[kyonosuke]

"It'd be so nice to speak
and know for sure,
someone heard"

It had been quite some time since Kyonosuke had last been to Nohara no Kuni. A year ago, if he remembered correctly--when an old man wished to have his will delivered to his estranged son. A heartfelt message, detailing of grief, regret, and begging for forgiveness of the hardships that his son had to endure due to his inability to provide in decades past. It was not Kyonosuke's place to say whether amends were meant to be made between them, but he was grateful that the elder could pass on in peace knowing his final words had been passed on to his child.
    Similarly, this time, Kyonosuke was enacting the will of those less fortunate than him.
    A small village he had passed through expressed their woes and suffering, often raided by a band of thugs and criminals that had prepared a station nearby. The group of bandits often came to create distress to the villagers--stealing, plundering, destroying, and other unsavory crimes that the boy wished not to think of. The image of a slaughtered child seared in his mind, limbs burned after being trapped under the rubble of his destroyed home. Kyonosuke had been too late to ease their suffering, and he was only one man--he could not take on a small army of fighters.
    But in Nohara no Kuni, there was a shinobi village.
    And, so, Kyonosuke was delivering their plea of help to the village, and with hope, a contract would be made and some fit warriors would be sent to aid the civilians in their time of need.
    The Mute traversed quickly--making haste through the fields of grass as he came upon the entryway of the village after hours of travel. His heart raced, and he grew tired from the trip, but a wave of relief washed over him when the gates became visible in the distance. Slowly, Kyonosuke took in several deep breaths to try calming his heightened heartbeat, and waved out a hand to catch the attention of one of the guards as he drew nearer.

Honō Kojirou - ### - notes

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Honō Kojirou]

Kojirou’s new outfit did numbers on his torso – exchanging the blood-red haori with a black turtleneck, and a garment over his leggings with the kanji for ‘nine’, he looked vastly different from before. His long duty as a gate guard resulted in quite a bit of coin being saved up, so Kojirou treated himself to some new equipment-

His clansmen were still a bit salty over Chieko’s marvelous work on his katana, so they weren’t in the mood to forge him a wakizashi to boot… but he convinced them to forge him something more defensive. It was a new gut feeling of his – he frequently felt as if he was eligible to get himself into trouble or get hurt, so something to defend himself with other than his Jutsus could go a long way.

Recently, they’d rediscovered an armor piece consisting of a pauldron-bracer combo to one arm… so uh… yeah… on top of his shinobi outfit, Kojirou’s right arm wielded the Tategami. A test run, they said – to see if this generation’s craftsmen had kept their claws sharp. The Tategami was no ordinary armlet – not too humble, but not too eye-catching. Dark-copper in color, contrasting his black turtleneck and dark-green waist cloth, the typical colors of woodland flora.

And an umbrella to boot for extra measure. Kojirou felt like the ultimate gate guard with these gifts, and he was honestly eager to try them out.

…

Somebody was waving towards the gate. Kojirou was the one to respond in kind, leaping down from the gate wall and meeting the visitor face to face. His burn scars darkening his forehead and left arm… they somehow ached at the sight of this masked individual. He looked to be about Kojirou’s height, a bit exhausted, but otherwise not a direct threat. Good.

"…” Kojirou was still on guard after last time with Kumori, so his eyes moved around the shrubbery in the far distance, "… Ah, you’re a messenger, right? I’ll check the contents, then.”

