Beginning of Realization

[Yoko]

Hitonomi stood at the front of a mass of stone steps leading up to a small shrine. She had just returned from the mist village. Kawari and Ikkaku would be on her rear and coming up shortly. She had no care for them at all. They were just her followers and nothing more. If someone had followed, Hitonomi wanted them dead. Kawari was a pacifist and unwilling to kill unless needed, but Ikkaku she had no doubts that he would kill someone without a heart beat. That was one thing Hitonomi would enjoy about the grinning freak.Hitonomi stood at the front of a mass of stone steps leading up to a small shrine. She had just returned from the mist village. Kawari and Ikkaku would be on her rear and coming up shortly. She had no care for them at all. They were just her followers and nothing more. If someone had followed, Hitonomi wanted them dead. Kawari was a pacifist and unwilling to kill unless needed, but Ikkaku she had no doubts that he would kill someone without a heart beat. That was one thing Hitonomi would enjoy about the grinning freak.

Hitonomi began to slowly walk up the stairs, and abandoned all thoughts of her team mates, thinking about what she had thought of long before hand and contemplated about. Tatsujin had hide something from her, and it was about time to figure just what he had to hide from her. Hitonomi walked up to the small shrine with a buddha upheld in the fake fold that the figured was crafted and pulled her hand through the air and pressed her calm on the third eye of chakra. This was something she was studying more and more. The idea of six more parts of chakra in the system intruiged her even more than the fact that it was in a straight up and down from the third eye. It too was something she could no longer worry about when the chakra she channeled through the eye began to pull apart into a small expanse of stairs leading down.

Hitonomi wordlessly stepped inside and followed the dark trek down. She did not need fire or some type of light, thermal vision and her natural vision was enough to gguide her down the stairs. It was just one thing that lead her down farther into the hills of the tea country. She walked for a few minutes and came up into a massive room that no one would believe that it could exist in the first place. It was an old monestary that was made during a much older war held for refugees. It was ideal because no one could know about it save Tatsujin, but he was dead, Hitonomi herself, and the other members of Hebi. The monastary had an alter and various rows of seats, tall pillars that met with the solid rock that was broken with age. cracks ran along the ceiling and moonlight casted into the room from the small windows that had served as air duckts.

Hitonomi made her way through the monastary and walked up to the alter and placed her hand on the solid concrete casket. It opened and Hitonomi was gone again, jumping through the large opening, falling farther into the earth towards the warmth where she would not have to worry about the cold and the effects it would have on her body. Once her feet touched the ground, Hitonomi tossed her head to the side of her neck where the symbol of the orrison was. An immediate message was sent directly to all Hebi members and Hitonomi's thought traveled through their minds, 'Meet back at the monastary...we have a mission.'

[TheSharingan]

Yoku was sitting in a tree about 20 Km away with his eyes closed, listening to the birds chirp when he received the message. He steadily stood up on the branch, opened his eyes that revealed his fully developed sharingan. Yoku then began to make his way for the temple.

Moments later Yoku arrived at the temple next to Hitonomi ,almost unnoticed. He stood there silent staring at a plank spot on the wall for a while and expected there to be a long wait of silence before anyone else arrived, so decided to break the silence with meaningless conversation.

"So how about that weather." Yoku said with no expression or emotion at all.

[Haihei]

"Meet back at the Monastary...we have a mission" rang through Ikkaku's head as he made his way up the stairs that Hitonomi had walked upon just moments before. "Well if that isn't good timing, I don't know what is!" Ikkaku said to himself outloud as his feet quickly fluttered up the stairs. "I wonder what she could have for us to do..." Ikkaku said outloud once again.

His mind quickly snapped back into attention as he made his way to a Buddhist statue. It was obvious that the statue had been toyed with, seeing as there was a large staircase in the ground nearby, and one of the Buddha's eyes had been triggered. Ikkaku sighed as he began to enter the abysmal staircase. It was nearly impossible to see, but Ikkaku had been here several times before, he was growing accustomed to the dark.

He made a sharp turn after finishing his treck up the down staircase. He entered an enormous room. An altar rested at the front of the room, with a casket behind it. Enormous stone pillars lined the room, accompanied by church pughes and small windows. This was one of Ikkaku's favorite room. It struck him as being simply beautiful, which was a difficult thing to do. If something struck Ikkaku as beautiful, it must be a sight to behold. He simply enjoyed the way the stone seemed to enhance the lighting that came form the windows. However, he was not here to observe the rustic building. He was here to meet with Hitonomi.

