Komon Hyuuga vs Asuma

Spoiler:

Click...

Click…

“Damn.”

Click-click…

The metallic click of a lighter interrupted the pitter patter of the rain once more before falling silent. Drawing one of his first breaths in centuries, Asuma Sarutobi inhaled a heady cloud of smoke deep into his lungs. Here he was again; pulled from his peaceful repose to walk among the living and condemn those he faced to death. He’d been through it all before and yet this time it felt different. He could not quite put his finger on how it was different, but it was.

Taking another drag on his cigarette, the jounin’s gaze followed the smoke upwards. Listing about in long lazy spools the smoke drifted through the canopy of the of the spruce tree its creator leaned against and up into the overcast sky above. Even the hero of Konoha had to admit that the alpine forest he found himself in had its charms. All around him spruce trees stood tall and proud on what was a gentle slope upwards carpeted by the long-dead needles of the vegetation it supported.

Kurenai, you would have loved it here…

The half-spent cigarette fell from his mouth and down onto the ground at his feet. How could he have forgotten? Time had almost robbed him of the one thing he held most dear, Kurenai. His dear lovely Kurenai…

With clammy hands, the man reached within the folds of his armor and pulled out a well-worn photo. Creased around the edges and stained with what looked like dried blood, the photo really should have been thrown out. Yet, here it was, still in his possession and prized above anything else on his person; a picture of his red-eyed bride. Shielding the photograph from the rain with his left hand and cradling it in his right, Asuma added his hot tears to the cool rain.

Kurenai…

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AP: 800

Stat Page:

The sound of hooves in mud was a surprisingly hypnotic one, the hyuuga had been traveling for days in conditions that anyone other than a seasoned jounin would have turned back in. The dirt paths of the spruce forest he traveled through becoming near impassable as they shifted to a deep mud. But Komon was on a mission for his village, and he would not return a failure. While his brother had been tasked with finding some of Kumogakures missing shinobi, Komon himself had been tasked with locating and verifying the source of a rumor that had been spreading in the area. Apparently, a mysterious foreign shinobi was wondering in the area, bearing the crest of Konoha.

It was strange for someone to roam around in enemy territory, even stranger to do so alone and so far from their home. Needless to say, Kumogakures higher ups had decided it was worth investigating. "Dammit all to hell" He'd say as he adjusted the cowl to his faceless armor to shield his hair from the rain. Unlike Komori, he had never been fond of the rain. He’d been traveling with his chakra surpessed for day

Click…

His head would whip at the sudden manifestation of sound in the distance.

Had he imagined it?

Click-click

No, it was becoming clear that he was not alone in this forest. The sound of metal clicking like that was foreign to nature. Not wanting to involve the horse in any potential combat he’d dismount from the dust, and tie him to a tree before he went to investigate the sound. A few moments would pass before fate brought him to what he had been sent to find. The man wore the outfit of a soldier, and his chakra signature was higher than anything Komon had ever felt aside from that of the three tails, and maku. This man was clearly on a level higher than most.

Yet despite all this, he looked completely disinterested in combat, his focus on a slip of paper in his hand, as he tried desperately to shield it from the onslaught of rain. It would probably be safer to kill him now while he was distracted, but cold blooded killing had never been Komon’s style. Ahem He’d clear his throat violently to grab the man’s attention, from 10 meters in front of him.

“What are you doing? All the way out here I mean?” He’d ask beginning his interrogation. With one hand resting on his hip, and the other clutching his yin yang mask at his side.

WC: 426
Jutsu and Skills used: Chakra Suppression

ooc:

Asuma was slipping.

Perhaps it was the long time he spent away from the land of the living, his strange surroundings, or—most likely of all—the memory of his wife, but whatever it was dulled the man’s once razor-sharp edges. Centuries ago the crunch of the pine needles and the smell of sweat would have alerted the jounin to someone’s approach. And now? Well, now he found himself surprised by the sudden intrusion on his most intimate of moments.

In fact, he half hoped to be returned to the cool embrace of the afterlife without ever lifting his eyes from his sweet Kurenai. Alas, cruel fate had other plans for him and so, with the tears leaving his eyes, he glanced up at the newcomer.

“I’ll be honest,” he carefully stowed Kurenai’s picture back in his flak jacket. “I’m not altogether sure where here is.”

He straightened his posture and flashed an almost bashful smile.

“My name is Asuma Sarutobi of the hidden leaf,” he paused, searching for the right words. “Unfortunately, I find myself more than a bit lost; is there any chance you could point me in the right direction?”

A thought occurred to the defender of the Leaf, Kurenai might still be alive. Perhaps he had only been gone a few days or months? Yes, that had to be it; he would see Kurenai again one way or another. He just had to get to Konohagakure first—any notion of being summoned to fight in another war never once crossed his mind.

---
AP: 800

The man had a welcoming demeanor that constantly conflicted with his powerful chakra signature. The bearded fellow was quite clearly a warrior, yet everything about him felt off. He seemed to have no clue where he was, or any clue about his villages status with his own. Had the man just awoken from a coma? Or maybe he was just carefree? He was guessing it was the latter, people with power levels such as his could afford to be ignorant to the world around them.

Nonetheless, the man amused him. “I have to say, I like you Sarutobi.” He’d say stretching his arms open wide before gesturing to himself with his open hand. “I’m Komon Hyuuga, I’m a jounin of the hidden cloud” He’d inform the man before using the same hand he’d used to point to himself, to now point out the surrounding area. “And this here is Kumogakure. Needless to say, you’re a long way from home my friend”

The words were true, Konoha was practically on the other side of the continent. “I'd like to let you go, but I can't just let a jounin from another village go walking around in our territory without figuring out what he's up too”

WC: 613

"Kumogakure, huh?"

