to attach 5 of them to each of the backs of the 3 men who looked identical.  Great they were probably clones.  One of them seemed to be holding another person.  Angel didn't have enough information but she had to prevent his escape.  A puff of smoke would envelope angel and the girl would appear in front of them.  'I can't let you go any further.' Angel thought.  The girl would rush the menat a speed of 145 a massive sword appearing in her hand from her bracelet.  The sword looked like 2 keys crossed and a bled coming out the middle of the cross.  At a speed of 145 the Blade would pass through all of the 3 men who had been running down the narrow alley.  The alley had no obstructions and was 9 feet wide.  It would help the capture of the rogue ninja.  Should the blow land it would pass right thought the 3 bisecting them.  This would dispell the clodes hopefully.   At the same time the cracks and crevices of the walls and ground would  shift creeping up to alight on the men at a speed of 100. 66 of Angel's Kekaichu would attach themselves secretly to each of the 3 men with the last 2 of her 200 insect landing on the man in the middle.  The insects would not land on any parts of the body that the sword attack would be going through.  They would not make any sound nor would they be felt by the men.  They would land and immediately begin to drain the men of action points.

A dusty old library, a cracked and stained desk.  It was here a child sat pondering over an aged book.  He turned each page and while the sun moved across the heavens his eyes continued to trace through each line.  As the last candle burnt out, and he could feel his mind beginning to drift from the task at hand.  Closing the tome, a feeling of exhilaration and severe disappointment flowed through him. 

When one immerses themselves into a story, to truly feel as the tides of time rush by with each word on the page...to see it end is both a joy and a terror.  An entire world has just ended before your eyes.  Everyone in it....their tales coming to an end and their remaining journeys only exist in the mind of the reader.  Where do they go, what do they do.....and how can the reader move on.  As the body of Echo was extinguished, as his chakra signature left the world...a similar all be it much more intense feeling seemed to flow through Maku.

He wasn't sure why the thought of finishing that book all that time ago came to his mind in that moment, but it did.  Because even now he knew....a great part of his own story had just concluded, and he wasn't sure where his life was set to go from here.  He had sacrificed so much of himself to prepare for years of confrontation, to temper his resolve for what must happen, and now it was already over.  Though....the task at hand was not finished, and the time for weakness, indecision...these where emotions for men who had time, and he had none to spare just yet.

As he stepped out of the Susano'o, and prepared to speak.....it became obvious that Echo Uchiha had truly left this world.  As if the gravity in the immediate area had just lessened by several degrees.  The absence of the pressure of his chakra would be obvious to even the most under trained ninja. 

His own words rang through his mind, and then the words of the two shinobi before him rang in answer.  As for Youka, well he wasn't sure what had happened to him.  He had attempted to grab his mangled body and set it down, but if he was alive...well he didn't really know.  If he had died so simply then it wasn't worth the emotions to feel bad for him.  Its not what he would have wanted, his weakness to be mourned.  If he was alive, then well he was being a right prick doing nothing.

"As you no doubt can feel.....my business and any business with Echo Uchiha is now concluded."  As he spoke the black flames that had covered his body seemed to withdraw.  Not disappearing, but instead flowing through each opening in his clothes.  The flames, clung tightly to his body, the flickers continued to appear breifly and momentaryily at his collar, and the openings of his sleeves revealing that they still existed.  For the first time, they would see his face.  Revealing him to be in his early twenties, though still with a young face, even young eyes had it not been for their blood red color.  Long blonde hair flowing in the wind.  His clothes still resembling a suit when he had first entered the bar.

It wasn't so much the words of the man that caught his attention, but instead the words of the female.  It was her he addressed first.  "Innocent people?  No one is innocent, if one but digs deep enough.  Our sins have a way of catching up with us, even as mine surely rush to meet me one day."  Taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh, he turned just slightly to survey the village around him.  Behind him a good amount of damage had been done, however by holding the majority of his own blast inside during his last attack, it all could have been much worse. 


