A New Story

The Hammer Falls:

When Ages had arrived back from his stay in the mysterious world of the cat summons realm, and after glancing blows with death, he did not expect to return home to more dangers and more mysteries. The sounds coming from his bed room perturbed him, so much so that he was quick to find and light a lamp. Hoping to drown out the darkness with the oil lamp he held in his hand, he approached his bed room door.

It had been a long morning for him and so he thought he could rest a further two more hours before the light of mid-day arrived. When he popped back into existence in front of his door, through aid of Kinjo's reverse summons, he thought he would jump into bed while it was still dim outside. Now he desperately wished it was brighter inside his home.

Ages opened his bed room door, the sound behind it persisted, unarmed and still in his pyjamas he pressed on determined to confront the noise intruding his home. The clang remained unchanged, *bang rattle bang rattle*, even as his door creaked wide open. The figure in his room did not turn to face the light, *bang rattle, bang rattle*, it continued to make the nerve-racking racket. *Bang rattle*, Breathing laboured breaths, *bang rattle*, crimson marked its steps, *Bang rattle, bang rattle* from the hollow bamboo walls it echo through the depths, *Bang rattle, Bang Rattle* and as Argies raised the orb of light within his hand, *Bang rattle* the blank face, of the intruder, did twice his heart pace.

*BANG RATTLE!*

"WHO THE SHIPPUDEN ARE YOU!" Argies shouted jumping and crouching away from the threat fully expecting a reply in the form of attack.

The beast entranced, neither looking left nor right, did not respond or stop its infernal knocking. It was the intelligence ninja who probed Argie's mind while he slept, only now he was lost of all senses; walking into a wall only to bounce off and walk again.

Argies placed a hand over his beating heart in thought to try and prevent it pounding out of his chest. In all of this he realised that the man in his room was going nowhere, while he rested his nerves he analysed the man by his outfit.

A ninja in a grey uniform, a belt but no ninja pouch or shuriken holster; this is a non-combative ninja, meaning his abilities are something other than confrontation.

Argies wondered where he had seen grey in the uniforms and code of arms he memorised after the Bukijutsu interrogation, and there was only one possibility which fit in connection to the Leaf head band his intruder wore.

"You are from the intelligence division?" On speaking his thoughts out loud to the ninja stuck on repeat, the man replied.

"Could you tell me where Ibiki is?" His eyes wide open yet staring at nothing, a broken nose and rigid features, the intelligence ninja did not shift or move from out of the actions he repeated, bloodying the wall further as he walked into it again. Still he spoke, meaning his actions weren't without the ability to be reprogramed.

"I-I could show you where he is?" Argies cringed.

...

The Reluctant Approach:

I cannot believe what I was offering. This guy just broke into my house, although I haven't found any sign of forced entry... yet. "*Sigh* Curse these cracks that must be ever filled with more gaps, so that the ground I stand on be constantly filled with hovels I must leap." This sucks.

'Time to figure this thing out instead of mumbling to myself like an idiot in the dark' "Well the only thing to do now is get changed and ... no you know what. Ha, I don't have time for this." I smiled with seething hatred. "If I wasn't so loyal to the Leaf I would be sleeping right now, who knows maybe your drumming will even help." Pointing at the soulless corpse of a ninja I saw in front of me, I grimaced and berated the foul winds of time Tengu blew my way. "You better be on some important mission buddy, or else I might just take up psychiatry and smack some sense into you!"