A True Kage [Invite Only]

Marquetta was a person of the people: that is to say she didn't stay seated up in her office all day pushing paperwork and enjoying the air conditioning while everyone else ran around and risked their lives. No, she preferred to be out in the markets, in the residential districts, helping and getting to know the people whose job it was for her to protect and take care of. Her belief was simple: if you didn't know the people then how would you know what they needed and wanted?

Marquetta was dressed in her usual typical fashion: a red top that covered just her chest and which had white long sleeves cuffed with red. The top showed off her darkly tanned skin and the muscles she had been packing since she was a young girl – perks of being a Yanagi and moving earth around since you were three years old. The bottom half of her was covered in a pair of baggy red pants the same tint of red as her top; the pant legs were baggy and the pants hug low on her hips. Over her hair was a red bandana; helping to keep her black wild-looking hair out of her face, and over top of this would be the only indication of her position within the village – the Sabakugakure kage hat. Normally she didn't bother with the hat, but the brim of it worked wonders in keeping the sun out of her eyes which worked wonders on the headache she was sprouting today – too much drinking to unwind after a nasty meeting the night before with the council.

Still, a smile was on her face, and there a nod and wave for every person who said hello to her. Marquetta had a few things to do today: she needed to check out an incident in the market, stop by the local orphanage to see how the rebuilding was going and to ensure that everything was on schedule, and she had to stop by the Holeman Clinic because there was some thanks in order she needed to give.

For now, though, she was in the middle of heading towards the market – feeling she'd kill two birds with one stone while she was there. However, the sound of panic caught her attention. The crowd was too thick for her to see what was going on with her normal eyes and so she focused on Shinsai and used the earth itself to see what was going on. Nearly a block away she could see what was clearly a fire that had broken out in a bakery. The fear and panic was caused not only because the bakery was attached to buildings on either side, but because of the apartment building that was above the bakery itself looked as if it housed at least five apartments easily: and it did. The fire was already burning out of control, people rushing out the door or down the fire escape as the fire began to spread up the building itself.

”Damnit!”, Marquetta bit out as she changed back to her eyes to see. There was no way she would make it through this crowd, and so with that in mind she jumped up and grabbed hold of the closet street light. She pulled herself up until she was standing on it and then used it as a jumping point to the nearest roof. From there she ran along the roof, heading towards the burning building while so many were running from it. She stopped roughly three buildings away and once more used Shinsai to see, searching for anyone left inside of the burning structure.

As she searched she could hear a panicked female scream coming from down below in the streets, ”My baby! Somebody save my baby! She's inside! Please save my baby!” Marquetta saw her then, trapped on the middle floor. The little girl was curled up on the floor with a blanket over her, likely crying. Not hesitating Marquetta ran over the next three roof tops until she reached the building that was on fire – the fire having not hit the roof yet. Some of the people coming out of the building were burned or harmed, but that did nothing to stop Marquetta from climbing down the front of the structure and into a window on the third floor. The flames and heat licked at her legs and arms but it was nothing she wasn't used to: fire was second nature to her – though she knew she had to reach the little girl before the flames did. As she moved through the flames she heard a cracking noise; the structure was beginning to fail, bits and pieces of the ceiling falling down. Twice, Marquetta had to lift her arms and protect her head against the falling debris, not giving a second thought to the hat that was going from bright white to soot black on her head.

”Little girl! If you can hear me I'm coming to get you. Stay where you are and keep your head covered, okay?” The smoke was choking, and she could only imagine that the little girl would be worse off than her were she to inhale some. Marquetta left one apartment and entered into the proper one that the little girl was in, still having to move cautiously as bits and pieces of the roof continued to fall due to the damage from the raging inferno. She kicked in the apartment door, not even bothering with the door because of how hot the doorknob would be by now. ”Keep your head covered, I'm coming to get you!”, Marquetta repeated.

Seconds later she reached her, scooping the child up blanket and all and holding her close to her. However, the building was beginning to crack and groan far more than it had before, and she felt the floor begin to shake. She withheld the curse that wanted to escape her mouth – she didn't want to swear in front of the already scared child – as she made her way over to the window. In the back of her mind Marquetta knew that if someone didn't get control of this fire soon enough it was going to spread to the surrounding buildings. But, she couldn't focus on that now, instead she needed to focus on the child coughing in her arms.

3 kids dropped in from above. One had a skull cap pulled down to his nose, wearing a wife beater that was too big for him, shorts and sandals. Red spikes of hair stuck out from random parts of the skull cap.

One was a girl, with a bunny mask pulled down to her nose with long droopy hears flapping around behind her. She was wearing a white dress that she had to hold down as they dropped.