Returning his gaze to the man, and locking eyes in a form of respect, he now addressed him once again for hopefully the last time while here.  "I will leave, I am done here, there is little to hold my interests.  I want one thing however before I go, and if you afford me it then we are truly done.  The women behind you, she is one of the few to stand up to me, to speak back despite the fear I can see on her face.  I respect that and I wish to converse with her on the innocence she speaks of.  Only one other person has done such a thing in the face of this destruction, and he lives and no doubt is using the experience to better himself."

Pausing he let the words sink in momentarily.  "She won't be harmed, she won't be killed.  A couple days should do....and I will send her back myself.  If we can agree to this minimal trade, then our business is concluded.  If not....well I guess there is a little more to do then."  He continued to watch the one in front of him.  The implications of his word no doubt clear to the both of them.  In truth, he had little interest in continuing to fight.  He did however have an interest that did need satiated.  All he needed was a simple conversation, then....whatever was to happen next could begin.

The world held many truths and like this the world has many ends as well as beginnings, and yet in the days like this where anyone and anything could end in the blink of an eye it felt almost bittersweet. There he stood staring into the eyes of the male in front of him, his form spreading between Corruption and Purity although unknown to him the side effects of him going into these forms were going to be a bitch. As the words were about to leave the lips of the Raikage he stopped and paused for a moment as if his body had just felt something new...The passage of one's life into the next world. His eyes trained into the direction Echo had been in, from a different perspective he would have been staring through Maku and towards the hole before his body shook and then went back to normal.

He would say nothing and he would show no emotion...Every ninja knew that it was taboo to cry for a comrades death...But would this be an exception? The few flashbacks of the encounters with both him and Echo flittered through his mind as his train of thought continued to pace at a high speed before the words of the male in front of him clicked and his mind went back into a more professional place as he spoke," I see...This is most problamatic...But I will mourn the loss of a friend later," he didn't believe this... He failed to protect a friend and comrade but yet...He stood here for what.

When he spoke of leaving with Akihana however his eyes snapped from her to him before he shook his head," Not now...Our village needs her and she needs rest, if she allows herself to go of her own free will then I shall not stop her," holding up two fingers on his right hand he would revert back to his crimson eyes before continuing to speak," Even if you are...what you are, Two days will suffice..Giving her enough time to mourn and help in the building of our village. If she accepts then thats when she may leave. I have no reason to trust you..But i do her," looking to her he would smile," You decide your fate...I have to go and deal with the well being of our village, make sure he leaves as promised," with that his body became a lit with fire before disappearing before the two of them. He knew what was coming next...but he needed to keep the others safe no matter what.

[Exit, 2106]

2000 just for Black Lightning and 10 AP

Kurama, the Kyuubi no Youko of the Hidden Leaf Village. Once he stormed swatted aside mountains and raised hurricanes with a single swipe of his tail..And in recent years his will was swatted aside by a Man. A Mortal man with the power to raze the Heavens if he so chose, he and one other are privvy to the Man's final thoughts as he fell to his own Students, members of his own Pack as taught to him by those blasted Wolves that broke his hold on the Man and returned to him his spirit and concious...

They Hated eachother, they still do. But in these past few months they've spoken, conversed gained insight as they meditated together..As he gazed into the endless possibilities of time and took his best guess and took steps to prevent large scale catastrophes from befalling this pitiful Ninja world. I am Kurama! The Kyuubi no Youko! And for the first time in what has been a long twenty years, I AM FREE!

A crimson fog begins to roll upwards from the crater in this district of Kumogakure, a blinding scarlet light radiating from the bottom of the large gouged out piece of earth that is the Jinchuuriki's resting place...Rising and slamming down is a massive clawed limb, like the hand of Lucifer rising from the depths, followed by a second before the claws dig deep fiery scars into the earth and pull upwards...Revealing a fanged maw and slitted crimson eyes...

Look, look up....'And The Youko has returned they cried...' Gaze upon the crimson natural disaster and despair, for the end has come...The Demon has awoken from it's slumber.


