Kaminari no Kuni

Senko suddenly stopped running, Amaya definitely presented the question to him at the wrong time. His form slid a few feet before his momentum finally gave way allowing him to stand still. His right hand coming up as he ran the digits through his hair. A sigh escaping from his lips as his eyes closed.

"I don't know. There are a lot of things to consider. Will this new found strength make me strong enough to keep the repercussions of my betrayal from killing me? Will I lose those that I love and care for.... and what do I need with this new found strength? What can I accomplish it." Senko sighed again as he opened his eyes and looked at Amaya.

"If you betray all that you have none for strength, what do you have left to protect with that strength? What is the point of having strength if you have no reason to use it? I can't answer your question because I do not know the totality of the circumstances.... but if we are talking about me, then the big question is, can I deal with the idea of you, Rin, and Aoiro trying to hunt me down and kill me..... and further more, if I can deal with the idea of trying to kill all three of you."

Ultimately though, Senko had concluded that losing what he had gained from those three would not be worth any increase in strength or speed, or even chakra. Even a new extremely strong technique wouldn't be worth it.... but that was due to him gaining a closeness with people... something which he had not felt at any other point in his life.

Noticing Senko beginning to slide to a standstill, Amaya mimicked him a moment later, ending a little ahead of him due to her lateness. Turning to face him, she couldn’t hide her eyes widening slightly at his response—as he presented a whole new perspective on the word betrayal. Killing Aoiro? Killing Senko? And while Amaya currently didn’t care much Rin, the point still stood that she’d have to possibly destroy more than the Mizukage. She’d have to kill all those that protected him. And if her assassination of the Mizukage led to war, she’d have no choice but to attack and possibly kill Aoiro. Amaya turned her head away from Senko, cheeks flushing at the frustrating thought.

Could she really steep so low?

Ironic…perhaps she would have taken the opportunity without denial if she hasn’t gotten so close to Senko these last few days and if she hadn't always held Aoiro in her thoughts—though she would not admit it. What goal did she have? What goal did she truly have for doing this? What was the point…in having this strength?

Because I want it…I want to be stronger for the sake of myself…to prove that I can be stronger…but…am I that…selfish?…Deep inside of me…I want to make the village suffer…cause they made me suffer…but the thought….of hurting Aoiro…

“You analyze difficult situations so simply. And you say you're not a leader? Heh. Come on, prick. I want to reach the land of sound before it’s dark.”

Turning she began to run off again.

Senko leaned forward as he once more ran along side Amaya, his head shaking a little. "Being able to analyze a situation isn't a quality of leadership. I am able to find obvious problems within the problem, I can see numerous factors, but that doesn't mean I can pick the correct course of action. Seeing all of the factors that something details is easy, using those to make a correct choice is not."

Senko's form suddenly vanishing from the ground and reappearing several feet in the air. His form gliding down back towards the earth. As he landed on his left leg, the knee bent and then extended, his form hyper accelerating again, once more causing him to vanish and reappear in the air. Running was fine but there were significantly faster ways, and more efficient ways of traveling.

"Anyway Hime, the reason I am not cut out to lead is because without orders, or directions from another person, I have nothing. This is something that I've come to realize these past couple of days, some of it in part thanks to you."

Amaya frowned at his actions—jumping was faster but it was also more conspicuous, running at their speeds would be suspicious enough in another villager’s eyes. Nonetheless, Amaya sighed and copied him, leaping from the sand and into the air before splashing into the shallow end of the water and repeating the action—not to mention it was much more bothersome.

“It’s true...the knowing is only half the battle.”

Eventually she synced with him, leaping at his precise speed and at his side so they could talk properly.

“So far though, you’ve made it on your own though. Saying you have nothing without orders is a bit harsh. You have your own mind you know, you make your own choices. Having orders just makes it easier, don’t you think?”

Turning to him, she quirked a brow.

“Stop being so damn depressing, it’s annoying.”

And thus they continued to travel across the sandy beach, journeying for some hours before Amaya felt an uneasy tinge in her stomach—apparent by her slowing in pace. By this time, they had slowly started to leave Kaminari no Kuni and approach Oto no Kuni. Not only did was she concerned with Otogakura no Sato itself, to which she knew Shindo was from but not the location of the village, she was also worried about the overall uneasiness of the area. It’s cruel past had followed it into the present and…she felt as if there was no crossing through without being noticed. She wanted to tell Senko it was time they stopped hopping like frogs and walk like normal civilians, but she also wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

Shaking her head furiously she leaped even faster, moving away of Senko without a word. If Senko didn’t speed up, she’s probably become rather small, rather quickly.

