[center][h1]Kusaru the Angel? Tensions rise![/h1][/center]

Sounds of scrap metal cracking could be heard by Kusaru as Gian smirked before the desperate attempt of the Minamoru child to assault them, followed by an incease in general hostility from the remaining members of the party. All it took was a few words and they were all disorganized and initimidated, ready to be slaughtered with all the openings they gave. [color=gold]"Mistress, freeball?"[/color] he asked so politely, as if he had all the time in the world to take care of these imbeciles. He was indeed scrutinizing every one of them, and of course noticed mixed reactions, a great discord that would easily allow them to slaughter many with little effort and leaving the rest to face their wrath.

Kusaru watched with joy in her eye as the Minamoru kid stepped forward. This was exactly what she had read about him, and more. [i]Bravery[/i] could not have done a finer job on him. Because of this she extended her right hand towards Gian and put it over his chest, to hold him back with that gesture. [color=4D765D]“Just make sure you don't get harmed yourself. I want to know just what the [i]Young Master[/i] can do.”[/color] As soon as she'd said that she would look around the group of jonins, chunin and, strangely enough, genins. It seemed that the crowd favored attacking Gian. Did they assume him to be the leader? Thinking about it, a small laugh came from Kusaru's mouth and she decided to play along with it. [color=4D765D]“Master Gian, please stop them from harming you. I wouldn't know what to do if you got injured, or worse, [b]killed![/b]”[/color] she said with the most girly voice she could muster. She looked at her companion and winked at him, before adding something else. While doing so she swung her umbrella away from her left shoulder, folded it in with a swift movement and put the end in the ground with a soft thud. [color=4D765D]“But please, my feminine brain can't take the sight of blood, go easy on them, oh master Gian. I will take a look at the Young Master, and see if he is as gentle as they say he is.”[/color] Her voice was, at this point, no longer feminine and instead took a more serious tone as she looked with furrowed eyes at the approaching chunin, eyeing his technique and whatever else she could look at. 

Almost mechanically, the mistress' right hand would remain highly on guard toward any threat coming their way all the while maintaining a social conversation with her. The fastest attack thrown at them in this quick lapse of time would be the multiple heated projectiles thrown by the white haired female supported by another girl with a peculiar attire he found rather interesting. Nonetheless, the boss didn't want blood, which probably included her own, and as such, he'd wave his left arm from left to right in order to slap away a few of the shuriken (since Kusaru was right next to him), but must of them would penetrated his arm. Those nearby would hear the blades clash with a metal surface, as if he was wearing armor. His arm wouldn't get on fire and neither would the fabric he was wearing, the flaming shuriken penetrated and didn't come out, as if they were stuck inside. 

However the reality of things would be that, even if Gian manifested absolutely no reaction to being stabbed nor real damage effects, some would notice three knives randomly flinging out of his forearm's sleeve and landing near him. All the while, his arm would bend in bizarre manners, almost as if he had lost control over it and went into a seizure-like state, but it lasted for a few seconds. His fingers however would remain bent and stiff for a little longer, forcing him to twist his arm with a couple of strong strokes before things would be restored normaly.[color=gold]"Heh heh heh, at least there isn't blood."[/color]

Gian remained rather laid back, but all the while acknowledged the multiple frontal attacks and aerial endeavors. His other, non-spastic hand would suddenly have the mass of shuriken that stabbed him slide off his sleeve and were fielded by his fingers. He was ready to counter them, but in a graceful event of luck, the diverging views of the other half of fighters would cause them to literally counter the previous strikes. He could determine by most of their body languages that they were targeting specific threats left aside by others who already had their hands full. Chuckling in malice, he realized that they weren't entirely delluded after all, and some were willing to leave themselves wide open for slaughter just to lower their chances of conflict. 

