[Naruto d20: Group 2] Just Circlin' the Drain

[ZeroNumerous]

Tentaki Pass

"I'm dreadfully sorry you had to see this. This means I can't let you go. I'm terribly sorry kids, but it's time for you to die."

The beast speaks with the voice of a songbird as it steps forward. Smoke and ash billows from it's open mouth, and terrible heat emanates from it's flesh. Two pieces of burnt wood stick out of rapidly closing wounds. Soon the monster tears the arrows free and they scatter into a cloud of ash. The creature crosses the hundred foot gap between itself and the bow-armed shinobi in a heartbeat. A blazing red cloak made of powerful chakra washes over the two ninja, and soon they join their arrows as ash. It breathes their aura in, absorbing what they were and what they could have been. It turns to the northwest and unleashes an unearthly howl.

Hall of the Eggshell Princess

What was once known as Tentaki Pass had now become known as the Hall of the Eggshell Princess. A rumor says that a group of ninja led by a powerful jounin from Iwagakure held this pass against the Horde for ten days and nights. At the end of the battle all of the ninja were dead, but not one of them had a single wound upon their backs and not one oni had gotten past them.

You trek through the extremely sparsely vegetated mountain pass with caution, but oni haven't tried to pass this far into the Land of Stone since they first appeared. As you venture down the mountain and head from the Land of Stone into the Land of the Oni you soon find yourself looking at a small fortress.

The square stone structure is purely economical in design, and clearly the product of a distinct purpose. It serves to guard the only passage into the Land of Stone from the Land of the Oni, and does nothing more. Even now you spot the armored ninja guarding it's roof, and surely they've sent someone to greet you. A few seconds pass and a smoke cloud explodes into existence behind you. A stone-nin steps out of the smoke to greet you with a critical eye to your hands and weapons.

"Good evening, sirs, ma'am. Are you the group we were told to expect by the Tsuchikage? The ones heading down to investigate the Horde?"

[casualcryptic]

Akkimori stands almost exactly four feet tall and is covered from head to toe in a solid black cloak, his face, the only part of his body aside from his hands that are not covered by the cloak, is wearing a mask, not unlike that of the anbu, but with similar colors, but tribal designs consisting of three eyes colored on the mask and a system of tooth-like protrusions along the cheeks. He stands close to the center of the group, only moving (rather quickly) out when he has something to say. "These are those people. Yes." Akkimori's voice comes out oddly discomforting, like raspy silk. It has that quality in it sounds strangely feminine, like that of an old woman dying of lung cancer, only just enough to be noticeable. He speaks with slight agitation. "Why need you know this?" Each time he spoke his voice was clearly audible, yet sounded as if it was a whisper being carried from a great distance away.

[Sir Shadow]

"Chill out Ringo, we could be a traveling band of oni in disguise for all they know." Haiiro raises a hand to passivize his more aggressive teammate. The taller nin's features are hidden beneath a large cloak, but otherwise, he appears to wear normal ninja attire.

He raises one hand open to show he is unarmed as he moves his other hand inside his cloak to withdraw an envelope. "They're just doing their jobs... Yes, we are the group heading into Oni Lands to investigate, I think you'll find everything in order." He nonchalantly gestures to the man behind them with his envelope.

[Eurus]

The group's token female member doesn't immediately reply at all, studying the distant sky above the Land of Oni. An out-of-place parasol leans demurely against one of her shoulders, its shade irrelevant in the mountain's shadow. The rest of her clothes are an eclectic combination of shinobi gear and more civilian clothing; weapons and medical kits dot a skirt-and-jacket ensemble, and an overlarge scroll rests on her back. She finally responds, but still in a rather preoccupied state.

"...Yes, what he said."

[casualcryptic]

Akimori scoughs at Haiiro's comment and folds his arms. Though he appears to be rather docile, the two would have been around him long enough to know of his odd dialect and also of his strange bizarre and unexplainable moodiness. "Lots of people do jobs. I am doing a job. These people are delaying my job. Yet I ask what they are doing with politeness and you say that Akimori could be an oni. Fi on you and your kin Haiiro for yours is the mouth that carries rudeness on it's tongue. Hmph."

[ZeroNumerous]

NPC

The stone-nin, little more than a boy, steps forward and retrieves the envelope from Haiiro. He flips it open, reads the letter, tucks it back into the envelope and passes it back to Haiiro all in the space of a few seconds.