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT! I DON’T want to be here!!

Then suddenly just as she was landing, a vibration channeled through her body and she came to a dead stop. A streak of worry crossed her features and she glanced around attentively—to normal person or even a shinobi that was not attuned to sound charka, the feeling would have gone unnoticed. She felt as though she entered a barrier of thinly condensed sound to which she was certain was used for detection—it was something she used once before with the ripples of water. When something penetrates the barrier, it caused a distortion of ripples...which she assumed alerted those on lookout. But over the entire land, this made no sense. They must have been closer to Otogakure no Sato than she thought—and the sound shinobi wanted to know all who entered and left.

“So much for my luck…” She cursed herself for allowing herself to be distracted.

The beach was transforming into a forest, the ocean running along its outskirts. Amaya simply stood there, waiting for Senko to catch up and ask her why she stopped.

A few seconds later Senko would come to land next to Amaya, his left brow lifting slightly. She was obviously extremely uneasy about something... but now was definitely not the time to pry. "Well we can either walk, which would take several hours, or go into a full out sprint..... which would only take us maybe a hour if even that. Up to you."

Senko had picked up on Amaya's urgent need to get home, but he'd also deciphered that it had nothing to do with homesickness. He was going to let her make the next couple of calls until he could figure out what was going on, would she throw caution to the wind to get out of her, or would she play it smart?

"Chances are we are being tracked right now, I'm not sure if they will follow us into this land, but I'm also willing to bet that the shinobi of Otogakura no Sato probably know that we are here as well. If it be by some remote means, or they have witnessed us visually. So either way there is a chance we may run into both parties."

Point out the obvious and more why don’t ya, Senko…

“You’re right, Senko. What worries me most is that I think we are near Otogakure no Sato. Although you can’t see it, we both entered through a detection sound barrier but a moment ago…You see my hearing is rather acute and I’m sensitive to sound charka. They know we’re here, and they know where we entered. But if we continue moving they won’t know our exact location. Meaning we move, now.”

Amaya leaped from her spot, entering the forestry and landing on a branch from leaping again through the trees. Unless they had shinobi extremely nearby, it may take a moment to reach them and thus Amaya wanted to get as far away from their entry point as possible. After several minutes passed, she stopped on a branch and leaned against the trunk of the tree with discomfort branded across her face.

“Senko there’s probably something you should know…”

Amaya dropped to the ground and crossed her arms uncomfortably as she thought for a moment about how to phrase her words.

“You see…this place…”

Amaya paused as the forest began to suddenly shade over. Glancing up she noticed a single dark cloud in the sky before a large lightning bolt struck the tree next to her, causing it to ignite in flames and tumble towards her unexpectedly. Amaya had time to gasp and leap out of the way before another lightning bolt struck another nearby tree initiating the same treatment behind Senko. Five more trees in the surrounding area all ignited and fell towards them. Leaping and tumbling, Amaya and she assumed Senko as well managed to escape the falling trees, but now they were surrounded by large flames.

Beyond the flames, five shinobi landed on a tree branch that still stood. Three males and a two females. One of them lower their hands, digits dancing with sparks from the jutsu he performed.

At least it’s not sound…

As the first tree fell Senko simply stood their, his form vanishing under it seemingly crushed. Moments later after Amaya finished dodging the next set of fallen trunks, and the shinobi revealed themselfs, Senko would reappear. In those moments that the trunk of the tree passed over him, his form vanished into the shadows beneath it, consumed by the realm of shadows. He simply did not have time to play these games.

His form would step from the shadow of a tree, appearing next to one of the female ninja, his right hand clenched as crimson eyes fell upon the female. "Hey!"
Senko's voice crept from the darkness immediately drawing the females attention over to him. Her left hand darting up as she brought a kunai out to strike with. Yet her left arm would be met by Senko's right hand, the flare of chakra that burst from it on impact caring the force through the joint causing it to shatter. Immediately the arm traveled forward in a back hand bringing his knuckles slamming across her temples, another flare of chakra causing her frontal lobes to hemorrhage.

Senko's form twisted, the crackle of electricity catching his attention, his right hands moving out as he brought his finger tips slamming into the bolt of electricity, his hand then sliding to the right as he cast the electrical charge to the side. The tips of his fingers smoldering slightly from intercepting the bolt. Hopefully Senko would be able to draw their attention and Amaya would be able to run. Evasion was his specialty so it seemed only fitting that he try to draw their attention. "We don't have time for this."