Health:80
Chakra:100
Stamina:70
Speed:80
Strength:140

Feeling the last of Echo Uchiha's chakra leave the world was like feeling the very fabric of her world tear, the rip so silent it was audible enough to leave cracks, cracks no one would be able to see because by right they shouldn't have been there. No one would understand and they didn't have to for it to be real. With Echo's departure, a lifetime of dreams and silences filled with meaning left the world too, a world Akihana had only been on the beginning of discovering. No, the former sage didn't simply leave, he took all the parts of the blonde kunoichi she didn't even know with him.

Leaving behind an all consuming silence that hurt.

Pain was relative, Akihana knew this as a medic, and yet she also knew that being a ninja meant working through it. So it didn't matter that her soul was crying out for the death of a good man, what mattered was that she could still stand, that she could still fight if need be.

And if Echo was still watching from somewhere, than maybe he would approve.

Her golden eyes remained fixed below the stranger's gaze as he spoke to Yaju, only lifting in surprise when he directly indicated her. His views on no one being innocent made the kunoichi wince because just from that statement, she could tell he truly believed what he said. It wasn't always an external enemy shinobi had to fight. Overcoming their own conviction was a harder battle than most and while he may be good at fights, there was a lot about people he had yet to understand if this was his take on them.

"W-what do you want from me?" the blonde questioned, her eyes raised to his face for the first time. Uncovered of his jutsu and standing as he did, the man looked genial, well kept, not the murderer who had just torn her world apart and was possibly planning to do the same to her physical being. Akihana wished she could believe that this wasn't the man who had just killed Echo but the pain pulsating in her being served as a constant reminder.

Echo was dead

This man had killed him

This was no man, he was a monster.

The young woman listened as he negotiated the trade with Yaju, too numbed by pain to be shocked at the way this was turning out. A small flicker of unease did permeate the numbness when her Raikage agreed, underlining his faith in her ability to... to do what? Faith had always been tricky like that, the blonde had spades of it for other people and very little for herself. And yet Yaju trusted her, so she must be worth his confidence.

She watched him leave, straightening her shivering frame as best she could. It wasn't cold, not really, and yet the ice creeping slowly over her heart felt more real than the flames and explosions of earlier.

"I will indulge your wishes," she admitted, meeting his eyes for the first time since he had appeared, bright golden irises clashing with his deep crimson ones. and while her face displayed fear, her eyes remained firm. He had his convictions and she had hers. "But in return you will promise me personally that you will not seek to harm kumogakure now or in future. You may harm me in return if you so wish." The last sentence was quieter, more hesitant but there nonetheless, her offer was on the table if it helped in any way.

The medic waited for a response, a wait that might have taken too long had an earth shattering burst of chakra not emerged from the ground Echo had been razed in, the malicious being known to Akihana only because she had sensed a similar presence once before inside Yaju. The Kunoichi watched in horror as the nine tailed beast was unleashed, for the first time realizing that Echio had been a jinchuriki all along.

And now that he was gone, the world was at the Kyuubi's mercy.

Diving into one of the streets Naoki could feel the two clones around him and the exemplar boy on his shoulder. Of course, because all three of them were some sort of clones, even Vigil, all sharing some connecting to him; but even without that Naoki's senses were sharp enough to hear them breathing as they were running next him. His hearing was also keen enough to hear the breathing of the girl on the roof, although it was the sound of all the weapons she carried on her and the sound of her cloak flying that gave her away. She also did not seem to have a chakra signature of any level, which was unnatural in people.

Deciding not to over-think it the former leader of Shimagakure gave a mental command to one of the clones. The clone raising his hand ever so slightly for it to be in front of him would disappear in a blur of motion after his mind formed the handseal needed to activate body flicker without any physical action. In what would seem like an instant to all of them and the girl, the clone would reappear immediately behind her. As his hand was already extended prior to activating the technique, it would make immediate contact with her back and the seal of five elements would be applied, along with a simple mark seal. With the pink flames disappearing when the seals were applied the clone's palm would light up with the chakra cannon being activated, blasting her unconscious body off to another roof. That is unless she managed to find her way out of this quite sudden preemptive attack that would take place before her threads came out and her chakra suppression was undone.