Between them was Holeman, the clan prodigy. He had a red du-rag on his head pulled down to his nose, and headphones over his ears. He wore the standard Uchiha short sleeved dark blue shirt. He had on red slacks, red sandals, and red fingerless gloves. Medical tape was wrapped around his forearms.

They'd spotted the fire, and someone of immense power go running into the flames. It was possibly the Kage. The fire was getting out of control and no matter how powerful the Kage was, she wouldn't be able to stop it from spreading alone. So, Holemans to the rescue. Holeman himself was going to come alone, but his little brother and sister begged him to let them come help.

So, the 3 dropped in and landed. Bart and Joy began to pull people away from the fire, and heal them with the medical techniques they knew. Holeman looked at the raging fire with a grin. After quickly forming hand signs, Holeman created identical clones of himself out of water, 15 in total.

Multi Water Clone Technique:

Chakra: 880/900

Holeman sent the clones rushing into the raging fire. the clones dove into the flames, exploding themselves and causing water to splash everywhere. The more clones that ran in, the more that the fire began to die out.

The floor started to give way and collapse. Holeman quickly ran in, grabbing one of the collapsing beams that was holding the floors up. Using his Chakra Enhanced Strength, Holeman easily set the beam back up in a position to where the floor wouldn't collapse, and the Kage upstairs would be able to escape.

By then, the clones had everything smoking and wet, and the fires were out. Someone outside was amazed, saying that some kid ran in and held the floor up with their bare hands. "I just got lucky," Holeman said, dusting his hands off.

"That's what you always say bro," said Joy.

Something started to feel familiar about this place. When Alec stepped off of the dock area, he could see some commotion, probably because of the smoke rising from the distance. Alec did a scan, zooming in on the situation. There was a fire. Someone very strong was inside of the building that was on fire with a small person in their arms. Several people were outside, burned and hurt. There appeared to be kids tending to their wounds; kids that had their eyes covered, just like a certain medical prodigy he knew. There was someone else outside too, small, but powerful. When Alec got a good look at him, he was the very medical prodigy he had in mind.

"Holeman? Here? On this continent?" he said out loud. When did he get here? If him and the Holeman clan were here in this desert, then an alliance between he and the Kage here was all but guaranteed. Holeman appeared to be putting out the fire. He formed many water clones and caused them to "suicide" themselves into the flames, effectively smothering them. The kids with their heads covered that were healing people, they had to be his siblings, or other members of the clan.

"Alec, sir," said one of the Mossberg's crew. "The crew will be around the village, likely at the local pubs and houses of... (ahem) pleasure. Most of us have wireless comms like you all, if you need us just give a holler."

Alec shook his hand. "Enjoy yourselves," he said. "Just... try and stay out of trouble, yeah? I'll let you know when it's time to set out again. The ride from here to Mori will be longer and possibly more dangerous than this one, so you and the guys might wanna stock up on some weapons too, while you're at it."

"Will do, sir."

Alec turned to Atremis, Jynx and Konran "Come on you all, i'll introduce you to an old friend... well, he's not exactly old, but you get what i'm saying..." Then he was in the air, on the roof of the nearest building, to the surprise of many standing around. He began to quickly make his way towards the rising smoke, but was careful not to go as fast as he could so that everyone could keep up with him.

Artemis found that what her father had said was right: that ship ride hadn't been bad at all with her father at the wheel. In fact, it had been quite enjoyable. She had gotten to see some exotic animals native to both the darkness and the sandy brightness, and better yet she now got to see a new village. Sabakugakure was exceptionally large and hot with a river that curved around it. There were children playing in the water further down; splashing each other and laughing.

The market was buzzing and busy, but yet there seemed to be a commotion of sorts going on. In the distance she could see black smoke as if something was on fire. Sure enough the people muttering and calling out to each other, talking about some bakery that had burst into flames, confirmed this.

Artemis looked towards her father as she heard him say that Holeman was here. She had heard about the prodigy medic but had never met him personally, and now she'd have a chance. Grinning a bit she would catch up to her father and follow after him.

Freshly off of the ship and already Jynx could spot trouble. There seemed to be a fire not all that far in the distance, the smell of the burning materials enough to make her nose wrinkle a bit in dislike. There were individuals inside of the building; including one who made clones out of water that suicided themselves and put out the flames. Above that individual was another who was carrying a much smaller individual in their arms. The individual on the bottom seemed to be holding up a beam so that the ceiling didn't collapse, causing the individuals above to fall and become hurt.

