Protect the Leaf

Rio stood upon the hokage stone faces awaiting the two ninja he had called to meet with, Dante Kaibutsu and Kenji Karasu. He looked out over the village, he had a full view of every part of Leaf. He wanted to see who these two individuals were so he could evaluate these two himself. He waited patiently, a wolf of his at his side.

The Kage stones were dim as the sun sank lower into the horizon, the goldeny glow of the big orange orb casting an almost eerie tiwghlight upon Kohona. The solitary figure that was Rio stood at the pinacle of Kohona, his shadow streatching out far behind him. The air was abuzz with the sound of insects and the chirping of birds, even the people far below made their noises. The very atmosphere of Kohona seemed alive and thiriving, yet, a quiet gust of wind blew past Rio, and with it came Kenji. Appearing in Rio's shadow, he rose silently out of the ground, his dark and shap features glowing with an almost corpse like animosity to the sun. All the noises died down, and the sun's orange glow was snuffed out as night blanketed the village hidden in the leaves. Kenjo's long coat flapped in the wind as it picked up again, and he walked over to stand beside Rio.

"So, you are Rioichi Hyuuga. One of the Legendary Three?" Kenji questioned, a sharp and crisp tone to his voice that rode on the low melancholy of his entire being.

Dante had been sleeping on his couch in the early day when a knock on his door and a small messenger told him Rio wished to meet with him around dusk. Dante had yawned and thanked the young messenger, patting the short man's head in a half awake way. It was a day off for him, something the Head Anbu of Konoha didn't get very often. He went about his day, buying food, meeting with friends and overall having a relaxing day. As the sun began to set, he grabbed a beer from a local pub and dropped off some money. He came up behind Kenji and Rio, a few feet infront of him. Taking a kunai out of his pocket he popped open the cap and took a sip.

He then appeared sitting next to Rio, one knee up where his hand with the beer in it rested. "So what's all the hub-ub Master Rio?" Dante asked taking a sip from his ice cold beer.

Rio, with his Byakugan, watched the two ninja come up next to him. Dante had come with a beer in his hand and Kenji just appeared in a way that probably would have scared a regular person. "So you two have made it. Kenji Karasu the assistant to our Hokage, Lumiero. And Dante Kaibutsu, our newest head of the ANBU. I wanted to meet you both since we would be fighting for this village." Rio turned his attention to Dante. "I was once the Head ANBU myself. I know it can be an annoying position but I expect you to put up with it." Rio then looked at Kenji Karasu. "And don't disappoint my good friend Lumiero. He and I have fought side by side before in a time of war." Rio then faced forward again to the village. "There is a lot here we must put our lives after as ninja of the Leaf. So many people to protect, so many lives to keep safe, and I want to know if you two understand this." Rio's wolf gave out a howl as the sun sank just below the horizon. "The village could be attacked completely unexpectedly." Two of Rio's shadow clones came up behind Kenji and Dante each with a kunai that wind chakra was flowing through put up to their necks. "And you must always be ready for when that happens." Rio watched closely with his Byakugan activated to watch the movements of the two shinobi as he expected them to react and destroy the two shadow clones.

Kenji kept his sharp eyes on Kohona, listening to Rio's lecture about his village. This was Kenji's new home, and, Rio's sentiment for it was touching. He had already been head ANBU, and the title of Sanin only served to fuel Kenji's suspicions that he was up to something. The Kohona ANBU were notorious for tests, in fact Kohona itself was. Kenji's eyes flickered to Rio and his steely expression was accompanied by a raise of an eyebrow. Before he could move, a kunai was pressed against his neck, and he could feel the chakra cutting into his it. He smirked, and did nothing. This man wasn't going to kill Kenji, and even if he did make a move, the entire rock was covered in pleanty of shadows within which to make a quick counter.

"Master Rio, you embarrass me at how little you think I can achieve." Dante said with a devilish grin as the kunai was pressed to his throat. "I didn't become the Head Anbu of Konoha by winning a contest." As he spoke, his kekkei genkai took affect, a thin tendril of mud seeped out of his pores in his palm and went around the clone and up it's back. Arriving at the clones neck, the mud formed and hardened into a small spear, and drove itself through the clone's neck, emerging from it's adam's apple. All this happened in a matter of seconds, and taking a kunai from his sleeve, he through at Kenji's clone's temple. With both clones gone he turned to Kenji, "Never underestimate your opponent, sure Master Rio would never actually kill you on purpose but you can't hesitate when in battle. If you don't learn that the Hokage and yourself will perish."

Kenji chuckled as the shadow clone behind him exploded into smoke, his smirk changing into a grin. His hawkish eyes shifted to Dante, their infinite darkness giving his gothic appearance a somewhat intimidating feel. He stared unblinkingly at Dante as his body slowly convulsed and then dissolved into a plie of snakes. They writhed on the floor, hissing and coiling around eachother, spitting venom in every direction that slowly began to corrode the ground. The melded into the shadows, and from a nearby tree the real Kenji stepped out.

"Dante, Dante, Dante." He quipped in his deep, vibrating voice. "The Hokage will be safe with me, don't worry." He smirked, the gleaming smile being the only thing illuminated by the moonlight. Glimering fangs surrounded by black lips and pale skin.

Dante chuckled when the man collapsed into a pile of snakes. "I can't tell if I really like this guy, or if I want to slit his throat because he gives me the creeps sometimes. Taking the last sip of his beer he looked at it and encased it in mud, which crushed the glass bottle into a dark brown dust that was taken from Dante's hand and went off into the wind. Dante smiled, a thin one just across his lips, "It's not littering if you can't find the trash."

Turning to Rio he said, "Ok, so what now?"

"I wasn't let down. Dante, you could react a little faster and I hope that is how you fight a real battle. When you speak in battle you give your enemy time to kill you. And Kenji I hope you do a little better in real battle than I have just seen, as well. Every move you make could decide the result of a battle." Rio stood perfectly still not moving a muscle as he kept is eyes focused on the horizon. "Well then I guess I've seen a bit of your abilities. I'm not disappointed at all. Dante if you wouldn't mind I'd prefer if you didn't refer to me as Master Rio. Rio is all I need to hear. It's a little awkward to hear myself be referred to as master." As the sunlight slowly faded Rio finally looked away from the village and towards Dante. "Oh and if you ever have an S-Rank mission that seems too difficult for your ability alone to accomplish I would never mind it if you requested that I come along with you. I don't get to go out on missions much anymore. Staying in the village because of my duties as a Hyuuga branch leader can often get uninteresting." He then turned to Kenji. "And I don't doubt your ability to fulfill your duties as Lumiero's assistant." Rio couldn't think of much else to say to Kenji, it was easier for him to talk to Dante due to having been once Head of the ANBU. Rio sat down and laid back looking up as the sky of dusk turned into the sky of night. "Well now. If you two don't want to stand here all night, then maybe one of you could propose a way to pass some time." Rio's wolf turned around and started to walk off.

Kenji walked out from his spot in the shade, a slow, almost gliding stride over to the duo and he took up the place his snake clone had been standing in. A cool breeze blew past them and his long coat fluttered in the wind, the only sound that could be heard as a large, black snake slithered up from the shadows and slid into the empty sheath, transforming into a longsword that Kenji put one claw like, pale hand on slowly. His beady black eyes turned in their sockets, and his head tilteb over his shoulder to look at Rio.

"Come now Sannin, don't play coy with me." he smirked.