Ikkaku's feet rapidly fluttered across the ground as he hurried to the casket at the back of the room. He looked down, seeing that it had been already opened. He knew what that meant. Hitonomi had already come through here. The Hebi Scout sighed as he leapt up and fell gracefully through the casket, landing in a hidden room below. Here, he found Hitonomi, and surprisingly enough, Yuko as well.

"Hello there Yuko-san" he began, quickly turning to his leader. "Sorry for taking so long Hitonomi-kun!" Ikkaku said with a smirk across his face. "But I got here as soon as I could. Now, what is this mission you were talking about?"

[TheSharingan]

Yoku stared as Ikkaku found his way into where Hitonomi and he were. Yoku had always had respect for Ikkaku and the others who were in the Hebi just for being through the same pain he had gone through growing up.

"Good day to you Ikkaku, where have you been scouting the past little while?" Yoku asked, not really caring but just to get some conversation going to keep himself busy while waiting for the others to arrive

[Senk]

A myriad of colors floated through the air as a small insect fluttered its wings. The butterfly set its feet upon a tree, took a moment to decide its resting place unsuitable, and took off again, fluttering towards the sun. It made its ascension into the golden beams of light with grace, swaying back and forth a bit as it rose in a gentle ad relaxed sort of way. Then it dived, still smoothly but in a somewhat abrupt manner, and prepared to test a new perch. Noiseless, it descended upon its target, and landed gently on human flesh.

Mahavira felt the small black legs prod the bridge of his nose as the butterfly continued to test its perch. The big man sat with his legs crossed, his hands hovering above his knees in a slightly strained manner, but he remained perfectly still, at least for a while. Then he winced, as he felt the itch of the insects legs occasionally brushing the surface of his skin. ...leave... he thought to himself, straining his mind to keep his focus. The butterfly continued its ceaseless dance. "Leave." he commanded silently, but to no avail. He scowled and quivered slightly, struggling to maintain his focus and continue the act of meditation. The butterfly continued. "I SAID LEAVE!" he screamed as he sprung to his feet attacking the small creature. A thunderous crash disturbed the local animals as the tree he was sitting next to fell. His strike had rendered the center of the tree into dust. There was no sign of the butterfly.

"Meet back at the monastery...we have a mission." The message echoed throughout Mahavira's furious mind. He set his wrath aside and calmed down, as he turned towards the monastery. It was roughly half a mile from his current position. He walked briskly towards his destination and was there in several minutes. He then somberly descended down the dark steps and towards an accumulation of human warmth. As he approached his allies, he simply sat, ignoring there absurd conversations, and waited.

[Haihei]

Ikkaku's head turned to the side in response to Yuko's question. It was a rather bizarre thing to ask, "...where have you been scouting the past little while?" But Ikkaku would be polite and answer anyway. After all, he really didn't have a reason not to. "I've just returned from mist actually." He began. "But nothing in particular, just been making sure that no one has been following us." Ikkaku then smiled as usual. It was rather creepy how often he seemed so happy. It was almost unsettling at times. However, the rest of the group seemed to have gotten used to it.

Suddenly, another large presence entered the room. The bestly man by the name of Mahavira had finally shown up. Ikkaku always had so much fun pestering him, even if it did end in physical assaly on more than one ocassion. The young grass ninja took a few steps forward to Mahavira as the giant man sat calmly on the ground, ignoring the rest of Hebi. Ikkaku giggled slightly as he leaned forward and rubbed his hand on Mahavira's glistening head. "How have you been baldy?!" Ikkaku asked with enthusiasm. He just couldn't help himself. He loved to tease the giant, even though he knew what the man was capable of. He especially loved to play tricks on him, however Ikkaku would just have to settle for teasing about his choice of hair once again. After all, he hadn't had enough time to set up an elaborate trap for Mahavira to trigger. It didn't matter. Either way, Ikkaku was sure to be attacked violently, unless Mahavira was in an unusually good mood.

[Yoko]

Hitonomi stood alone in the base of their where she had decided to make everyone meet. Usually the meeting would be held in the monastary but the information she had recollected from her mind made her choose to put the information out in a more secure place. Hitonomi stared at Yoku when he arrived and did not respond to his words. She had no need to. Idle chit-chat was not something she was prone to do unless it pretained to only one thing. That one thing was easily known amoung Hebi. Find the person who had raped her as a child, and destroy him in as an inhuman as possible. Hitonomi knew exactly what she was going to do as a starter. She had created jutsu after to jutsu to make him scream out in his pain and misery.

