Finding members for the Akatsuki [Act 5]

Ebirai laughs a little at Vena's response. "Guess you've never heard of me before." After giving Hikato a little grin, he looks at the sky. "Rock Village, huh? Uchimura... Yeah, he was one of the people I was looking for not too long ago..."

"Fast enough?" Hikato says with a smile and then nods her head, fine fine... Fast enough he would be. >_> She smiles now toward Ebrai, "So then we go find him!" She says brightly, with a warm smile, hell no one would think she was a killer... She seemed too happy and caring, but then again she resorted to violence if you lied, or hurt her first.

Vena kind of dully smiled. "I would love to join you however there are matters I must tend to here. If you are going to recruit in the rock village I can collect the Suzamebachi girl myself since I will be in there area. I assume since you came from the north you must have come the Sound Village are you not? Judging from you jackets you two also must be from the Akatsuki. It seems they've been revived eh?" He summed it up. Not to mention he didn't feel like going to the rock village.

~Hopefully they'll let me go. Besides I need to deliver these head bands. And this Suzamebachi girl sounds like a real good expert in mutilation....maybe somebody will know what art looks like- a massive carrion wall with bones melded like pillars; bodies put together like legos. And it wouldn't hurt if they gave me a jacket, though getting into Kohona would be easier not wearing one ~ He thought.

"Other matters." Hikato looks at Vena with a cold look, but the look isn't meant to be harmful at all. It was just how she naturally was toward people that she didn't place much trust in. "Alright we'll recruit the person from the rock village, and you get the girl." Hikato said simply agreeing with Vena's words, before turning her gaze toward Ebirai. Well it'd be them alone again, that wasn't so bad...

"Hm you could say that Vena." Hikato says simply about the Akatsuki comment, she flickers her gaze toward him with no interest. "But, be careful." she says now with a faint smile.

Vena smirked. It was crass- and indescribable feeling as if he had lunged his tongue into Hikato's soul and took a taste. It was quite random actually. There was nothing that could have initiated it but obscure mannerisms were expected from some one who believed there was a cuttlekage and he was going to obliterate everyone with one loathsome wiggle.

"Yes; I will get the girl and meet you in hidden sound.....I cannot say it will be easy though. Infiltrating hidden rock and taking a shinobi. Their defences are quite sound and their kage is very,very fond of his ninja." Vena stated as he began to walk towards the fire country.

~Going to Kohona and stealing this girl right up from under the Hokage- if they think I kidnapped her we may initiate some kind of reaction from the Seven Swordsmen; but if they are who they say they are....they shouldn't be much of a problem. My only real problem on the horizon is if the Hokage interferes with me sweeping the girl up....or if the girl herself resists....Oh well....I suppose wounding a Hokage would get me some brownie points...~

"Hm." Hikato watched after Vena for a moment, before turning her gaze to Ebirai. She wondered how Vena would fair, probably poorly... She didn't put faith in people who were known for killing. She smiles lightly at Ebirai, and then crosses her arms. "Well then, we should go then Ebirai." She says brightly, before starting to walk again. "We have another member in our group which means one more person to help reach our goal."

Hikato smiles at this thought and then peers toward the sun for a moment. This was going to be a long day, talking to people, and having them join the cause. But of course she would do it. She smiles toward Ebirai for a moment.

"Eh... Go? Where?" Ebirai blinks at Vena as he walks away, then turns to Hikato as she does the same. "Hang on- He's going after Suzumebachi... So... We go find someone else?" Shrugging, he starts off after her and puts his hands on the back of his head, watching the clouds through the branches above them. "Well, this shouldn't be too hard- There seems to be a strange abundance of high-ranking psychopathic ronin... I must've been slacking off a lot, recently..."

Looking sideways at Hikato, he grins as well. This had already proved to be an interesting trip... They didn't have to travel too far before finding their first recruit... However, as he turns his gaze back to the sky, Ebirai can't help but wonder what would happen to members like Vena and Diavolo after Ryoh and Hikato had their 'ideal world'... They were the people they were fighting to get rid of- Killers, thieves, deserters, traitors...

People like him. Frowning, he wonders what would happen to him, as well... He would like to believe he could live a quiet and peaceful life with his love... That once this was over, maybe he could take Hikato back to the Cloud, and they could be normal shinobi again... But would the new world be able to accept that he'd truly changed for the better? Ryoh hadn't seemed to show any recognition when he'd introduced himself, but his past was far from decent... Ebirai had been the worst of the worst- Grave-robbery, slaughter, torture- Both his religion and his way of life had relied on ruthless murder...

Sighing, Ebirai flips his kasa onto his back and lets his arms fall to his sides, sticking them in the pockets of his hakama. He shakes his head slowly before looking back to the forest ahead. Wouldn't do any good to worry about it, now... He'd just have to burn those bridges when he got to them.