The boat trip had been interesting, and she had gotten to see a lot with her new vision, but now she was excited for the chance to explore Sabakugakure and see the sights. Alec mentioned then that Holeman was here; and she figured this was the person Alec said he wanted to introduce them to.

The crew was off to have some fun, apparently, and had a method of keeping in contact with Alec in case they were needed which was good too. Alec even mentioned that the trip to Morigakure would likely be more dangerous than this trip had been, which made Jynx want to train a bit before they left depending on how long they were going to be here.

She too would turn and follow after Alec and Artemis, noticing the smoke was slowly disappearing from the sky.

(#12)
Sabakugakure. He'd read about this village and saw pictures in books. He never thought he'd be here himself. Leaving his bag behind on the ship, Konran took only the Shift Blade and his ninja utensils as he stepped off of the Mossberg with Alec, Artemis and Jynx. After a short conversation with one of the crew, Alec noticed something. Konran himself had a look, and saw smoke rising in the distance.

Alec mentioned that Holeman was here, the same Holeman who was a genius medic and had done surgery on his eyes. He and the others took off, and Konran wasn't far behind, clutching the Shift Blade as he jumped after them, leaving behind a smoke trail.

He stared about in fascination while keeping up with the others. A village in the sand. He wondered how the people could live here in the extreme heat. Konran didn't mind the sun at all, it was just the heat. The more time he spent in it, the more he seemed to have an orange glow about him.

Konran jumped from roof to roof, following along behind Artemis, Jynx and Alec.

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The raging inferno was suddenly extinguished by multiple water clones that all but offed themselves to explode water down on the situation: a useful technique and an effective one. Steam filled the air as water met heat and all but forced it to evaporate. As Marquetta neared the window, taking careful and cautious steps she noticed that the floor hadn't yet given way and through shinsai could see why: an individual whom she recognized to be Holeman from the village file she had on him was holding it up – likely so they could escape without serious injury.

Marquetta didn't hesitate as she stepped onto the ledge and jumped while holding the small blanket wrapped child to her. She landed on a crouch, careful not to jostle the child too much, before releasing her onto her own two feet and removing the blanket. The child, thankfully not coughing due to the blanket having protected her from the smoke, ran to her mother who was in tears. Several individuals nearby pointed to Marquetta and the fact that her skin was smoking yet unharmed; the air around her wavering from how hot her body temperature was compared to the air of the desert.

"No need to worry; no need. I'm pretty much fire proof. Just got a little hot is all.", she responded, not obviously wanting them to fret about her. Marquetta turned her attention back to the building, wondering if Holeman had gotten out yet or not and hoping he was uninjured. She also began to look over the damage: there was structural damage that would have to be fixed, but if something wasn't done for a temporary solution now the whole building would fall sooner or later. Thinking quickly Marquetta focused on the earth beneath the building, and then reached out with her hand and made a pulling motion in an upwards direction. From the ground underneath of the shop came, carefully, stone pillars more than strong enough to support the floors and to keep them from falling. She was cautious in case anyone was still inside, as well as to ensure the job was done properly so that nothing would fall later.

Several of the onlookers cheered and Marquetta just grinned a bit and took off her hat, beating some of the soot off of it and noticing that it was mostly unscathed. Suddenly, Marquetta felt a tug on her sleeve and looked down to see the little girl she had saved standing there and looking up at her. "But, you're the kage. Why'd you save me, I'm a nobody."

Marquetta forced back her frown and simply kneeled in front of the little girl. She poked her gently on the nose with a smile, "Everybody is a somebody, little one. We all have a part to play in this world; and no one is above anyone else. You needed saving, and it's my job to keep all of you save." The little girl smiled, hugged her which shocked Marquetta though she did return the gesture carefully, and then the little girl ran back to her mother who was crying giant happy tears.

Marquetta then stood up, calling out, "Holeman?"

Holeman was sort of surprised that the Kage this time around was a female. She managed to get out of the building with the kid she rushed in to rescue. Holeman could see that a lot of heat was coming off of her, but she wasn't hurt. Using the famed Yanagi techniques he'd heard about from Hikari and Kurai back in Makkura, she fixed the building so that it wouldn't fall. By then, all of the fires were out, and everything was burned, but wet. White colored smoke rose from the building.

Bart and Joy were busy healing those who got injured, getting in a good bit of practice with their healing techniques. No one seemed seriously injured, so he wouldn't have to break out with the heavier medical treatment. The kid asked why the Kage saved her, and she responded that it was her job to look after everyone. Holeman just scratched his head. he'd heard that line a couple of times before, but knew enough not to rely on someone else, but himself. History with sand kage had not been kind.