Hitonomi pulled herself from her own mind when Ikkaku had emerged and began to speak with Yoku. She stared at the two for only a second before turning her head and muttering, "Idiots." under her breath. It mattered little if they heard her. They would not dare challenge her authority. When Ikkaku asked about the mission, she turned a dangerous eye on him, "I will tell you once all our members here, not before. This is of important value." Once more she began to wait and merely stood there with a cold expression when Mahavira made his way into the chamber. That only left Kawari and Jun. Both the mist shinobi.

Ikkaku was once more trying to annoy Mahavira and complemented his bald head. She knew all to well how Ikkaku liked to mess with Mahavira and rarely stopped him, but this was an exception. Hitonomi's blade was out in a flash and against his neck gently, "Ikkaku, step away from Mahavira, I have no patience for your needs to make him angry. This mission is worth your life. Don't make me waste it before we even begin." Hitonomi pulled her blade away and stared at Mahavira, "And Mahavira, do not get angry so fast at Ikkaku, this mission will entail you two to work together. I don't want to be dissapointed." Hitonomi walked away from the two male and returned to her position in the middle of the room, waiting for the two female to return.

[Desert]

Jun exited the tea shop, stretching her arms above her head and glancing around at the people walking by. Whenever one so much as turned their head towards her, she returned their look with a cold glare and started to walk through the village towards the nearby weaponary store. She stopped in her tracks when a message ran through her head. Meet back at the monastary... we have a mission. She smiled devilishly and turned in the direction of the monastary, which held the hideout for Hebi. She ran at top speed towards it, easily dodging her way through the crowd and using all building to her advantage. Jun stopped only when she got to the outside of the building. Quietly, she walked down the stairs and into the large room that held the entrance to the hidden base.

She walked towards the altar and jumped down through the hole, landing soundlessly behind the other members. Without making a sound, she started walking towards the opposite wall. She looked at Ikkaku, who had Hitonomi's blade against his neck, and Mahavira, who looked angry. To Jun, this was nothing new, but it still caused her to give a little laugh. "Fighting again, you two? I guess I can't expect anything different."

Jun crossed her arms and leaned the weight of her body against the wall, sighing as she did so. She looked around again, taking in the position of each of the members. "Sorry if I'm late. Then again, Kawari-chan isn't even here yet. So I guess that makes me early."

[TheSharingan]

Waikyoku gave a grunt after hearing Ikkaku's reply as a way of saying he had heard what Ikkaku had said. After doing so, he had stood still and watched as the others came in one after another in his peripheral vision. Waikyoku had no intention of speaking any more because he knew they would keep themselves occupied.

Yoku watched them all do their little fight shuraid and listened in when Hitinomi mentioned that the 2 of them had to work together. Waikyoku had givin' in to the laughter and gave no more then a smile. "I wonder if i will need to be partnered up with some1... I sure hope not." Yoku thought to himself in hope of not getting a team mate. "but if i get one i wonder who it will be. Hmm" Yoku had ended his thought on that and then closed his eyes to conserve chakra from using the sharingan for too long.

[Ice]

Kawari walked at her slow and steady pace through the land of tea. The village she had just passed through to get to the land of tea was in ruins. A band of rogue ninja had been rounding up the towns populace and passerby to sell them for slaves, when the group got the bright idea to include her in the prospective deal. Needless to say, it didn't work out so well for them. Five minutes later the town was in a severe state of disrepair, all the building smashed apart, and all the slavers in a pile in the middle of the town, with a good amount of bones not intact.

Fools, I might not kill them but no one will take me for a slave.
'Meet back at the monastary...we have a mission.'

Kawari turned towards the hideout and started walking back at her steady pace. Even if she hadn't known where its location was, she could sense the different members minds presences and overlaying emotions, having looked into their eyes at one point or another to take brief looks at their memories. The only person in the Hebi organization that knew of her Manako-sure-to was Hitonomi, the rest knew only of her unaging, if that.

Coming up on the hide out, Kawari noted that a large (as in like 3-4 feet in diameter) was blocking the path. Kawari, feeling lazy, picked it up and tossed it off the path instead of jumping over it, then walked into the monastary area, closing the secret entrance on her way, then into the casket area.

Kawari walked in noting all her teammates were here first. "Sorry for being late, I ran into a slight distraction." Kawari said this in her quiet and soft spoken voice, then noticed a piece of cement still on her arm, so she grabbed it and crushed it to dust before leaning against the wall.