There would be a vague attempt at genjutsu, but all Saburo would see was a hollow reaction that reflected the inhumane nothingness that seemed to compose this man. In retaliation, he received a rather powerful killing intent, devoid of gore or atrocities, but a very clear vision as to various ways he could kill Saburo this instant while this chaos was happening. 

Everything was stopped except for the gathering of energy under Gian's feet. An electrical attack, something one would have trouble to detect without specific qualities. But strangely enough, the instant the Gungnir formed, the jester made a small bounce forward, landing swiftly on the tip of his toes as he got dangerously close to Daiki and Yamato, which would thus include Tuskiko and Nobunaga. He walked up to them, slowly, but made it clear with his body language that he wasn't preparing to assault them. 

[color=gold]"Kuku, it's strange how a few words can have grave consequences over the lives of many. Heh, heh, heh. Good thing we've handled most of those bad influences, aye Yamato-Chan?"[/color] his tormenting and condescending grin coupled with an unnerving cackle he accompanied with each of his sentences were fuel to heating up the dormant flames within Yamato. He bent over to get to Yamato's level. [color=gold]"Place your bets, do you think there are any Minamoru killers standing here?"[/color]

Ayame was standing at the back, a stone cold expression on her face as she watched the events unfold in front of her. There was nothing she wanted to do, or [i]could[/i] do. There were various reasons for that, amongst others that Kusaru and Gian were more than capable of killing Ayame personally. And she knew it. However she also knew Kusaru, atleast a little bit, and aside from Gian, Kusaru probably wasn't here to harm any of them. More so.. check up on Ayame and Fujitora. And apparently, their team too.

Wielding his bamboo stick firmly, he couldn't do much about the situation, especially with his sister's perpetual silence. She was the smarter one, and thus if she were to be left silenced, it was a pretty obvious sign that intervention wasn't the best option yet. However unlike her, he could study his opponents in a much more efficient manner and possibly anticipate the outcome of their actions. As of now, they were strangely passive, just as they were seven years back. Back then, they didn't try to kill nor manifest any form of bloodlust. The provocations, they were probably a way to stirr more chaos in the group and insure total victory if things completely exploded. They wouldn't even have to kill anyone as most would hurt each other.

Meanwhile, Yamato had been in his charge forwards, oblivious to the fact that Tsukiko was actually working [i]against him.[/i] He pulled back a fist to swing at Kusaru, closing in and reaching the two meter mark, at which point Kusaru would start feeling the approaching heat that emanated from his fists. However he'd never connect, as his remaining fist, and also the rest of his body, got entangled by chakra wire by Tsukiko whom briefly popped up in Yamato's sights before vanishing again. By the time he realized what was going on he was already stopped. He turned his head and noticed Tsukiko standing behind him, and saw she was preparing to pull back. So he did the only thing he reckoned he [i]could[/i] do at this point, which was putting his feet into the ground and resisting the pull. Doing that he managed to stay on his feet, and not only that, also staying on his current position. However by that time the rest of the fight had mostly been stopped already, and Gian was approaching, leaving Yamato with barely any time to voice his annoyance at Tsukiko. [color=9e0039]“[b]Be grateful I didn't burn your arm, bitch..[/b]”[/color] he said to Tsukiko softly, attempting to not do so within earshot of Tsukiko herself, however her heightened senses would likely lead to her hearing it anyway.

For Yamato it was lucky that he didn't get pulled back, however, as his one free fist was still lit up with fire. As such all he had to do was grab a hold of the chakra wires holding him and snap them using the fire. He moved his hand back and grabbed the bundle of chakra wire, with the fire causing it to melt and snap, freeing him from Tsukiko's annoying grasp. Following that, Yamato turned to Gian. He wasn't stupid enough to attack (just yet) with the rest of the fighting stopped, but Gian's attitude was already bothering him. [color=9e0039]“[b]You are just as annoying as our own clown, Aoi.. I should ki-[/b]”[/color] he would say, both his fists right away once more engulfed in flames, preparing to punch Gian square in the face, however he would never get to that as a loud, feminine voice interrupted. Gian, although ready to dodge, had his body seem a lot less fluid and agile once the flames erected and heat engulfed the nearby area. He took a step back, but his upper body shook as if he were shivering. His expression didn't show fear, nor did his actions other than this bizarre reflex. He was still going to dodge, but everything stopped with Kusaru's intervention. 