Marquetta then turned toward him, and called him by name. Holeman was all to used to what was coming next too: a thanks, a good job, and then he'd probably never hear from her again. He was used to it, so it was fine. Then again, he knew it was wrong to judge people from past experiences; maybe this time it would be different. But he still had his doubts.

"Yeah, that's me," he said. "No need to thank me, just doin what anybody else would have..."

Alec arrived on the scene, standing on the roof of a building nearby. The fire was out. The people inside were rescued and pulled away from the scene, most of them being healed by two small children, likely some of Holeman's relatives. A tanned chick jumped out of the damaged and burned building with a kid. She had a lot of chakra and power built up within her, so she either had to be the Kage, or someone close to the Kage.

Then there was Holeman, his old buddy. He still looked the same, but Alec could tell that he'd been doing some training. Alec wondered what kind of new abilities the kid came up with; he was sure there were many. How long had he been here? Alec had no idea the kid traveled here to this continent; the last he knew, Mitsukai was the Kage of Suna, while he and Kinzoku were her bodyguards.

It was good to see he was alright. "Fancy running into you way out here, kid," Alec said with a grin. "Long time no see!"

Across rooftops and after her father she went, easily keeping up as they moved towards where the commotion and what was obviously a fire was. It seemed like the majority of the building had been damaged, yet the fire was now out and everything was very wet. Artemis skidded to a stop next to her father and looked over the ledge and down below. She could see little kids healing those who had been injured in the fire and a strong looking female with what looked to be a kage hat. She had to be the kage if she had one of those, which meant she was considered one of the strongest people in the village: a feat not easily obtained.

Artemis then looked towards the kid with the red durag over his head, recognizing him from the stories that had been told. Artemis simply grinned from ear to ear, looking at everything. Sabakugakure definitely an interesting place to see so far; and she was curious to hear if someone set this fire on purpose or if it had been an accident.

"I wonder if that lady with the hat is the actual kage of the village...", Artemis wondered out loud.

With her new sight Jynx found herself able to keep up easily. Leaping from roof top to roof top was nothing now due to there being no blank spaces when she lifted up her feet like there was when using Shinsai. This new sight ability that Alec had given her was definitely coming in handy, and she was very thankful for it. Alec and Artemis came to a stop and Jynx stopped a few seconds later nearby. She didn't need to go to the edge anymore to see what was going on. The building that had been on fire was worst in the bottom area in what looked to be a large cooking area – obviously a bakery of sorts. Artemis figured that there had likely been some sort of cooking incident that had caused the destruction.

She could see two little kids going around healing those who had been injured – they had their eyes covered similar to herself – and there was also an older boy who looked perhaps ten years old who was likewise covering his eyes. Jynx figured that that had to be Holeman, the one she had heard the stories about. Jynx grinned from ear to ear.

"Wow... those little kids are healing people? That's so cool!", Jynx commented as she continued to look around via the chakra radar. Nearby the little kids was a strong looking dark skinned woman with what she recognized as a kage hat: so Jynx figured she had to be the ruler of the whole village. Jynx couldn't fathom what the leader of the village was doing pulling people out of burning buildings, but perhaps she did stuff differently in Sabakugakure?

(#13)
Konran jumped and jumped. He'd never did this before, but that wasn't to say that he couldn't. It felt great being out in open space like this, where he could stretch his legs and exert all of the energy built up inside of him. His dog tags that hung around his neck jingling as he landed on a roof, ran then jumped through the air to land on another one, Konran came to a stop when everyone else did.

He sat down next to Jynx and leaned the Shift Blade on his left shoulder, and looked upon the scene. A building had caught fire and burned, but now it looked like it had been drenched in a lot of water. White smoke was rising. There was a woman with a hat on. She was dressed in a manner that looked like it let her avoid the heat. Konran wasn't a person that could read people, but he guessed that she was someone important, and someone strong.

Nearby, there were 2 little kids that looked like they were healing the people who'd been caught up in the building when it went ablaze. One had a black hat on pulled down over his eyes, the other, a girl, looked like she had a rabbit on her face. Near them was another kid who looked a little older, but he was muscular. A muscular kid?... He had on a blue shirt with a symbol on the back that he recognized to be the symbol of the Uchiha Clan. He also had on a red rag on his head that, like the kids, covered his eyes. This had to be Holeman, the guy who taught him the chakra radar Alec told him about on the way here.

Konran had nothing to add, and kept quiet. The glow surrounding him continued to grow somewhat brighter since he was out in the sun for the first time. Konran thought about what would happen if he were to use the light techniques now that he was absorbing real light. The artificial light back at the facility had worked for examples, but he knew real light would be far more destructive...