"I've seen what I needed to see. If you head up to the fort, you'll be able to requisition any extra supplies we have to offer. Otherwise, heading down the mountain will take you into what-was-once the Land of Rain, just two miles north of what's left of Amegakure. Good luck."

He bows to the group, then performs a half-sign and explodes into a cloud of smoke. When the smoke settles he is gone, likely back inside the fortress, and your group is alone once more.

[Sir Shadow]

"Now, I take exception to that, Ringo," Haiiro says very casually as the boy takes the papers, "You know very well that the only thing I carry on my tongue is deceit. I am the absolute paragon of etiquette." With a smirk, he accepts it back and it quickly disappears once more into his cloak.

Before the boy can leave the scene, Haiiro is already on his way up toward the fortress, trusting the other two to follow in their own time. He has a few questions for the guard, but otherwise doesn't he will ask for further supplies.

[casualcryptic]

Akkimori growls but seems otherwise unaffected. "Etiquette? What good is etiquette? Can you eat it? No. Can you use it to bludgeon out someone's eyes? No. Can you trade it at market for a chicken? Absolutely not?! Then there is no use for etiquette."

[Sir Shadow]

"You might not be able to trade it for a chicken, but I know I could get one with it." He smirks, "It might do you a little good to learn some manners, Ringo. Not everyone is looking for a fight, and we are in Iwa territory." He fiddles with a few things in his cloak, but doesn't seem too concerned with the bounty hunter's protests.

Haiiro looks thoughtful as he continues walking. "You know... I could probably bludgeon someone's head in with polite words...

[casualcryptic]

"I once knew a soldier with good manners. He liked bowing before fighting. One day he bows and I lop off his head. Maybe you're right. Maybe manners manners not always get your head chopped off. But! Akkimori collected the bounty on Mr. Bowing Soldier. Moral of story: Why use manners when you can use sword? Also, while subject is clear: no such things as Iwa territory. There is only mine and not mine, and someday there won't even be that." He continues walking in silence with Haiiro for some time. After a few minutes his curiosity seems to get the better of him. "How would you do that?"

[Sir Shadow]

Haiiro chuckles as the shorter ninja tells his story. "Manners have no place on the battlefield, for certain, but your allies won't stay allies for long if you treat them like annoyances. They might even be more inclined to do what you want if you lay a foundation of kind words to build on."

He scratches his chin, "Hmmm... I'm still thinking about that. Just don't look directly in my eyes or relax when I'm speaking to you--I wouldn't want to make your head explode accidentally while I figure out the details."

[casualcryptic]

Akkimori goes silent for a second and stops moving. "Who says Akkimori has eyes? Who spreads these false rumors? I am mask and shroud, no more." He starts moving again, only stopping to verbalize a scowl when Haiiro's comment hits home. "Make Akkimori's head explode he says. No respect for good killers anymore. That's what makes bounties here so easy to take."

[Eurus]

Carefully folding up her parasol, Tsukimi sighs at the exchange. "You would be surprised, dear Akkun. Good enough manners, you might not even need a sword."

Despite her reply, she doesn't seem particularly invested in the conversation, making her way into the fortress.

[casualcryptic]

Akkimori looks back and forth from one ninja to the other. "I can't believe Akkimori's ears! Might not need sword? Might as well say not need Akkimori's head! The sooner we reach oni country, the happier. Then we see you bludgeon in heads with etiquette, eh?"

[Sir Shadow]

"Mmm, no, I don't suppose I'd waste etiquette on the oni anyways." Haiiro muses.

[Eurus]

Tsukimi flashes a grin and taps the side of her nose. "Don't need to if I have you to do the head-smashing for me, right?"

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The group arrives at the border fort with little trouble. They're greeted at the gate by a dark-eyed, dark-haired man whose lineage seems familiar, but they can't quite place where he's from. Regardless of his place of birth, he provides the group with three maps of the Pass (http://img703.imageshack.us/i/newbitmapimagegb.png/) and the area near it.

"Do be careful about passing into the Old Rain Cloud. Amegakure... isn't a place for humans anymore. It's best to take the path marked on the map, avoid the forest and head through the Land of Rain into the Land of Fire directly. From there, well, you'll be on your own. Is there anything you need?"

[Sir Shadow]

Haiiro thanks them for the information and their worry, but assures them that the group has no intention of heading under the raincloud. "Has there been any unusual activity lately?"