[kyonosuke]

"It'd be so nice to speak
and know for sure,
someone heard"

Thankfully, it seemed that Kyonosuke's signal for help returned fruitful, as what was undoubtedly a shinobi leaped down from the village gates to approach the courier. A gentle wind swept through the area, and it helped cool down the Yamaguchi who had build up a sweat from all of his running and haste travelling. He leaned down slightly as he caught his breath and the shinobi drew nearer. A wave of relief, as everything seemed like it would turn out alright--or at least, as Kyonosuke had often learned in dire situations, the pain and suffering would eventually come to an end. Indefinitely.
    As Kyonosuke reached into his satchel to retrieve the scroll that contained the pleas and requests of aid, he glanced up to fully take in the appearance of the shinobi who had come to assist him--
    --And his blood ran cold.
    Frozen, Kyonosuke stood there before the individual with his hand held out slightly--scroll in offering--but otherwise didn't move. Didn't speak.
    Before him stood--
    --Him?
    Long, auburn hair that was tied up in a ponytail--burns that marred his fair skin. And dark, beautiful eyes that stared back at him--with the faintest shade of crimson that caught light in the sun.
    He looked just like Kyonosuke.
    How could this be? Kyonosuke didn't understand--he wasn't fully sure what, or who, stood before him. A trick of the light? Had he grown so delirious from exhaustion that he was hallucinating, or seeing things not for what they were? Had he somehow, accidentally spurred a trap that created clones of himself?
    --No, that couldn't quite be it.
    As Kyonosuke continued to stare at the other teen, there were differences. His clothing, to begin with. The armor and gear he was equipped with, the burns on his skin were different--as well as his earrings. It was uncanny, their similarities, but for the sake of not going into shock, Kyonosuke tried to focus in on the differences between he and the look-alike.
    Unbelievable.

Honō Kojirou - 329 - notes

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Honō Kojirou]

Kojirou spotted the scroll being held out to him and brightened up, since this guy was far more cooperative than the woman who pretended to hold a baby in her garments (it was a rock), or when that earlier messenger called him a skull-bashed slowpoke amoeba-

He met a lot of weirdly hostile people visiting Kusagakure, lately. Even though this guy… didn’t really say anything, he was very helpful! Kojirou could feel that aura from him – the aura of a valiant savior, a friend of the people and a friend of his! Kojirou was definitely a people-person… mostly… for the most part. He trusted his judgement.

He grabbed the scroll, read its contents, went back to upperclassmen to record its deliverance, and then retuned to the still-frozen, masked messenger and blinked a couple times. "Is… Is there something wrong? Wait, forget that- the village’s in danger! I’ll go with you, so show me the way!”

It hadn’t been that long since the Chuunin Exams ended, and bandits often capitalized on the popularity of such an event to go out of hiding and cause such terror. Thanks to the messenger’s aid, Kojirou and the rest of Kusagakure was now aware of the deadly troubles, and the pure-hearted shinobi was ready to compromise his purity and shed blood once more.

[kyonosuke]

"It'd be so nice to speak
and know for sure,
someone heard"

Awestruck, Kyonosuke was caught standing idly for several more moments, and it was only when the teen seemingly returned and spoke to him once more that the Yamaguchi snapped to it. Something wrong? He wasn't quite sure--that wasn't exactly how he would put it, at the very least. "Hm?"
    I'll go with you.
        ...Show the way...!
    It was no time to be distracted, but Kyonosuke found himself completely caught off guard. Help? Back to the village? That didn't seem right. There were several bandits, and Kyonosuke had not even seen all of them--merely seen the destruction that lay in their wake. It wasn't something he could do on his own, even though he'd wanted to. And, for a response to be made so quickly--was this shinobi really going to accompany him back to the village to eliminate the threat?
    Just him?
    Kyonosuke viewed himself as barely anything other than a mere courier, and even though his work was dangerous, he was no soldier.
    Though, perhaps, one shinobi was all that was needed. Perhaps one ninja is all that it takes, can they truly do such amazing things all on their own? It was something incredible to think about, and yet he didn't doubt the hypothesis. Despite his exhaustion, despite the doubt in his own abilities, somehow, the young man before him instilled him with a will to help in whatever way he could.
    Beaming with energy, the shinobi was eager and wanted to move with haste to help the civilians in need--and who was Kyonosuke to deny him that?
    Getting his bearings, Kyonosuke nodded and signed something with his hand instinctively, before turning on his heel and heading off in a sprint.
    They would need to move quickly. Really, Kyonosuke thanked the gods that a response had been made so soon--he'd worried that the terror may continue for several more days before a proper response team was assigned and sent out. Though, really, the courier didn't know very much about how shinobi bases worked.