If the clone was somehow prevented from going through with this course of action and Naoki would have no better ideas, he would send out three sunflies, two meant to explode the walls behind them and one to detonate in the air between them and the girl, obscuring vision and deflecting any weaponry she might have sent his way. Destroying the walls would also serve to make the buildings collapse, making staying on roof quite impossible. Then, moving around the corner he would make a single hand seal and be covered in a bubble of chakra, which would take a moment before pulling him as well as Vigil through spacetime and out of the village. The second clone at the time would engage pursuers if there were any. He would teleport even if his first clone was successful.

All of this would happen with the Kyuubi forming in the background. Something that Naoki would of course notice, but not pay too much attention to, as it was not his problem, nor his fight.

[Body flicker used with Inner Seals to activate without handseals. Flicker speed is 215. Cannon power is 30. Feel free to ask if something's unclear. It's late and I'm tired, so there might be mistakes. Oh, and I'm not claiming a kill, if this goes through, despite the power being above your health stat.

Attempted Exit]

The disappearance of one of the clones and the appearance of the chakra behind her would be near instantaneous.  His hand would connect faster than she was able to react.  A puff of smoke would go up from her summon seal that was already prepared.  The clone would find it suprising that the chakra seal did nothing also that the tail on Angel's back hidden by the cloak would have blocked the attack and immediately with a speed of 145 impale his head before the cannon could be launched.  (the tail on my back is a puppet as well.  Regardless of the firing of the cannon, both the tail and the cloak have enough health to resist the blast. )

But Angel was not at all phased by these actions.  She would continue with her plan.  Doing the Seals for body flicker even as the tail moved to kill the man behind her, she would extend he palms outward and after landing the blow on the clone/man, she would activate the body flicker dashing to in front of the man who had previously been in the middle of the three ending the flicker (speed 190) her hands on the mans left side of his chest and his right shoulder.  Pushing him back at a strength of 15 and appling several different effects.  First the 200 insects in her body would rush out of her sleeves at a speed of 100 engulfing the man, draining his chakra.  Second 10 chakra threads would attach to the body.  Third the mere touch of her hands would send crippling mind numbing pain through his body as her gentle fist technique bore into his heart and nerve cluster in the shoulder.  The gentle fist blow would cause vomiting of blood and paralysis.  At this point her puppet would reach them at a speed of 145 coming from behind again attacking with it's sword.  This attack would be avoided by the insects and would slash through both the man she had attacked and the man holding the other person. though the blade would not harm the person, being carried by the man or his clone, it would cut through the man and his clone narrowly missing Angel herself.  The wounds would certainly be the death of the man.

The man's flys would have been sent out around this time if the man had still been still be conscious or capable enough to try... though Angel's attack might prove too deadly.

Speaking of Deadly....Angel would notice the Kyuubi rampaging back in the square.....  What was she to do about that....What could she do about that?

Should we reach this point Angel would summon Baer and take the bodies (Naoki and vigil into the summoned spider's den before desummoning the lot of them.)

(i'll say should this be successful to this point I won't claim the kill but I will claim the kidnap as I am capable of performing medical jutsu to sustain his life. Any questions let me know.)

[attempted exit]

Red eyes watched the lips move of each individual, yet the words didn't seem to alight the wind to make the short journey to his ears.  Instead it was merely by watching those lips of first the male and then the female that he picked up what sound withheld from him.  Something else had distracted him, something darker and old....so very old.  He had felt this before....but when.  As his mind raced and the man left, a memory infiltrated the recesses of his mind.  

The world shifted and while he knew it was merely a flashback, his breath caught in his throat for a second.  It wasn't grief, or shame at what had happened, but at a revelation.  Looking on the scene from above he saw himself, standing on Youka's left.  He looked younger somehow....less like he did now.  It wasn't that his eyes were blue instead of stained crimson, but the light in them was a little brighter than he had seen them in some time.  Youka had his feathers ruffled, and watching it seemed as if his skin was crawling, like a thousand thousand needles sought to puncture his skin and flash forward.  