[Haihei]

Ikkaku's smile remained on his face as his stood upright, the sword nestled against his throat. This was nothing new to him, juas as his pestering of Mahavira wasn't new to anyone else. He just couldn't pass up an opputunity to pick on the big guy. He just got such a thrill from playing pranks on others, and picking on them. After all, that is how he spent most of his time in Tatsujin's labs for about ninety percent of his life. However, out of the innumerable number of people he pranked, Mahavira had to be his favorite. It was mainly because most people didn't give quite the same reaction that the giant of a man did. After all, it wasn't often that you get to see someone blow a hole in a wall because they were called bald.

"Oh, but do I HAVE to leave him alone Hitonomi-kun?" Ikkaku said sarcastically. Before she even had a chance to anser the graass ninja continued his statement. "Well, I guess that I can do it for you, just this once." The young man snickered.

He then took a few steps back from Mahavira, not taking his eyes off him in case the beast decided to unleash his fury upon the small and rather fragile looking scout. Once Ikkaku felt it was safe to turn around, he did so very quickly, only to have Kawari fall from the cieling. Startled, Ikkaku's only visible eye buldged slightly, the other hidden behind a small wall of deep gray hair.

"Well if it isn't our little pacifist!" Ikkaku said blutnly with another small grin. "You took you're sweet time getting here." He joked. He hoped that the rest of the group had realized that he had a good sense of humor, that he used quite often. However if they didn't he would probably come off as quite an ass hole. "But now that you're here we can finally hear what Hitonomi-kun has for us to do!" He continued with a sarcastically excited tone in his voice. He then turned to his leader, his smile widening as he tiled his head to the side. "So, what DO you have in store for us?"

[Yoko]

Hitonomi waited until everyone was in the room and patiently waited. She was in no hurry at all, but the mission would be complete that was for certain. The debriefing would be done today and presented to all who chose to join Hebi. There was no more fooling around. The members of Hebi were there to stay and there to stay for good. It was not a matter of life or death, it was the matter of being hunted down and killed by Hitonomi herself which rarely ends up quick if it is someone who has betrayed her or disgraced her in a way that she would see fit for someone to have an untimely death.

Hitonomi stood in the middle of the chamber and looked at the five other members that she had brought with her from Tatsujin's hell. Ikkaku was probably the more well known next to her, but she saw that Ikkaku was probably not considered leader material. He was too happy going to be in such a position, but she would never doubt his loyalty. Hitonomi looked at Ikkaku when he finished his speach and walked up to him, standind face-to-face with the odd man, "Ikkaku, I will put you in charge of a three man cell for this, excluding yourself. You, Mahavira, Yoku, and Kawari will be in a cell while I will have Jun solely to myself. I trust you won't dissapoint me?"

Without even waiting for a reply, Hitonomi walked away from the five and stepped through the dust covered stones that were barely lit but by a single fire that she had created using an everlasting thread and fuel. It was a small amount and easily able to create in small doses with her poison, but she hardly used such a thing other than a candle or lamp. Her feet trampled lightly over small pebbles broken from the top of the roof and her eyes traveled into the darkness, staring at the patterns on the wall. Her hand stretched out in front of her when she was in range to touch the wall and pressed a series of hieroglyphs in a specific order with a cat, moon, blade, half-moon, lightning bolt, and triple waves that symbolized air. Hintonomi's voice carried out gently into the room, "By the creation of the cats, the moon's blade will slice through itself and seperate into half of what it truly was. The lightning bolt travels from the core of the moon and strikes through the air igniting the burning crusade of the heaven's fury." The wall in front of her began to seperate and detach. Old mechanisms began to creak and seperate, giving way to a room that Hitonomi herself had used only once before. After learning the process of opening the door and creating the chant herself, "Follow me."

Hitonomi walked through the darkness, waving her hand at a candle that instantly ignited. The fires traveled down in a line, catching fire and casting light upon the damp coridor. Her feet barely made a sound while they traveled across the stones once more. Cob webs presented themselves in front of her but where blown away from a soft wind that resonated from Hitonomi whose wind manipulation pushed a barrier of air out of her body whenever something would present itself to her. In a matter of minutes, Hitonomi and the whole of Hebi were inside of a larger room than the monastary above, but not as tall. It held scrolls and maps and various escape plans. Jewels and weapons, armor, and even skeletons adourned the room, "This is where the refugees were eventually led into and died. There is only one escape route but they were unable to open it due to the fact that the enemy was watching it at all times." Hitonomi turned to everyone and picked up a candle so that they could see her clearly, holding the light just below her breasts so that the fire casted dark shadows over her frame, "A few of you might remember this but back when Tatsujin held us he told of a very important scroll. It was protected by all manners of beasts and evil creatures. Some say Shadow Beasts would spawn and the screams of those who tried to search for the scroll were heard for days before they would end." Hitonomi paused to see if anyone would catch on, "We are going to take that scroll and find out what it tells."