[color=4D765D]“Yamato Minamoru, thank you for your demonstration. The rest of you, you also did some nice work.”[/color] she said, sounding awkwardly like a proctor at a chunin exam. Her umbrella was still in the ground with ther umbrella was still in the ground with the tip, not having moved ever since the 'combat' started. The most exciting thing that happened was Gian being hit by shuriken and, thus, randomly sending out knives from his hand. Nothing more than that really seemed to have happened. Her words interrupted Gian and Yamato's little conversation, which quite frankly, was bothering Kusaru too. More so at Gian, than Yamato. [color=4D765D]“Gian, I told you to only make sure you didn't get hurt. The Young Master wasn't a threat to you. You're being overzealous.”[/color] she spoke calmly to Gian, voicing her annoyance a little bit in that.

Gian cracked his neck, keeping a close fixation on Yamato's gaze. There was something about that kid that motivated Gian to mess with him, going as far as risking his safety. Kusaru put him back in his place however, prompting the masked man to jump back to his original position. His feet both collided against the charred ground the Chidori attacked had incinterated. He bowed in apology to his master before confering his full attention to her. 

As soon as order had been restored, Kusaru figured it was about time for a speech. Not so much a speech, perhaps, but it was quite clear that the crowd was looking for a reason Kusaru was here. She [i]did[/i] appear in the bingo books, so it made sense. She would wonder about the sudden appearance of a S-ranked missing nin too, if she were a chunin. [color=4D765D]“I'm Kusaru.”[/color] she opened and smiled at the crowd in front of her. It was obvious she was Kusaru, but she figured it was the only introduction that made sense. [color=4D765D]“I'm a.. friend.. of Konoha. Though I don't think Konohagakure is aware of that.”[/color] she said, looking intently at the group ahead of her. [color=4D765D]“I'm also your friend, if you want me to be. You just need to allow me.”[/color]

Her words would sound somewhat enchanting, although that was just her charisma and not a result of any genjutsu or anything of the sorts - the words were meaningless if you were not trusting of the woman, like Daiki and Yamato. [color=4D765D]“Furthermore.. even if you allow me to be your friend. You are expected to kill me, by your Hokage. I... can't say that's his fault. Just know I have the best interests of Konoha, no, the entire shinobi world in my heart.”[/color] She sounded truthful, and definetely believed in her own words. She couldn't speak for the others, and she realized that. And she believed they were free to judge for themselves how to interpret her words and what to do with it. Never the less she continued. [color=4D765D]“The world has become less hospitable for shinobi. Once we were the police force, the armies, we were everything that the world needed. Now.. we are trash of society. There are a handful of clans that still hold true to the values of shinobi-hood. Hyuga. Uchiha. Naito. [i]Choko..[/i] Minamoru. Sawada. Uzumaki. Maru. Your families protect the sacred livelihood of Shinobi, and I think we can have no doubts that your families are in part to thank that we still exist.”[/color] She would obviously name people whose families were all still very much so involved with shinobi-hood. Long lines of family members joining the shinobi forces. Strangely enough the Choko siblings were listed as well, despite the fact that their parents were non-shinobi, and they were the first of their bloodline to become shinobi.

[color=4D765D]“And, perhaps, it is also a good idea to thank new blood, like all the others in your friends group. They may not be from long lines of shinobi.. but certainly, they are shinobi, and they keep the trade intact. I mean you, Akio Tendou, Haruka Ueno, Takeshi Hanami, Aoi Don Maquia.”[/color] Now she'd be referring to people who might come from small families, who didn't have the ability to offer manpower up for grabs for the hokage. Kusaru looked each of the three in the eyes, making sure to appear sincere. The question if this was truthfully sincere, or a ploy, was a question that went unanswered. 