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"Oh? But there is a need to thank you, Holeman. Not only for what you did here today with helping with the fire, but because of how you helped Kouten. I've been keeping an eye on the girl; she's doing better now because of you. That's worth a thanks.", Marquetta explained. She then would turn her attention back to her handy work with the beams of earth: they were holding up well even with the full weight of the structure now resting and settled on them which meant it would be safe to start the clean up and repairs as soon as everything finished cooling down. She would ensure that this bakery was good as new.

The bakery owner was nearby, and the man looked devastated. He had both of his children with him, and his wife as well: they were all looking at the ruins of their livelihood with fear and sadness. Marquetta didn't hesitate then, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper and a pen. She made quick work jotting a note down on it and then walked over and handed it to the bakery owner, closing his hand gently around it. "Take this to the bank, it's instructions for them to pull ryo out of my account. It'll be enough to sustain you and your family for a while. I'm also putting you guys up in one of the spare apartments we have while we get your shop fixed up."

"But, I have nothing to repay you with..", the man started, stopping as he saw Mar shake her head.

"No need for that. Just promise me that when you have the chance to help someone else you will." The man smiled and nodded while his wife burst into tears of happiness. The kids were grinning as their mother and father led them away and to the bank.

Mar turned back around, noticing several individuals on a nearby rooftop: one of which looked to be blind due to having his eyes covered. Before she could say anything however one of her ANBU arrived on the scene and approached her quickly. Frowning a bit Mar's attention shifted onto the ANBU member. "What's wrong?"

"We've received reports that he is in the area. We were watching the borders like you instructed, but I'm afraid he slipped past our grasp and blended in with the crowd. We didn't get a good look at him without that mask and robe on, but they were what Kouten described perfectly..."

"Son of a bitch... I was afraid that bastard would come back for her. Alright, keep up the guard. I'll handle letting her know personally..." The ANBU member disappeared after that, taking off in a blur whle Mar reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose like she had a headache. This day was just getting /better/ and /better/. Frowning still she dropped her hand and looked over to the individuals on the roof: they didn't look familiar, but most of them looked strong. Where had they come from and who was it the blind one was calling to?

She said that she did have to thank him, not only for his work right here, but also for healing up Kouten. She said that Kouten was doing much better now because of what he'd done. That was good to hear. "Well, I tried to heal her brother too, if he needed it," Holeman replied, remembering the other day in the park. "...But he's... starting to seem kinda... funny acting. I donno, maybe it's too early to judge, but he just seems kinda... off."

"It looked like he was trying to hit on Mitsukai if you ask me," said Joy, nearby, using a healing technique that Holeman taught her designed to mend small wounds called Chiyute no Jutsu. Holeman made a cackling noise that caused Bart to laugh some, also nearby, healing an old man. "I've seen that look on a boy's face enough times with my radar, and mom told me. I think he liked her."

"Boooo. Bro said he's known her forever," Bart added. "He told me all the stories about the bad guys they used to beat up. They used to do everything together. Some other guy trying to get in between that? Yeah right..."

Too bad. Holeman could have used another male friend. It seemed like half the time he was surrounded by girls, besides his little brother, and not that he minded a bunch of girls, but that wasn't the same. Someone around his age that he could relate to would have been cool. But then again, like he'd just said to Marquetta, maybe it was too early to judge.

To him being thanked, Holeman didn't respond to that, he only grinned, because he was convinced that he wasn't going to see or hear anything from her anymore, and it was just going to be the same thing over again. He'd seen it too many times in his young age. The Kages of villages just didn't seem to care much about their prodigies. It was just the way it was. The only village leaders that he'd encountered in his 10 years that genuinely seemed to give a damn were Aisling, and--

"Fancy running into you way out here, kid," came a voice behind him. "Long time no see!"

A familar sounding voice. Holeman had only been paying attention to the immediate surroundings to make sure there were no other injured, so he hadn't seen them arrive or approach. He saw now that there were 4 of them, and a ship in the harbor full of people he'd never seen before. 3 of them were kids, but all of them were powerful. There was a boy with a sword that had smoke coming off of it. It looked like he was glowing in the sunlight. There was a girl who looked like she was a cross between a human and a monkey, wearing a blindfold. There was another girl who highly resembled the tall man in black standing next to her, whom he recognized to be Alec Kane.

