Naomi Uzumaki
Aroshima Sarutobi
The Red SagesNaomi had no need to directly involve herself with combat. Even since the Flare signed the Red Sages to begin their assault, she stood behind and only picked off Confederate shinobi that had... well, let's say moved way too far from the center of the Harvest Event. The young woman wasn't wearing her usual attire, she was wearing a dark red cloak that reached her thighs and covered a good portion of her body, together with a crimson mask of a hare, with a red lightning in the center of it's eyes. Not pretty, but she decided to keep her identity hidden, opposed to the majority of the red sages who just began the assault with her faces showing to the whole world. For a good while, she was rather peacefully standing in her chosen place, simply overlooking the fight, analyzing the confederation's shinobis and her own allies. It was difficult pointing out who was winning at times; first, the Red Sages seemed to have a clear advantage, but it was only momentarily before the Confederation gathered their own forces and began defending themselves. Naomi moved closer, especially after an imbecile made the favor of putting up a mist that made impossible to see anything.
With a single handseal she used the Body Flicker Technique to move closer to the scene, while still somewhat safe (one could easily see her now, but mostly everyone was too distracted fighting). From here, she was able to spot: A Hyuga, with the Byakugan active, pummeling a poor Red Sage , an Uchiha, boldly charging onto combat to aid the Hyuga and a strange, white-haired boy that was using a technique Naomi had never seen before. The fight continued, and became quite intense, Naomi could tell. Eventually, the mist subsided and it was clear that the Red Sages fighting in there were retreating. Naomi followed a red-haired boy with her eyes, he looked girlish and showy, almost provoking in some manner. There was a civilian running, in the direction that Naomi currently was; a Red Sage followed him, slowly, but his pace eventually increased and it was clear that he was following the poor man. When he raised his arm with a Kunai in hand, a shuriken lodged itself straight into his arm. The man yelled in response and glanced up to see where it came from, all Naomi did was shake her head slowly from side to side, in a disapproving manner. She raised her left hand, an index finger pointing far at a Confederate shinobi who was clearly having an easy time defeating a red sage. The rebel understood the message and rushed to aid.
On the outskirts of the battlefield, the winds were blowing harshly, the streets were filled with terrified civilians, running from the scene of the battle that was taking place at the center of the Harvest event. It was a mess, truly. Standing on a balcony, a cigarette in his hand the young man known as Aroshima leaned over the railing, looking down. He could hear her snooze from inside, she was still asleep - good, it meant less awkward conversations. His tie blew in the wind, as he thought about this whole scenario. He was on the balcony of a woman who's name he wouldn't remember tomorrow, on the outskirts of a battlefield, truly, his life had spun out of control.
Attention was drawn to him when he heard screams from below, it wasn't the cries he had heard before - this was a 'help I'm getting attacked scream'. A shinobi in the confederate uniform was bullying an old man, the young man grunted, flicking the remnants of the tobacco out from the grasp of his fingers, watching as it sailed down to the ground. In the next moment, he moved, vaulting over the rail, he found himself in front of the uniformed soldier - he was a chunnin, like him. He probably knew his name, too, if he thought about it. They had probably met each other once or twice, maybe even had a mission together.
"Would you cut that shit out?" Aro asked, walking past him, his tie hanging over his right shoulder thanks to the strong gust of wind. The other man looked him dead in the eye, his hand still at the collar of the old man. "They were supporting rebel troops!" The man shouted, Aro nodded.
"Cool. They're civilians. This is our village. Leave them be, there's you know, a fight going on over there, and you're on duty." The soldier grunted, and in the next moment was gone off to the battle.
Aro chuckled for himself, helping the old man up, getting mud on his jacket in the process. He shrugged, looking back over at the battlefield, deciding to get a better vantage point - he couldn't let anyone he cared about get hurt, after all, regardless of whatever side they were on. He climbed a rooftop in but a moment, using the body flicker technique to do so, peering out.
Green eyes scanned through the battlefield, slowly raising from the ground, onto the nearby buildings. There was a figure she knew, somewhat. Roughly. Very good - Aroshima, the son of the late Nami Uzumaki, or better put, Naomi's aunt and the woman who inspired Naomi's name. He was in a rooftop, apparently not siding with either the confederation or the red sages - what was he doing here, then? Naomi almost failed to care, but in the end, she was curious.
She adjusted her mask, she wasn't extremely close with her cousin, neither spent much time with him, but she remember that he was disciplined - and a very hardworking individual. He had points with her, due to that. Her attention was drawn back to the distance between the building he stood atop of, and the little mountain she, herself, was standing on. Not that long; she'd trace it quickly.
3,2 seconds, was all it took for the Uzumaki to appear a few meters behind the man, a kunai drawn in her hand. So, this was the time to check if all his hardwork had paid off, she at least wanted to startle him. A playful move, at most.
"Confederate scum, this will be your last breath." He would likely recognize her voice, but it was muffled behind the crimson mask.
The footsteps behind him made him begin to turn around, hand in his pocket where he kept his weapons. Turning completely, he saw the masked character move towards him, for but one moment, he considered taking action, but after taking a second to inspect the assailaint, he refrained - a manouver he was taught a long time ago. Standing still, his hand gripping his weapon inside of his pocket, he did not flinch as the kunai came towards his face, stopping but a few inches in front of his eye.
"You're gonna poke out someone's eye." Aro spoke, his voice was tense, clearly - he had been a bit worried.