[Senk]

Mahavira cringed with refueled anger. He was accustomed to Ikkaku's constant mockery but it still continued to infuriate him. Unfortunately he was not in the proper location for any kind of violent action, and was forced to restrict himself, as hard as this was. The beast of a man lifted his chin towards the ceiling and closed his eyes. His head was soon filled with images of Ikkaku's body being ground to dust. His upcoming mission would prove more than a challenge if the conditions included the survival of his "friend". Mahavira's upturned fist clenched tightly once more as he brought his head back down to its normal level.

After an insignificant bout of dialogue, the group was beckoned by their master. Mahavira slowly stood up and fell in line with the others, as they followed candlelight down the old, dusty corridor. He calmly entered the large room, ignoring the varied decorum that lined its walls. The material wealth and artifact before him was useless to him. His attention was caught as Hitonomi began to speak.

"A few of you might remember this but back when Tatsujin held us he told of a very important scroll. It was protected by all manners of beasts and evil creatures. Some say Shadow Beasts would spawn and the screams of those who tried to search for the scroll were heard for days before they would end. We are going to take that scroll and find out what it tells."

Mahavira did not recall any stories of this scroll, and was unconcerned with the object itself. However, he was intrigued by its "guardians". It had been a long time since he faced someone strong enough to test his skills, and the man had grown tired of combat within his own race. Human flesh was weak, pliable and was easily rendered unrecognizable by the most simplistic attacks in his arsenal. The idea of dark creatures and shadow beasts sounded challenging, and gave him a new level of excitement for the upcoming task.

[Haihei]

"Ikkaku, I will put you in charge of a three man cell for this, excluding yourself. You, Mahavira, Yoku, and Kawari will be in a cell while I will have Jun solely to myself. I trust you won't dissapoint me?"

Ikkaku smirked at Hitonomi's orders. It was quite flattering to have been put in charge of three other members, especially when they were all older than he was. This was sure to anger a couple of them, mainly Mahavira. After all, the beast had trouble tolerating the comedic grass ninja when he wasn't in charge. However, he would simply have to deal with it. After all, Hitonomi was the one in charge, and whatever she says, goes. "Of course I won't dissapoint you Hitonomi-kun" Ikkaku grinned with excitement. "You can count on me anytime."

With that, the Hebi leader proceeded to touch a series of heiroglyphics, reciting a sort of chant while doing so. As she finished, the stone moved away, the sound of loud gears grinding against one another as a new room was opened up. Ikkaku stared plainly as the wall opened up. He had only seen this place once before, and he was very young. He didn't even remember what he was doing in there. However it was no matter, after all, the only person who would have broght him down here was long since dead.

Ikkaku followed his companions as they filed into the new room. It was there that Hitonomi revealed their plan. The story of the scroll did indeed ring a bell, however Ikkaku could not remember. However, it would be easy to him to find out more about it. What really struck him as news was the rumors about dark creatures. Most normal people would be terrified of such things. However, Ikkaku was the opposite. He was excited to see such creatures. It gets rather old fighting normal people all the time, Ikkaku was looking forward to a change of pace. These beasts would certainly be a change, to say the least. A wicked grin crossed the grey haired man's face as the others took in this information. This was sure to be an enjoyable, but dangerous mission. However, the more dangerous it is, the more fun it could be.

[Desert]

Jun closed her eyes, continuing to use the wall as a support as Kawari entered. She made no move to notice that Kawari had finally arrived, save for a small sigh. Time to get to work, then. As Hitonomi briefed them on their mission, Jun opened her eyes and stood up, pushing against the wall with her back and nearly jumping off of it. She held back laughter at the name of the first group, then smiled at the second. "Yippee!! I get to be alone with Hitonomi-kun!!" she cheered playfully, then followed her leader into the next room.

Looking around, Jun couldn't help but give a shudder at the skeletons. Eww... Bones.. She looked around the room, taking in the smell, feel, and small features of the room. She barely had been listening, but as soon as Hitonomi began saying something, Jun turned around and began paying attention again. After gaining information on the beasts they'd be fighting, Jun smiled. "Shadow beasts? Sounds like a lot of fun. I can't wait to go on this mission!"

She looked around again, the flames of the candles flickering slightly and casting moving shadows upon the walls. A few paces away, a spider ran across the floor towards its web, and disappeared within the shadows, out of sight. Jun blinked at the signs of activity around the room and muttered, "I wonder when this place was last cleaned? Probably hasn't ever been..." She took a deep breath, then gave a quick sneeze, the dust in the air tickling her nose.