Alec? Here? Well this was a true surprise. "Alec Kane, huh? Yeah, it is fancy being run into," Holeman said, his grin becoming wider. Bart and Joy turned to look at them too. "I sorta figure that you'd make the journey here sometime in the near future... but uh, it's not the same old "Dark" thing, is it?..." He was hoping that Alec wasn't going to come over here causing havoc like the last 2 continents, ravaging villages and assassinating Kage. "I can't have any parts of that now man. I've got little brothers and sisters and cousins, and my mom is pregnant again, and my big sister is too. I have to 'set an example' and all that..."

Sensitive ears pick up on a conversation behind him though. He didn't really start paying attention until Kouten was mentioned. Someone was in the area. Apparently Kouten had described what this guy looked like, and Marquetta said something about him coming for her. Holeman put 2 and 2 together and figured that maybe whoever beat on her and gave her all of those injuries was coming back to do it again.

Holeman spent a lot of time developing new techniques. Someone to test them on, especially a woman beater... Holeman would be on the look out from now on for anyone out of the ordinary...

Holeman looked surprised to see him. He said that he figured Alec would make the journey over to this continent sooner or later. Holeman asked if he were going to do the "Dark" thing again, which meant his criminal enterprise. Alec grinned and was about to answer, but looked towards Konran and had to do a double take. Was he glowing? Alec waved a hand in front of him. He'd told the kid his whole story, but Alec didn't know anything abut him, besides the fact that he'd been locked in a room by his parents his whole life. Alec figured that maybe he'd get into more detail when he was ready...

Alec jumped off of the roof and started to walk over, his Blind Fury stick tapping the sand in front of him. "No, no," he responded. "Those days are long behind me. I have to set an example too, you see. We actually came here because we cleaned out a village not too far from here called Kurayamigakure, as it was being run by a corrupt group of assholes. It's a magnificent village, so we fixed it up - we, as in me, Kinzoku, Kuro, Kurai and Hikari - and i'm the Kuraikage now. We made friends with a Kage named Temaki from a village called Morigakure, so I thought it be a good idea to go and meet the other Kage as well."

Alec came to a stop next to Holeman and put his right hand on top of that du-rag of his. Alec came to realize that he'd never seen the kid take it off, and often wondered what color his hair was, or what he looked like without it. "This is Holeman, Artemis. I told you about him. Holeman this is my daughter Artemis. I think she's around the same age as you now..." Alec turned to look towards Jynx and Konran. "That's Jynx, and that's Konran. They're... these are my other kids, I adopted them." Alec didn't want to expose them, to put their business out there. To say he adopted them - which he'd pretty much done - would work for now.

So, the kid with the red durag was Holeman: just like Artemis thought. Holeman asked if they were doing the Dark thing again and mentioned that he couldn't get involved in it because with little brothers and sisters and cousins as well as more family on the way he had to set an example for them. Her father, after jumping down and walking over towards Holeman, responded that that wasn't the case and that those days were long behind him.

Artemis followed he father, jumping right off of the ledge and landing in a light crouch. Still grinning happily she followed after her father. She listened as he explained that Kurayamigakure had been full of assholes but that they had taken over. He had met and made friends with Temaki who was the Morikage, and that he now wished to travel around and meet the other kage's as well.

Artemis came to a stop next to her father, and waved to Holeman as she was introduced: knowing by now that he'd be able to see it. "Hi! It's nice to meet you! I've heard stories about you, but I never figured I'd get the chance to actually meet you." She then glanced back at Jynx and Konran as Alec introduced them as his adopted kids; a grin still on her face. Finally, Artemis looked towards the woman with the kage hat, noticing her talking to what was clearly an ANBU member. The kage had gone from looking happy to suddenly pissed off and angry about something: likely whatever the ANBU had told her about. Was it because they were in the village? Or was something else going on?

Jynx watched as Alec jumped down off of the roof followed by Artemis. Holeman had asked Alec about the Dark – what she knew to be that criminal organization that Alec had once ran - but Alec stated that he wasn't doing that this time around. Most of the time Jynx found it hard to think of Alec as a criminal: he didn't seem the kind since all he seemed to do was help people. He had taken the village back from those headband idiots, had helped the villagers by reopening their jobs and even giving some money out of his own pocket, and he had freed herself. Plus, now Konran was free and coming on this trip with them: likely having the same firsts for everything as Jynx herself was.

Jynx followed after Artemis and Alec, climbing down in a very monkey like fashion; swinging from poles and ledges until both bare feet met the ground. The sand was hot against her feet but not unbearable: the shade of the awnings and such nearby helped a lot. Jynx stuck to the darkened areas when it came to walking and stopped as close to Alec and Artemis as possible while she listened to Alec introduce Artemis as his daughter. She wasn't quite sure what Alec was going to say when he introduced herself and Konran, but she hadn't been expecting to be claimed as his family: it made her grin from ear to ear.