Asuma furrowed his brow. Why had he been summoned here of all places? It didn't make sense in the slightest. In his first life, he had only ever visited Kumogakure one or two times and even when then his time in the village did not add up to any appreciable amount of time. He had no connection to the land or the people.

"I guess I am a bit far afield, do you mind if I smoke?"

If Komon did not object, Asuma would slowly—so as not to arouse the suspicion of his host—restrieve his lighter and half-empty pack of cigarettes. Then, with a single click of the lighter, ignited a bright flame and lit himself up. Before continuing he held out the pack to the Kumogakure-nin as a show of good faith—he didn't want any trouble. Of course, if Komon objected, then none of this would occur and instead, he would go right on speaking as opposed to smoking and then speaking.

"How can I put your mind at ease?"

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AP: 800

As the man processed his location, his confusion was made apparent by the movement of his brow. It appeared he really was clueless to the situation developing in front of him.

"I guess I am a bit far afield, do you mind if I smoke?"

Komon would shake his head in response. "No, Not at all" and the man would pull out his pouch and do exactly that. After he had lit his own, his attention would divert back to Komon and he'd hold out the pack to him. Thinking of no good reason to reject it and not wanting to offend the man, he'd accept. Casually closing the 10 meters between the two until they both stood under the shade of the same spruce tree.

"Thank you, mind lighting it for me?" After all, the hyuuga didn't carry his own lighter. If the man accepted he'd raise the ciggerate to his mouth and inhale as the man asked what he could do to ease his mind. He'd let the question linger as he thought before letting loose a cloud of smoke. And as grey smoke rose through the leaves of the spruce canopy above him, he’d convey to asuma the blunt truth.

"Sarutobi, I'll be honest."

"The way I see it, you have two options. The first one, which I find infinitely more desirable, is you come back with me. To my village, and we put you through proper questioning to ensure you weren't here with the intent to spy on our village." He'd pause as he drew another ashy breath from the cigarette.

Silence would hang in the air before he eventually released it, and lowered the orange ember to his waist lettting his arm rest. "If you refuse the first option, it tells me you have something to hide." He'd frown, before saying. "And that leads us to the second option."

He didn't want to fight this man, but he would if he refused. "If you're going to pick the second option, I'd like to finish this smoke first" He'd say, seeming to be completely at ease with the concept of a fight on the surface. Despite every instinct in his body pleading him to do otherwise. "Before we fight"

Click.

Click.

The small flame of the lighter burst to life first igniting Asuma's cigarette and then Komon's. For a few blessed breaths, only the sound of rain reigned as each man smoked in silence. The Kumogakure shinobi's voice, however, brought Asuma back to reality. The jounin did not much like either option he was provided; if Kurenai was still alive he couldn't delay his departure any longer, even another minute away from her than was necessary felt like torture. No, neither option was acceptable.

"I'll be honest with you too, if I were a spy you would have never found me," he took a drag on his cigarette. "And I'm none too keen on sending the youth of another village to an early grave."

He paused here and with his free hand removed the picture of his wife from his vest once more.

"This is my wife, Kurenai," he turned the picture towards the Hyuuga. "You're probably too young to understand, but she means the world to me and all I want to do is see her again..."

His eyes swam, but the tears did not come this time—he held them back.

"Is there no way you can find it in your heart to allow me a third option?"

The question hung in the air and even the rain relented as if it too held its breath. All Asuma wanted to do was go home; he had been away for far too long. He longed to see the green canopy of Konohagakure nearly as much as he hoped to once more gaze into Kurenai's red eyes. The question now lay with the Kumogakure shinobi, would he prove himself a gentleman or a scoundrel?

---
AP: 800

*Signs up for LW fight*

*Has Casual Conversation*

*Leaves*

IHU for writing me into this corner

The youth of another village? Komon was amused by the notion, it had been a long time since he'd considered himself a child. The world had not been kind to him, and he had been forced to grow around the circumstances it had provided him. He knew battle, he knew war, and he knew loss. He'd take a puff of the still burning cigarette watching as the ember turned its tip to ash. He was anything but a child at this point.

Then the bearded man would speak again. And Komon knew in an instant he had lost the verbal battle, the slip of paper the man revealed showed a woman with red eyes and black hair, she was beautiful. "This is my wife, Kurenai" The smoke from his earlier puff would  release as asuma finished speaking, requesting a third option in the process.

Dammit

The hyuuga would think to himself as he the dropped burning stick to the ground and stomped it beneath his boot and into the mud. The two would stand in silence with nothing but the sound of pouring rain between them as Komon considered the idea. As he thought of the man's situations his thoughts fell back to the woman waiting for him in Kumogakure. And he knew at that very moment he had to let the man go. After all, he had a family to return to, and Komon would never allow himself to cause that level of loss.

Not when he knew it himself. Seconds would pass before he finally broke the silence, "Konoha is that way" And his finger would point in it's true direction. "If I catch you here again, we're going straight to the second option" He'd pause momentarily, wondering if he was making the right decision. "Go Home to your wife Asuma"

==Possible Exit==
WC: 1298
Claiming 1298/3000 towards st/wep spec change

(Posted on wrong account, oops)

Approved unless interrupted.