Hikato watches Ebirai as he seems lost in thought. Then she returns her attention to ahead of her. They'd probably find another person soon. She looks toward the soft blue sky, watching the pale white clouds float with out a care in the world. She sometimes wonders what it'd be like to be a cloud, she doesn't think it'd be very enjoyable considering how long most of their spans of life were... Well if you could call that life... She slowly moves her gaze from the sky to look ahead of them again.

She doesn't say anything since the silence seems comfortable. At least she hopes it is, after all she was used to silence, so she didn't know any other type of silence. She moved her hand to rest against her head for a moment in thought. Making a new world was their goal and she wanted to achieve this, no matter how hard it was.

Then her thoughts drift to Ebirai, he was probably a criminal too, but she didn't want to ask. She just continued to watch him in silence for a moment. Then she sighs lightly, "Ebirai, what are you thinking, you always seems so silent and emotionless." Hikato says aloud.

Rokku took a long chug from his beer. The stocky man was irritable. Well, he was always irritable, but today more so than usual. He hadn't gotten a good job in a while. Seemed nobody needed any killing done these days. "Bah...fuck em'", he mumbled to himself. He was already on his 6th beer, and the barman was getting suspicious. From Rokku's appearance, it didn't look like he could afford the beers. But a look at his face told him not to aggravate the man. He looked peeved enough as is.

Rokku glanced down at his bottle. Empty again. What the hell? Why did this always happen? He belched, and shouted for another.

Hikato noticed they were passing a bar, and then paused looking toward Ebirai, before listening to the man yell for another beer. She grins slightly, where better to look for someone than a bar? She starts toward the building walking at her own pace, looking slightly bored. She pushed open the bar door taking a look inside then her eyes landed on Rokku.

She walked to the bar silently, people looking toward her fearfully for a moment. Then she smiled and looked toward Rokku, "Get this man another one on me." She said placing a coin on the counter and then looked at Rokku. "What's your name?" She asks lightlly.

Snapping back to attention, Ebirai opens his mouth to answer. However, Hikato walks over to a bar, not even waiting for his response, so he simply closes his mouth. It was better this way- If he'd told her about his inner turmoil, it might give her doubts. He loved her resolve, and he wouldn't harm it.

Pulling his shade low over his eyes, Ebirai steps into the bar. His presence causes a shadow of fear and doubt to fall over the room, altogether unlike what Hikato's entrance had caused. It seemed his reputation had actually preceded him here... "But are they worried about the hunter? Or the murderer?" Frowning, he notes as two young men in a corner reach uneasily for their blades; an elderly man stiffens and pretends not to notice his presence. Near the door, a rather large, dark-skinned man laughs to himself as he takes another drink from a large mug, amused. A rather shady-looking woman in a cloak glares up at him, leaves some coins on the table, and walks out of the bar in a hurry.

Cautiously observing everything in the room, Ebirai silently follows Hikato up to the counter, armor clinking lightly as he walks. He didn't trust anyone or anything in the room- Not even the old man. He comes to a halt a few steps behind Hikato, looming like the shadow of Death. None of them would harm his Hikato... Not while he was there.

Even drunk, Rokku felt the unease in the room as the two strangers walked in. He glared upward as the girl offered to get him a drink. "Who the fuck do you think you are? I can buy my own damn drinks. And why the hell should I give you my name?" He had no money, but he wasn't about to let someone come over and give him charity. His eyes roamed over to the man behind her, seeming to stand guard. "So what the hell are you doing out here? Never seen either of you before..." He trailed off, looking at Ebirai. "Cept...maybe you...seen you somewhere before..." He had, somehow, but in his state he couldn't recall where.

"Right first off you little prick." Hikato growled, "It's not charity or anything of the sorts so don't get uppidy about it." She snapped, her green eyes held a dark look to them for a moment before she smiles brightly. "You can give us your name before I force it out of you?" She said with a bored look, her hands clasped together as she watched him. She wasn't known in the rock village so she on the other hand was safe, and much more safer with Ebirai behind her.

She doubted anyone would be stupid enough to mess with her, when he was there.

Rokku leered at her, then broke out into a menacing laugh. There was nothing remotely good natured about it. He grinned wolfishly, and said, "My name is Rokku Hisora, your highness." He stood up, which wasn't much, standing at a little over 5 feet. His balance wavered for a second, but drunk as he was, he stood steady. He looked over again at the ninja behind her. "So, who are you, her bitch? That's sad, buddy." He put his hand back over to the table as the barman gave him another bottle. Raising it to his lips, he warned, "You should leave, now. Any later and I might have to ruin your pretty face..."

Snarling, Ebirai appears in front of Rokku and grabs his throat with his left hand, lifting the man a few inches in the air and spreading the claws of his right gauntlet menacingly. "I am Ebirai Umohito... And you... You'd do well to never threaten her again."