It was then that Jynx's attention shifted to the individual who had suddenly appeared with his face covered with a mask. The individual was wearing a black cloak that looked like it was far too hot to have on in this kind of weather. She wasn't quite sure how he could survive long in something like that, but figured him to be a member of ANBU as Artemis had once told her. He was talking to the individual she had pegged as the Kage, and the Kage looked angered by whatever it was he had said.

Before Jynx could say anything, though, she felt a tugging on her tail and looked down to see a little kitten pawing at the end of her tail. "Hey, no. Don't eat that. That's attached ot me. Gimmie that.", she would respond, lifting her tail up: and the kitten too. Jynx gave her tail a little shake but the kitten held on. "No, you can't have it. I need that for balance and stuff. Get off." The kitten simply held on and meowed up at her innocently. "Well... okay... I guess you can play with my tail so long as you don't try and eat it."

(#14)
Konran sat there for the moment, listening to the banter between the blindfolded kids and the dark skinned lady, who was most likely the Kage of this village. Holeman was saying something about some other guy; about how he was funny acting and off. The little girl with the rabbit on her face said that he probably had a thing for someone named Mitsukai, while the boy basically said that Mitsukai and Holeman had history, and it would be stupid to try and get between that.

Alec spoke to Holeman, and Holeman turned and seemed to recognize him. He asked if Alec was doing the "Dark" thing again, which had to mean the criminal organization he had in Makkura. Before Alec answered, he noticed the glow of the sun on him, waving a hand. Konran knew it had to look strange. "It's from the experiments they did on me down there in that... place," he said. "I'll tell you what I know when I can."

They all jumped down. Konran stood and jumped down himself, landing in the sand and walking over with them. Alec said the Dark days were behind him. They cleaned the scum out of Kurayamigakure and fixed it up. He made friends with another Kage and decided to go around to see about making friends with them all. Alec introduced them, and said that he and Jynx were his adopted kids. Konran didn't really know how to feel about Alec claiming him, was he serious? Someone looking after him that didn't beat him half to death everyday, and never showed any sort of affection, only wanting results... He didn't think someone like that existed. It was starting to look like he was wrong in his assumption.

Konran waved some to Holeman.

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Marquetta, upon watching the ANBU member leave, turned her attention towards the new arrivals. She could overhear the conversation going on: the man with the blindfold on his eyes was claiming to be the Kuraikage now of Kurayamigakure. She knew the village had been filled with criminals and low lifes for quite a while, but apparently this individual was taking control and turning the place around. She heard him mention that he already had made friends with the Morikage, and wanted to meet the other kage's as well.

"Well, if you wish to meet the Sabakukage, that'd be me.", Marquetta called out, figuring that there was no use hiding the fact that she could hear the conversation going on not all that far away from her.

Marquetta turned and walked over, hands in the pockets of her red colored pants and her stance nonthreatening. She had no reason to have issues with these new arrivals, so for now she would play it cool and relaxed. "Unfortunately, I don't have much time to chat: there's something that has been brought to my attention I have to take care of."

Alec said the "Dark" days were behind him, and that he and several others from Makkura had cleaned out a village not far from here of it's criminal element called Kurayamigakure. He said that he'd made friends with the Kage from Morigakure, so he thought it a good idea that he do the same with the rest of the villages, which wasn't a bad idea.

Alec stopped next to him, and Holeman could feel that large hand come to rest on top of his head. he introduced his new daughter Artemis, who said she always wanted to meet him, as well as his adopted kids Jynx and Konran. "Nice to meet all of you," Holeman said.

Marquetta spoke up next, announcing herself as the Kage, and saying that she didn't have much time to talk because of another matter. Perhaps Kouten's captor was here, in hiding, planning on trying something. Marquetta was already beginning to seem like she wasn't the typical leader of the sand. She was actually handling things herself instead of hiding somewhere and letting kids do it.

"Well, long story short, Alec can be trusted," Holeman said. "You can trust his people, and they can trust yours, i'll vouch for em. If you guys wanted to do some trades between villages I don't think anyone would have a problem. People traveling back and fourth between the village wouldn't be a thing either, heh?"

The strong female confirmed that she was the Kage, and said that she didn't have much time to converse. Alec picked up on slivers of the conversation. Something was going on here; it sounded as if someone had snuck into the village and was looking for someone else perhaps. Alec wasn't going to get involved with this. It was their drama, and they had Holeman. With his radar they'd find him soon enough.