In front of the duo stood a singular man, who clearly had the strength of armies.  It was a typical interaction in its own way.  Echo lazily interacting with the two, Maku standing calm sipping hot chocolate.  He still remembered how the liquid brew had burnt, his taste absent for weeks, yet no flash of pain flickered.  Then it happened, that moment that set both their minds whirling for months and months.  Before either had ascended to what they would become, when they were still nothing, but two jumped up shits thinking they had any real say on the world as a whole.  

Echo's frame while unmoving seemed to be splashed in a dark crimson, and that feeling, the same one he had now crept over him.  Malevolent chakra, something...that wished to devour the world.  That wanted nothing more than to see it burn.  Maku had thought it was merely Echo, a force of nature held behind a calculating face.  Now however the depth of the event was revealed in earnest.  Echo was a force of nature in his own right, but it wasn't himself he had held back, but something else entirely.

As his eyes refocused and he heard the women agreeing to be a martyr.  "A singular village has never interested me, I do not care for institutions, but rather the individuals that seek to create them.  Your village appears to be safe from me, but.."  Pointing a thumb over his shoulder the claw would hit the surface.  "That....well it might disagree.  A moment my lady."  At the final word as, as the maw of the demon fox came into focus, Maku gave a short almost theatrical bow.  Perhaps it was the shot of the darkened liquid still moving through his body, the kill fresh in his mind, or merely the presence of someone prettier than Youka, well to be fair that was almost anyone, but Maku was feeling a bit more like his old self than he had since his time in Tengakure when he had steeled his resolve to perform the deeds he knew must be done.

Turning, he began walking towards the creature as it no doubt made its way from the hole of its former prison.  Like a prisoner finally dug free from the the unbreakable jail....only to meet a different captor.  one step...two step....three step....four.  Each stride led him closer as several thoughts moved through his mind.  One.  Kill the beast, erase it from existance no doubt to make a true mark.  Two.  Capture and seal it away in himself as Echo had, absorb yet another creation to become even stronger.  Three.  Talk to it.

Well he knew what Youka would do, he knew what the masses would do, but he was neither.  He was Maku, a simple boy from a simple village with a couple simple talents.  One was speech, and it was the one he decided upon.  In 4 steps he had his mind resolved on what he wanted to do, and now he just needed to do it.  Capture a tornado by the tail and place it in his pocket for safe keeping.  A metaphor that even in its Brobdingnagian tone seemed to fall short in a form of irony.

Physically he might be able to win, but one might die in the struggle.  Instead a different tactic must be taken.  The skill that in truth only two individuals knew he possessed, and less than a handful might be able to guess.  While several of Maku's skills had been specifically designed to illicit wide scale destruction, another....a certain giant spectral force meant to inspire fear, it was none of these things that made Maku the danger that he actually was.  Merely peacocking, showing off.  When the boy wished to destroy someone, it was never their body he sought out, but their minds.  How much softer they were than the hardened bodies of a shinobi....how much more....pliable.

This beast, would be no different.  Primal was fear, but it had been part of the ritual, the sacrifice Maku had made in that dank apartment.  Ridding himself of such things.  Crimson eyes met crimson eyes as he looked into the demons face.  His sharingan reflected in the beasts own.  The moment their eyes locked, the moment a singular glance occurred was the moment that he would act.  

Genjutsu had always been his strength, and in a moment of greed or ascension he with the help of the demon priest had taken what had been his own strength and stolen the genetics of others to bolster it to unparallelled heights.  It was time...to put them to use on someone other than Youka, who really had been his first punching bag.  Honestly....Maku was starting to really hope the bastard was still alive, if nothing else but for nostalgia.  

As their eyes would undoubtedly lock, and the sharingan of Maku would spin he would force his own will into the creature.  Freezing it in place, and transporting the two minds to a separate plane for a small trade of words.  Maku's chakra was still bolstered, (180) and it would seek to overwhelm the beast to keep this confrontation brief.  

