A piece through the perspectives of Musunde "Soraru" Hiraite and Hono Hokori expanding on the night they joined in to save their village. Other players in the story (NPC) are the former Raikage and his adviser by the name of Wanryoku.
Events here are canon/relevant to the main guild storyline.
No matter how much he trained, the difference between a C rank and S rank shinobi was too great. While Soraru had possibly the best technique in the village, he lacked in raw strength, speed and reflexes. Most notable though was his lack of chakra compared to Kaileer and Wanryoku. He tried to push himself, jump through the trees and continue their assault on the barbarians, but only ended up crashing through the branches. He fell to the ground in the strangling cloud forest, far enough from the main wave of barbarians to not be in any immediate threat but still struggling. Assassinating was easier than he wanted it to be...and he'd done it quite a few times that night, his first kill still staining his mind. But his last attempt screwed up and put him in an all out fight against someone with speed and strength akin to Wanryoku. He still came out on top due to the lack of intelligence that was shared between all the barbarians, creating an extended chakra structure to launch his opponent about a mile high in the air, leaving him to fall to his death...Still, the construct itself was draining, so was the filler. The jutsu, clones and dealing with the additional barbarians that joined in from all the noise. It was draining to say the least.
"I should've used my control state to reduce my chakra expenditure, I just didn't want to exhaust my blood abilities before entering the main camp...that's where I'll need them most. He thought to himself, his mind as active as always even when he could hardly move the rest of his body. The boy mustered enough strength to lay his weapon across his lap, fresh blood still coating Suwari. Thirty eight. He made sure to count each one. He took thirty eight lives that night so far. Blood didn't only wet his blade, it stained his already dark clothes and laid splattered against his cheek. While he didn't want to waste the energy in wiping that off yet, he did must enough to grab the end of his jacket with his left hand and begin wiping off Suwari. The village, those he met, they had become dear to him, but none was closer to his heart than the sword his father passed down to him. It was the last time he felt like that father even existed.
Then again...with a flash in his mind of white hair, blue eyes, and a serene smile, he wondered if that was really the only thing he held so dear. Now isn't the time to think about her. He grimaced, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with all the blood on him. A sword for only good deeds...right? That's what I said. Would this still count, Hanako-chan? He asked in his mind, as if he could actually have a response. The guilt that came whenever he thought of her took hold, and he wondered if she'd even talk to him if she really was there. Suddenly finding it worth it to wipe the blood form his face, he rose his left hand to rub the back of it against his cheek, dropping that hand to his chest after...While his hand was there, he reached into his shirt, pulling out a pendant of sorts. An evercrystal-encased chrysanthemum he always wore from the very start.
Staring at it reminded him of better times, and his mind was able to enter a state of relaxation, eyes glowing and reflecting its color, his chakra reserves beginning to refill faster than normal. Oh the joys of being a Hakemoto.
Honō had barely been able to keep up, but still Advisor Wanryoku did not leave him behind. He was forcing the giant to be more careful, more mindful of their movements and actions. Honō was grateful their opponents were not trained sensors, but it meant keeping off of the ground to avoid leaving tracks. Honō's legs ached something fierce from the anxiety of falling and the overexertion of the muscles in his fear of falling. And yet Wanryoku did not leave him... The first night they took to rest, Honō diced up much of his clothes - the outer robe turned to thick ribbons for binding. Wanryoku had not participated, but he did instruct Honō on the best way to roll up and store the newly made bindings. And the training - in all honesty, it was rather fun. And it was the only thing getting him to sleep at night, his anxiety otherwise making his mind run so fast with worst case scenarios that he would just stare at the dirt in worry till the sun came up.
Still, when in combat, Honō felt like his use only extended so far as acting more as the loud bait than a combatant. It had yet to be spoken but, Honō knew that Wanryoku was aware of it too; Honō didn't want to kill these men. So he tore up his clothes, wore the pelt Wanryoku made him for the warmth his body lacked, and used what little chakra he had to turn the only lengthy array of glass beads on his outfit to hold their water, set traps, and otherwise act as tools to help in any way he could. The large hunting knife still rested in the middle of his back, it's sheath now a combination of leather and diced-up robes, but clean of blood. Wanryoku would find comfort in reuniting with Raikage Kaileer and Soraru, not just to ease Honō's burden on him, but because their pair of them were, quite obviously so, the more emotional of the four. It would ease both of their minds to see familiar faces. To them covered in blood, however, wasn't quite what Honō had in mind. Honō's footsteps deliberately moved to rustle the grass - the opposite of the trick Advisor Wanryoku had been trying to teach the Hari clan member - so as to alert Soraru of his approach.
"Soraru kun," Honō whispered as he knelt down at man's side. He moved aside the folds of his hakama pulling out a glass bottle of water and clean cloth. With some chakra, the glass unsealed and Hono soaked the cloth. With a bow of his head, Honō offered the cloth with both hands, as one would when offering something precious. "For Suwari." He explained, knowing how quickly blood can ruin a blade, and how serious Soraru took that no one ever touches his own. Dangling between his fingers of one hand was the open bottle. Honō did not know how Soraru was after a battle - and oh how different Wanryoku is after one that Honō will be quiet, watchful, until he knows Soraru's after battle needs.
███ 〉 Overcompensates with polite behviour for fear of not meeting team expectations. █████████████ 〉 Clearly demonstrates marks of extreme anxiety, notably in social situation. ███ 〉 Flight response most dominant. ██████████ ██████████████████████████████████████ 〉 Lacks proper Academy training.
Ｂｅｈａｖｉｏｕｒ ｎｏｔｅｄ ｔｏ ｂｅ ｒｅｉｎｆｏｒｃｅｄ：
███ 〉 Has shown keen observation of environmental & structural weak points.█████████████████████ 〉 Above average aim in throwing weapons. ███ 〉 Was seen to be a supporter of teammates, learning behaviour and patterns to best accommodate. ██ 〉 Steady hands - surgeon quality.
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