"Ebirai... Please don't kill him." Hikato said lightly with a smile, "He can't land a hit on me in that state it's rather sad." She muses looking at the short man for a moment. "A waste of time, that's what he is." She says with a soothing note to her voice his threat hadn't bothered her she would have just knocked him out regardless. But now Ebirai was pissed off.. She smiled lightly.

Rokku's grin widened, and if anything it was even darker. "Ebirai Umohito, eh? I thought I knew you from somewhere...wanted posters. Yeah, I'll get a nice reward for bringing in your head. So thank you, for making my day." In flash, Rokku brought his bottle swinging around, and smashed it against Ebirai's head. He then brought his legs up, and kicked with full force at Ebirai's midriff, with enough force that if it hit, the ninja would be sent flying back into the wall.

OOC: i know i godmodded a bit there, but just go with it. can't have you keeping me by the throat, can i?

Ebirai, of course, was more than capable of dodging such an attack... But why bother when he could... make an impression. Taking the kick, the shinobi flies backward and smashes into the wall with a sickening crack and a dull thud, but not before going through several bar stools and a table loaded with bottles and beer mugs. It was quite a kick... Maybe this drunk wasn't as worthless as he'd thought. Sliding down, he comes to a rest on the floor, several of his bones snapped out of place, most notably his neck.

Rising slowly, Ebirai grins as several more cracking noises come from his torso. "Good kick..." Lifting his head up with his hands, he snaps his neck back into place and grins madly at Rokku, showing his teeth. "... But I'm afraid your day..." Ebirai disappears, reappearing in front of Rokku, right hand enveloped in a dark chidori. "... IS OVER!"

"You can't fucking die?" He said as he watched Ebirai snap himself back into place. He shuffled in place, and brought up his hands into fists, ready for some infighting. "Let's see if you can still mouth off after i smash your head into pulp!", he shouted as he slipped aside the chidori thrust, aiming a solid punch at Ebirai's head from below.

Ebirai takes the uppercut, snapping his head backwards. Jumping back, he snaps his head forward again. "That all depends on what you consider dead." Grinning, he puts his hands behind his back and grabs his swords' hilts. As he pulls them out, he twirls them rapidly by his sides as the air begins to crackle with electricity. Lunging forward, he spins the left blade in front of him as he brings the right down at Rokku with the added centripetal force.

Hikato watched the two letting out a sigh. She gazes at Ebirai for a moment, before stepping toward the door. She turns and walks out of the war as most people within the bar were running out. She looked ahead of her as she walked out the door, she waited outside the bar for Ebirai for when he finished.

Laughing in his drunken rage, Rokku had no real idea where he was, or what he had been doing. He wanted to kill this bastard. "Hahahahaha!!!! So, Mr. Fucking Fancy Pants, where'd you get those blades? Steal 'em off some guys corpse?" He jumped backward, avoiding the blades, but bumped into the bar. "Son of a bitch...", he mumbled as he brought one fist hammering down upon the table, shattering it into two pieces. He then proceeded to lift up the two pieces of the bar through sheer brute strength, ripping them from the floor boards. With a grunt and drunken chuckle, he threw the one in his left hand at Ebirai, and jumped into the air with the other, bringing it down over Ebirai's head.

Ebirai laughs at the man's guess. "Yeah, I did." Still twirling the blades, he jumps out of the way of the first half. As Rokku jumps at him with the second, Ebirai simply smiles to himself and steps to the side, stabbing his left blade at the drunk as the table's momentum brings it uselessly into the floor.

The blade clipped Rokku as he came down, which only enraged him more. A red film covered his vision as he focused solely on Ebirai, nothing else mattered. He wanted Ebirai's head crushed in his fist, his blood and brain matter squishy in his fingers. "HrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" He yelled, summoning a vast amount of chakra, before throwing together a series of handsigns and yelling, "Revolving Split Earth Palm!" He slammed his hands to the ground, and the earth underneath rippled and bucked, as the entire bar erupted in a mass of stone and debris.

As Ebirai jumps into the air to avoid the jutsu, the bar begins to collapse. He quickly sheathes his blades and forms a one-handed sign before landing on the broken floor. The air around him begins to crackle much more violently with electricity. The entire bar comes down a split second later. However, black electricity suddenly courses through the air in a sphere around Ebirai, leaving behind an orb of semi-transparent black plasma and a sound like thunder. The roof comes crashing down on him, but the plasma instantly burns through anything it touches as the rest crashes violently around him.

A minute or so later, Ebirai steps out of the resulting dust cloud and rubble, his barrier burning any debris in his way to vapor. Letting his jutsu dissipate, he walks over to stand silently next to Hikato and looks back to the ruins. After a few moments, he shifts his gaze to Hikato "... Do you think he killed himself?"