In their own world, the world of Maku's Tsukyomi, the two would stand.  The rubble of the industrial city spread around them, the twisted street signs and the feet of snow covering the sidewalks.  Above the darkened clouds continued to disperse the light powder on the tops of both their heads.  In the distance flashes of lightning and the low rumble of thunder, the rare phenomena of thunder snow always present in this make believe world.  

"Hello, my name is Maku Jemuzu.  I...do not wish you to be a slave, a beast of wonderment, or some child's play thing.  What I want....is something you can give me with the minimalist of effort.  I merely want the information that resides within.  After that....I suppose the foundation of our relationship will be redefined.  However....I have someone else to talk to at the moment, but soon we will speak and all will be made clear."  His voice was low, calm, calculating despite the giant fox demon before him.  It wasn't spoken in a way to command, it wasn't spoken in a question either.  It was a matter of fact, a series of events that would occur.  

The sharingan genjutsu would do its work in a matter of seconds and the world would shift back to the real one, leaving behind the one that only resided in Maku's mind.  The pact between boy and chakra beast would be solid.  Solidifying his will within the beasts mind until he had a chance in a safer place to go to work.  

As the genjutsu had been working its way forward, as he had appeared to be talking, his feet had never stopped moving and he would be directly in front of the beast.  Under his will the creature would continue to be frozen in place as a hand reached out and touched the surprisingly soft fur.  Activating his cloak as the touch occurred, he transported both himself and the beast into the dimensional in between.  Leaving the world behind to a safe corridor where they would be undisturbed.  As he did a singular thought went from his mind to the beasts.  "The mountains, go there and wait for me."

As the beast would move away trudging in the realm where none could reach it, Maku reactivated the fibers of cloth and returned to the world around him.  When he was through speaking to this women, he would find the beast and their talk could begin.  

Turning, he would re-approach the girl.  A great amount of things had occurred, and yet a very small amount of time had actually passed.  A smile danced on his lips, his eyes alight with the prospects of the coming knowledge he would gain.  "Harm you?  Why ever would I do that?  I think that was what you mentioned a moment before."  His words calm as if nothing had occurred, as if there had been no great event to interrupt their dialogue.

"Why don't we start with a simple question, and then an answer.  What is your name?  After that, well.."  Taking a step forward he extended his hand.  Not a calloused hand, scared or marred like so many in the ranks that Maku resided in, but soft nails trimmed and clean.  "Then we can continue, you can heal and fix this place and we can have that chat on the innocence of the world."  Smiling, he awaited an answer, looking at those golden orbs, and wondering exactly what it was she was thinking, and if it would be rude to merely peek inside without her permission to watch the gears whir....alas he knew it to be rude......self control, such a burden to those that have the means to take on the consequences.

Akihana was sure nothing could surpass the feeling of fear and sorrow she felt right now, though in the last few minutes, the sorrow was felt much more deeply than fear, but now it seemed the emotion was surfacing once again alongside the Kyuubi's giant chakra body filling the skies above them. Watching the nine tailed beast and bearing witness to its awesome presence left the kunoichi both speechless and paralyzed in fear, the only thing moving being her golden eyes, darting this way and that only to realize there were no reinforcements.

She was all alone with two known criminals and a monster that could easily devour her whole.

The blonde only heard the words spoken by her impromptu companion in a slight daze. The man, unlike her, seemed to have no fear of the mess of chakra behind them. As he spoke of villages being meaningless and individuals interesting him more, the kunoichi didn't even have the mental strength or capability to wonder at his flawed logic. Akihana didn't believe in monsters, only misunderstood beings. And he seemed to be suffering from a severe case of that misunderstanding which he had converted to conviction which he had converted to... this.