Honō Kojirou - 334 - notes

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Honō Kojirou]

The messenger looked a bit astonished at first. Maybe Kojirou had said something weird again- wait, they didn’t have much time, did they?! They had to go now, before more people got their lives ruined by lurking dangers in the woods! Whatever this guy’s problem was, it had to wait – Kojirou was about to repeat the urgency of this alert, a call for help that the messenger guy himself had delivered to their village! Kojirou couldn’t really read his exact thoughts or feelings behind a mask, but time was of the essence right now!

Kojirou, in the end, was taken by surprise when the messenger made a sign and suddenly dashed off, prompting the shinobi to tail him. "H-Hey, at least- ah, I wasn’t ready! I’m ready now!” he reassured the messenger, quickly kicking up his speed to try and reach the other guy’s side as Kojirou was led the way to the troubled village, the razed grounds and bloodied streets in the distance. A village that was meant to be under their protection, one which they’d have to avenge or die trying…

…

Kojirou did well to keep up with the messenger. One could tell that his training bore fruits. Hopefully, he could finish this gang of enemies in a hurry.

[kyonosuke]

"It'd be so nice to speak
and know for sure,
someone heard"

Kyonosuke turned his head to glance back at the shinobi lookalike--making sure that he was close enough behind and didn't get lost along the way. While Kyonosuke knew that he was tired, he didn't want to underestimate himself and accidentally leave his temporary companion to the dust. Especially when the shinobi accompanying him was the one needed for help!
    When they got closer to the village, Kyonosuke slowed to a stop. Nothing seemed to actively be on fire, thankfully, but the masked teen knew well enough that the people were still suffering. While he hoped the bandits weren't actively causing any harm to any of the civilians in the moment--if they were still within the town, it would be easier to hunt them down or identify them. Turning to look over to the shinobi, Kyonosuke drew his sword, giving a slight bow of the head.
    "I am no warrior, but still I will offer my sword to aid you," he spoke. I'm not sure that I should speak much for the sake of keeping my identity safe, but I doubt anyone in these distant lands would recognize me, anyway. He needed to let this guy know that he also wanted to help. Even if he wasn't a fierce fighter, even if he wasn't a strong shinobi, and it was not his place as a courier to get tangled up in a mess he was not directly involved in... if he could offer any help at all--even if it was meager--he wanted to do what he could for the cause.
    Though, the shinobi likely would be able to handle it all on his own--after all, he alone had been sent to deal with the matter, so he was probably more than capable.

Honō Kojirou - 291 - notes

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Honō Kojirou]

Kojirou braked on his track towards the village’s location, simply by mimicking his companion’s actions. This must’ve been north of Izumizaki, nearing the larger river that flowed through that area. No smell of smoke, but the air felt eerie. Kojirou would need to know where these bandits had gone, or if there were any left in the village or its surrounding areas.

So he’d have to find remaining villagers. It looked like one of those outskirt settlements that were really a part of Izumizaki, the type who overlooked affairs such as special crops that could only grow far away from the larger town.

"Thanks, just watch my back and I’ll do my best,” Kojirou replied with a nod, before he leapt down towards the village. It’d be preferable if any bandits tried to jump him, but he could never be so lucky… so he searched for survivors.

His game plan was to identify the raiders’ intentions, for such things could often oust their hiding spots. Were they many? In that case, they likely had a base near the river itself, since plenty of water was needed to sustain many people, and the bandits couldn’t rely on transport from the outside. If anyone recognized their faces – perhaps old friends turned rogue etc. – then their base could likely be nearby in the woods.

Kojirou would go around, trying to get the information out of any assisting villagers remaining. In the damaged parts of town, he’d keep quiet and throw his gaze around, while holding onto the metallic side of his barely unsheathed katana.