"Besides, you really should change your perfume. Could smell you from a mile away." he said, raising his hand from his pocket, lighter in hand, getting out another cigarette from the pocket in his jacket.
"So, what do you know about this mess, Cus?" Aro spoke, looking out at the battle, the clashing of metal echoed.
She spun the kunai in hand, so the handle was pointing in his direction, instead of a threatening blade. Then, she lowered her arm and pocketed the kunai away, turning her gaze to the side.
"Two objetives. Capturing an alive figure of power - such as a politician and assassinating the commander." Her voice was cold, as usual, lacking any form of emotion. She was a bit disappointed, but she made a mental note to buy a different perfume as soon as this mess was done.
With a rather agile movement, she produced a kage bunshin, which stood next to her only a few moments before she made a vague gesture towards the main building, where the commander likely was. The clone rushed there. She'd then turn her attention back to her cousin, she was frowning at him behind the mask.
"Why do you insist with those cigarettes? They'll just shorten your life. It's not just because you've got Uzumaki's extended lifespan, that you should shorten it for something as futile as smoking."He nodded his head, as if to thank her for not trying to cut his face off with the blade she had drawn.
"I see. Sure it's in your best interest to share that sort of info with someone outside of the sages? I suppose we are family, after all." Aro noted, scoffing. She produced a clone, which scurried away towards the center of the battle.
"Neat."She had a tendency to point out his bad habits, and as usual, she questioned his smoking. He looked at her, with the glowing stick in his mouth.
"What, it's not like I'll get cancer." He scoffed, it was a crude joke, really. One that he had punched someone else in the face for making.
"Besides, they still my nerves. Speaking of which, you need any help?" Aro inquired.
The joke he made was bad. Pretty bad. But Naomi made no comments about it, only giving a very small shrug of her shoulders, barely noticeable in fact.
"This information will become very clear after we complete these objectives. No reason in hiding them." She tilted her head to the left side, raising her hands in a questioning manner after he offered his help.
"Your help?" A pause. If he could look at her face, which gladly he couldn't, she was biting her lower lip while deliberating his question. Finally, she moved slightly closer and placed a firm palm on his shoulder, in a friendly manner.
"Aroshima-kun, why don't you come with me? I'm not saying this as a recruiter would say to a possible recruit, but as your cousin. You are a capable shinobi and you work very hard for whatever you need, I don't want to see you being an expendable shinobi within the Confederation's ranks and neither another pointless nin without an objetive to trace." The grip on his shoulder became slightly tighter.
"Always so stoic." He scoffed, flashing a grin. She went on a spiel about how he shouldn't let himself be used by the Confederation, that he wouldn't let himself go down in history as just another man who did what he was told. But he wasn't really having that, neither side of it, really .
"Truth be told. I'm not going to let myself be used by anyone. The Confederation is corrupt, everyone knows that, so I want to help." Aro spoke, exhaling the smoke while moving the cigarette away from his lips, aiming his face away from his cousin, to avoid her getting smoke on her.
Naomi removed her hand from his shoulder, clasping her hands together behind her. Her eyes widened slightly; her clone had just dismissed itself and instantly, she absorbed all the information it had gathered until now. Pleasant information, to say the least, but she didn't share it with Aroshima just yet, instead, she turned to him, her eyes questioning behind that mask.
"So, how then, do you plan on helping?" A question was simple enough.
By now, the commander had been executed in public. The Red Sages were ordered to retreat, which many already did or were in the process of. Naomi feared a huge battle could erupt, as she could see a known member amongst the Red Sages getting himself ready to fight; Katsuko, and a general or something of the sort making..
it's first move. That cat-thing, Naomi never knew what it was, but it possessed power.
Aro could see her twitch a bit, as he assumed her shadow clone had just fed her necessary information, he wouldn't lie and say that he wasn't curious, because he was. But he also knew that he would be told in a matter of time, that was how things worked. Either by Naomi, or by someone else. Asked how to help, Aro was stunned for a second, he hadn't actually thought of that. He just assumed she needed something from him.
Grinning, he responded.
"Not sure, wherever I can, really. I have a lot of contacts on both sides of the conflict. Just know, Naomi, I won't kill anyone." His words were warm originally, but when talking about taking someone's life, his voice grew colder than ice. He wasn't going to take the life of a friend - even if they happened to be on the wrong side of the conflict in this civil war in the making.
When he told her that he wouldn't kill anyone, Naomi's eyes closed, for only but a few seconds - but more than enough for him to notice. She recalled a scene from the back of her mind, but she was quick to shove those thoughts away.
"Sometimes, killing is inevitable. But I pray that you won't ever encounter such situation." Well, her voice remained cold throughout this entire conversation. It has been this way since forever.
"Ah. The Red Sages are retreating, which means I have to, as well. Can't risk to loiter around for too long and get caught by the Confederation."With that, the red-clad masked shinobi briefly stared at the man besides her, before she left. It looked as if she had simply teleported, but she had just moved at an immensively fast speed. Other red sages were also retreating, all at the same time; the order was clear, after all. The task was complete. Naomi just wondered what would be of her cousin, Aroshima. With that sort of 'life-rule' of never killing anyone... He would eventually end up killed, backstabbed by someone who's life he previously spared. It was just a matter of time.
A sigh.
She partly wished that he was following her and partly didn't. Oh well.