As the crimson eyed male excused himself with a bow, Akihana was jolted back into reality. 'Wait," she called out. "I can hel-" Her words were too late, he was too fast for her to see and the medic could no sooner identify what he had done then fight off the kyuubi on her own. The young woman wasn't even sure where the offer to help had come from. Was the instinct to lend a hand to deeply ingrained in her that she would offer assistance to the likes of someone who had openly committed murder in cold blood? Or was it because the kyuubi posed more of a threat to her people than the individual currently conversing with her as though they were having a cup of tea together and not in the middle of a charred and cracked battleground.

Self preservation, the blonde realized, had not even occurred to her. It hadn't mattered that despite her claims, she likely would not have been able to help. It was the same instinct that had drawn her to the battle in the first place. Unsure as she was of her own ability, Akihana knew that sometimes being there helped. And as much as she loathed herself in that moment, loathed herself for not being able to hate the person who had ended Echo's life, she couldn't deny that she was bound by her very nature to see the best in him.

To see the best in even the person who clearly cared not for the lives of innocents, claiming that there weren't any to begin with.

The bijuu that flanked the fields of sky above seemed to disappear the same instant it had emerged and all the kunoichi knew was that this amicable looking young man had had something to do with it. She did not know the how and what and when of it but the relief she felt at the beast's disappearance was no less real, making the medic stumble as her legs nearly gave out from the emotional and physical roller coaster ride this afternoon had been.

Still, Akihana kept herself upright, more than a little worse for wear and golden eyes firm despite her disheveled appearance. As the man extended a hand her way, the kunoichi flinched automatically, knowing exactly what those neat hands could do. And yet, they were extended in a polite fashion, promising no harm.

"Akihana," she replied, trying to inject more conviction in her voice than she felt, grasping his hand in return for a brief moment. Her own slender fingers were probably clammy and more than a little shaken from the day's events but her fear was apparent in other ways. The trembling of her fingers likely wouldn't give her away any more than her overall facial features would. "And... thank you." Whether she thanked him for getting rid of the bijuu that threatened Kumo or for simply agreeing not to hurt her, the young woman herself did not know. She only knew that thanks was owed, one way or the other.

"It is only fair that I know your name in return, is it not?" she asked, slowly raising her eyes to his once more. It had never occurred to her to lie when he had asked her name, lying was never something that came to her naturally and she didn't expect him to speak untrue either.

When he spoke of them having their chat, the kunoichi nodded, soft golden locks brushing over her shoulders with the action. "It would appear I do not have a choice," she stated as politely as she could. There was no accusation in her voice, only defeat. "My Kage and you have a deal that involves me, I have to simply do my part. But I appreciate your attempts to be genial about it... I will try my best to forgive y-you." Her voice shook at the last word, the memories of the past few minutes rushing back to claim her. Fear for Arata's safety, Echo's death, Yaju leaving, the appearance and then disappearance of the nine tail and now this man, acting as if nothing had happened.

The ANBU operative felt the strength being sapped from her body where she stood, no longer able to hold herself straight. Not only had she failed to protect the ones she cared for but she couldn't even bring herself to truly hate the ones who had hurt them. Truly, there was no better example of a failed human being than Akihana Akari in that moment.

Akihana didn't want to display such weakness, but her body had other ideas, her knees buckling beneath her and making her land on the dusty ground, her arm still held slightly aloft from the handshake she had returned earlier, her small body crumpled in a dead faint, a heap of flesh and bones on the ground, her golden hair scattered like a dull halo around her head.

And her golden eyes closed for the first time since she had sensed the intrusion in Kumo.

A whisper of a name.  Akihana...A name unlike he had yet encountered.  The ninja world he resided in was home of a thousand names all with seemingly different backgrounds, and yet there always seemed to be more just around the corner.  Her hands found his and his fingers slowly closed upon her hand taking it in earnest.  Maku was no physical marvel by the standards that the rest of the world set, but the strength in his fingers was enough to stop the shaking in her hand, even if the rest of her was still looking a bit scared.  The body was an interesting thing, with a mind of its own at times, and physiologically even if consciously she wished it wouldn't, it revealed so much.

