A New Story

Explanation Camp:

We were sent on a special mission to stake out a patch of the forests that held rumours of a sighting, a very peculiar sighting. In the world of Shinobi there were very few things that frightened Villages. Of the worst of them was war, but the thing that frightened Shinobi the most was like any other fear and inspired by the lack of understanding. Anything that we didn't know how to kill, seemed to make many people very high up scared. Ghosts, Oni and Yokai were of the few I only recently discovered were real threats in the Shinobi world, and although I've only ever seen Naoki's Yokai hound as proof, I have been given enough confidence from Tsunada's reaction and Yuu's accusation to believe with relative certainty; that there is reason to fear the shallow hallows of the brimstone night. Still our mission was not about the clairvoyant mysteries of the unknown world of spirits, instead we were seeking to investigate the rumours of flying ninja.

A small village outside the Leaf had reports of seeing a dark figure like shadow flying in the dusk; a beast the size of a man, with glowing eyes and wings for arms, who spoke and screeched like a bird and human. It was reported as a human faced Owl and made many people worried.

Alone the prospect of a half human half bird thing was very frightening, but to a ninja village it meant so much more. Looking at it as a threat from the sky, making all ground defences redundant, there were no tactics in the Leaf against an attack from above. Ninja can't fly, at least not very many. From my brief encounter with Taka's team of Silver White and Grey, I didn't get to see her flying not even once but if the gossip is true she can. Meaning that the Leaf has a good reason to fear flying ninja and I'm sure they are already developing strategies against it.

Despite the fear and danger they can't draw too much attention to their worries. These were still ridiculous rumours to some, no one would take a Hokage seriously if she believed every threat was real. This is why we have been sent. A small team that even if we did find something, our horrible deaths or half survived tales could be discounted as nothing more than inexperienced Genin who managed to die on their first mission outside the Leaf. That and sending an elite team out was presently out of the question, after the invasion of the Leaf and Yuu's test we have had to seem strong and elite ninja were being assigned only the most important of missions.

With map in hand Hakari took the lead, we were getting closer to the location that was marked out on it, with our packs on our backs and smiles on our faces we confronted the world outside the Leaf together. "Amoroto?" Hakari drew in a question to the boys' name, perking his ears and lifting his head up off from staring at the ground. "Do you have any other abilities besides your singing jutsu? I mean if we were suddenly attacked you wouldn't have to scribble down a few verses of a song before you could retaliate would you?"

Amoroto said nothing and I assumed the worst, staring him down with scrutinising eyes that pierce at his side, we walked on. It was an unnerving thought, if he had a delay in everything he did then our team would always be a two man operation waiting on him to respond. Still staring into his eyes I looked away suddenly ashamed to looking directly at him, but it wasn't his lacking but mine that made me change my scorn. I was doing exactly what other teams did to him, I was looking at him as a tool and on how I could better use him, I wasn't thinking about him but myself. Nevertheless I don't want to die because of his frailties out numberings our competences. "Speak up Amoroto, I do not want to learn this during battle." I sided with a harder love, he is a ninja and I cannot afford to offer him soft commands concerning our survivability outside the Leaf.

Amoroto stopped walking and we all stood waiting for an answer. "My pray seals..." his words caught, choked off by our mugging of his flimsy confidence, he cast his eyes about but there was nowhere for him to hid.