[color=4D765D]“I hope you can understand a change in the world is neccesary to return us to the stature of old times - of times like Madara Uchiha, Pain of the Six Paths, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. Shinobi deserve to be the most important class in any country, in any village. They put their lifes on the line, after all, and wield destructive capabilities. How can we expect them to wield that power with care if we treat them like dirt?”[/color] She'd be referring to the lower standard of living conditions for the shinobi that came ever since the arrival of new technologies that made them more and more obsolete. It was something that every single shinobi now had to contend with, even if these chunin in front of her didn't currently realize it due to their parents paying for many of their things. They would learn in time if they hadn't already. [color=4D765D]“.. of course, things will need to change in world wide perspective, too. A change not everyone wants. That's why I have created the Keihatsu, the [i]Enlightened[/i]. We will change the world and return the cycle that we, shinobi, need to thrive. But we will start in Kumogakure. Be on the lookout for news of change - then you will know. We will clean up the dirt from Konohagakure too, lest you do it yourself before we arrive.. understood?”[/color]

As she was speaking, from the corner of her eye she noticed the previously unconscious man that the shinobi had been dragging along was now attempting to escape by crawling away slowly, out of sight of all the others. [color=4D765D]“As a show of good faith.. Gian.”[/color] she'd say, not giving away just [i]what[/i] this show of good faith would be, but it'd become apparent soon enough. 

[color=gold]"Of course."[/color] with those words, the Keihatsu member launched himself to the direction of the crawling man. He didn't seem to jump, but his feet weren't touching the ground as he darted directly toward the incapaciated man. Gian's being would create a small gust of wind as he passed by the group. When his figure become parallel to the Ronin's, he'd stab two of the Shuriken he received earlier into the man's hands, followed by two more into his feet, safely pinning him down. He'd be seen standing on the immobilized Ronin, facing the direction of Kusaru, arms crossed as if he was proud of what he had just done. [color=gold]"Minimal blood, mistress."[/color] Kusaru didn't want to stay that much longer as they had overextended their stay already. She simply nodded at Gian and then faced Ayame and Fujitora again, opening her mouth to speak but cutting herself short. Instead, she simply smiled, realizing that she had already explained more than she should've. It was sure she enjoyed the company of those around her, even if they [i]did[/i] attempt to attack her and her companion. Well, to be true, Gian had kind of warranted an attack. Before leaving again she would look at Daiki, speaking to him personally. [color=4D765D]“For a member of a clan that feuded with the Minamoru, you were quick to set aside your differences with the Young Master, and follow his lead. That's commendable. [b]Gian[/b], let's go.”[/color] she said, looking at Daiki with a smile, before turning around and walking onto the road, a whirlwind of leaves surrounding her again before flowing away and revealing that Kusaru had indeed dissapeared. Gian waved goodbye, but to Akio in particular, with his left hand. With a pretty casual grin, he vanished the same way Kusaru did, leaving the white haired girl to interpret what this meant. 

With the vanishing of what they could only qualify as a menace, Fujitora glanced over at his sister without saying a word. His blank expression slowly morphing into one of worry was enough to notify Ayame of what he was thinking of this very instant. Retreating his stick back from which it came, he could at least relax, knowing full well as of this point they weren't at risk if Kusaru had indeed left the scene. He translated his relaxed state with a typical smoke he'd light up. Ayame reacted similarily, although not as relaxed as Fujitora. She simply stood at ease, surveying the area aroud her, attempting to appear cool headed as she always was. In truth, this meeting had been a bit scary for her, likewise for Fujitora. [color=black]“I suppose we should rest up a bit after that, and we can continue with the delivery of that man, tomorrow. Make camp, everyone.”[/color]