Holeman said basically what he was about to say, and still found himself surprised at how intelligent he was to be only 10 years old. "Yeah... what he said, basically," said Alec. "We won't hold up your investigations or interfere. This kid here is special; he can see long distances and is a brilliant medic. He performed a complex ocular surgery at only 5 years of age. if you didn't know you had a real treasure on your hands in him, you do now."

Alec patted Holeman's head a couple of times before removing his hand and backing away some. "I hope you can clear up your matter before something bad happens. Feel free to visit us in Kurayami at anytime, you and yours will always be welcome..."

Artemis just kept grinning from ear to ear: this whole place was interesting enough, but the idea of meeting some of the people she had always heard stories about had her over the moon with happiness. Holeman said it was nice to meet them and then the kage made herself known. She said she didn't have a lot of time to chat since she was busy handling another matter. Holeman vouched for them and then vouched for Marquetta and even suggested being able to venture freely between villages: the idea of being able to come back at some point and visit again sounded like a grand idea to her.

"That'd be neat!", Artemis exclaimed, practically bouncing in place. She listened then as her father explained that Holeman was special, that he could see long distances and was a brilliant medic as well, even admitting that that at the age of five he had done ocular surgery on him. Her father told Marquetta to feel free to visit anytime. Artemis simply waved, figuring the Kage was likely going to leave to handle whatever had come up.

The kage was busy; though she did make herself known. Jynx couldn't believe she was going to handle something herself when she had a village full of people she could order to do it for her – but then again she had gone into a burning building to save a little girl. Holeman said that they could be trusted, and that they could trust her as well: something that Jynx found herself nodding in agreement with - Alec wasn't a bad person at all. He brought up trade agreements, and even the idea of being able to travel freely back and forth which would be pretty cool too.

This was all still a lot to take in. Holeman was a young kid who had done ocular surgery when he was even younger than he was now: a prodigy medic and was able to see over long distances even though his eyes were clearly covered. Something that Alec brought up to Marquetta when he was agreeing with everything that Holeman had said. Jynx could only help but imagine what kind of powers she herself might one day have if she was willing to work hard at it. The very thought had her blood pumping and the urge to train rising.

She glanced to Artemis who was bouncing in place in her excitement and couldn't help but giggle. She wrapped her tail around her waist after the kitten ran off, before looking back to them. Jynx was wondering silently if they were going to leave right away, or if they'd get the chance to visit for a bit. She really wanted to take a look around, and perhaps get to make some friends. The ship was fun of course, but she wanted to explore for a while too.

(#15)
The dark skinned female was the leader of the village. She looked angry after the guy with the mask said something to her that he couldn't hear, so maybe something else was up. Maybe it had something to do with that fire. Maybe it was something else entirely. She said she didn't have a lot of time to talk. Holeman said it was nice to meet them all, and said that they could be trusted. He suggested trades between villages, and that people between villages could come and go freely, which Alec agreed with. Artemis looked excited at the possibility.

Alec said Holeman was special, and performed a complex eye surgery at only 5. That was certainly an impressive feat. Were they about to leave, then? It looked like agreements had already been drawn up. Konran didn't have a problem with this personally, but he wouldn't have minded taking a walk around this village. It was the fist place he'd visited since getting out of that lab.

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Marquetta looked to Holeman as he spoke up on Alec's behalf. vouching for him and saying that him and his people could be trusted. He likewise said the same thing about the people of Sabakugakure, which was true. Marquetta wasn't a vindictive kage: so long as peace was maintained friendship would be as well. Holeman mentioned trade agreements, which Marquetta likewise thought was a good idea: she was sure that Kurayamigakure likely had resources that no where else in the world had simply due to the environment and constant darkness that the village sat in. Holeman then mentioned people being able to travel back and forth between the villages: it was again something that Marquetta didn't have any issues with.

"A trade agreement between the villages would be an excellent idea. And anyone from Kurayamigakure is welcome here, and vice versa."

She then looked to Alec, smiling. "As far as Holeman goes I had my hunches that he was something special when he arrived; and he's proved that already by the way he's helped Kouten. You're more than welcome to stick around if you'd like. If you plan on being here for a little while then perhaps we can meet together later and discuss things in more detail once I've got a handle on this situation." She would then nod towards his daughters. "Keep them close to you, Kuraikage. This man I'm searching for has... a thing about little girls, especially those who know how to fight and can benefit him. He's not above kidnapping, nor enslaving people."

Marquetta would wait to see if anyone had anything else to add and if not she would turn and head off with a wave: off to handle a situation she was hoping would have never arisen in the first place.