"Never say thank you, It takes away from the moment."  He chuckled at the last words she said.  His laugh tinkled and his smile wide.  White teeth contrasting with the darkened eyes.  Releasing her hand, he let it slowly slide through his own, his finger tips brushing along her soft skin to its length before it would fall away from his own.  

"Of course it is only fair, your request is noted and filed away under, possibly possible predicaments,"  He said as his left hand rose and typed the side of his head just before his fingers entwined with his own hair ruffling it slightly as the cold breeze continued to blow over the area.  It was as if the wind itself mourned in its own way for the avatar it had lost.  His decision to not give out his name was nothing new, he had after all staged his own death once, and to reveal his real name now seemed to let all that be in vain.  He would think of something at some point, but for the moment he just felt like enjoying himself.

"We can discuss the probability of the acknowledgement of my name when we talk later."  He finished continuing to let her speak.  The time for his own words had not yet occurred, and instead he allowed himself to be the listener.  Her next words filled his ears and tripped a wire.  As they were fundamentally untrue, and he saw she was fairly misguided in her thinking.  

His eyes looking into her own, darted up and down.  This served two purposes really. Once was getting a better look at what was going on in her body, and the other was to actually survey who he was speaking to.  His eyes could see the chakra network firing a little strangely, and watched as the muscles in her body relaxed and tensed.  Apparently all these events had been a little much for her, and perhaps half a moment before she did, he knew exactly what was going to happen to her.

"Akihana, there is always a choice when it revolves around your own life, you should take that into consideration from here on."  As he spoke he had taken a singular step forward and let out a quick kick, shooting a sharpened rock down the lane.  As he did, the girl would feint.  It perhaps would have been more chivalrous to catch her, to hold her in his arms and gaze at her sleeping face......but a particularly vibrant moth had flown by, and he had wanted to get a good look at the patterns on its wings.  He made a gut call, after all he kicked the rock right?  A standing fall shouldn't hurt to bad.

"Ahh sorry, guess I wasn't quick enough.....but you can't hear me can you?  because....your unconscious."  Looking down on her, he looked from side to side surveying the wreckage.  "Youka if your alive could you stop pissing about.  I'm done here, I will find you later, I think its best if we find something else to do from here."

At the end of his outspoken words a handseal appeared and a golden bubble appeared around them.  It was a good thing to perhaps that she had feinted when she had.  The bubble would form at a speed of 100 and teleport them away.  He could see where the hospital was, and it was merely a simple calculation to figure out where to land.  

On his feet, the girls body had been teleported to reappear slightly higher than his own, in the air so when she fell he caught her.  "Well caught you that time.  One for two isn't two bad right?  Well ok its a 50% and failing, but you shouldn't be so judgmental, you are unconscious after all."  He said as he gave her a little side to side motion in his arms to keep her hair from covering her face.

Once inside the series of events that unfolded were brief and overly uninteresting.  A room was found, people were notified and they sought to help her.  He watched for a few minutes as they did their work, doing whatever it was doctors did.  He had never had much use for them, but he assumed they had their worth somewhere.  Unnoticed by most, he moved to where her possessions had been piled in a chair inside the room.  Taking a blank bit of stationary from the bedside cabinet, he made a quick note.  

"Mmmm should probably work on my penmanship.." he said absentmindedly as he placed the bit of paper in a pocket of the pants she had been wearing.  The note simply said "Mountains are pretty, don't you think?"

As the last doctor left, and they were alone, he looked at her then out the window.  Already no doubt individuals would be scurrying to put together the pieces that he had blown from the foundation.  "Well, I guess I will see you later Akihana....."  As he finished speaking, his frame would dissapear as he left the world behind.  "Perhaps then we can find out which of us is right, and who has the better measure of the world."  His last words would not be heard by any but himself.  As the seal was made and the golden bubble formed he focused on where the kyuubi was.  Dissapearing and going towards his latest project he left behind the blonde girl who had had the guts to stay and talk to him.  

Honestly.....today had turned out to be interesting.

(Exiting both myself and akihana from the thread, I have lots of words, will add up later)