(IC) The Life of a Shinobi (Chapter 5: The Four Tails Jinchuriki)

"Yeah sure thing," said the bartender, "Hey Emeni, you got some customers over here!"

Emeni pushed the crowed to the side and looked at the two young men.  "What the? These guys can't be legal," she thought.  Emeni stood from her seat and walked over to the boys.  She was about to speak, but then she noticed that the whole bar was silent and listening.  "Mind your business gentlemen!" she exclaimed.  The men immediately went back to talking and drinking.  "Sooo...how old are you two?" she asked.

"Don't let our young faces fool you," Mugen said, "we're twice the men then any of these guys here."

"Interesting," said Emeni as she raised her eyebrow and smiled, "Well if you have the funds I'd sure be interested in seeing this 'manliness' of yours. So am I doing both of you at once or separately?"

"Why don't we go somewhere less crowded and talk more?" Kazuma asked in a smooth tone. I guess the only way we can convince her into talking to us is to just play along,Kazuma thought. Although he realized to stay focused; sure this woman seemed voluptuous, and had a pretty face, but considering she's a Jinchuriki (and a wild one, based on her surroundings) he needed to prepare for, as Sanmaru said, "in case things get dicey."

"Of course," she said, "A crowed might gather if I'm seen out in the streets. Do you two have someplace to stay here or shall we go to my hotel?"

"We've got a place don't worry," Mugen said, "how bout we go there now. I never really been a fan of waiting." As the three walked out of the bar a young girl noticed their leaf headbands. The girl, Taka Uchiha, was looking for away to the leaf village since her father Sasuke Uchiha ordered her the go to help fight against the Akatsuki. Taka keep her distance from the group in fear of being spotted. Sasuke told her that the ninja world was full of dangers and that it was important for her to reach the leaf village.

Emeni followed the two young boys as they were being watched. However, the Uchiha girl was not the only one watching them. Rokku was spying on them, disguised as a rock. Apparently, the Akatsuki had not left the Land of Fire after the invasion. They had the same knowledge of Emeni as the Leaf Village and were planning to strike as soon as the time was right.

"It's getting late, Nani. Let's head back and meet with the other two," Sanmaru suggested. So far their search hasn't been as he expected. Nani even sent out some of her insects to cover more ground, and still nothing. This is a complete drag, Sanmaru thought, but Emeni can't be far. With a little luck, we could find her tomorrow. Then suddenly, he had a chill run down the nape of his neck. The kind anyone would get if they felt like they were being followed. Instinctively, Sanmaru looked around for anything out of place.

Kazuma noticed the mysterious girl watching from a distance, not entirely fond of being stared down. "The heck is she staring at?" He said aloud with a disinterested look on his face.

Taka gave a small laugh and walked away, "not bad leaf ninja," though she. "Chill out you idiot or else you'll blow our cover," Mugen said under his breath as tracked her movements with his eagle vision. While tracking Taka, Mugen noticed something strange about the near by rock. It was as if it was watching them, "come on let's hurry up and have some fun," he wanting to get off the streets.

One of Nani's insects returned to her with some info. "My insects tell me that Mugen and Kazuma are with some women. Not sure who she is but it might be the Jinchuriki, Emeni Raite. I suggest we meet up with them right away."

"Ok, let's hurry. " With that said, Sanmaru and Nani hurried to meet up with Mugen and Kazuma.

"Here we are, make yourself at home," Mugen says to Emeni as they walk into the apartment. He then gives Kazuma his its your turn look as he walks to the window and check the out to see if they've been followed.

"Well lets get down to business then," said Emeni, "The price depends on exactly what you want me to do."

I've had enough of this, he thought irritated. Wasting no time, Kazuma put on a serious face and stared down Emeni. "Okay, no more games. It's time we discussed some things... Jinchuriki."


"Okay, we made it. It's time we got down to business," Sanmaru said as he and Nani approached the building. Suddenly, he had that same chill down his neck from earlier. He spun around and stared at a rock. He didn't know why, but somehow it seemed out of place...

Emeni gasped after hearing Kazuma's statement. "Who are you guys and how do you know I'm a Jinchuriki?"

"Gee..." Says Mugen in a sarcastic tone, "subtlety really ain't you strong suit is it." He walks over to Emeni and says, "We're leaf ninja here to get you to safety."

"Safety?" she replied, "What are you trying to save me from? I can only assume your intention is to capture me and extract my tailed beast for the leaf to use."

"Trust me, if we wanted to do that, we could have just barged in the place and take you by force," Kazuma replied with a matter-of-fact tone. But what has him on edge was how well she was taking this. I would've thought she would either run or fight at this point, Kazuma thought, What's going through her head? More importantly, they never mentioned extracting the tailed beast. Any of the nations could have done anything else OTHER than that, so HOW does she the Akatsuki's plan? "Anyway, we are not the ones after you. There is a rogue ninja organization, THEY are the ones that want you, and all for the wrong reasons."

"You're talking about the Akatsuki right?" she responded, "There has been a lot of talk about them recently. Word of what happened in the leaf has spread rather quickly. However, I'm not afraid of them. The last Jinchuriki host of the Four Tails probably wasn't as skilled as I am."

"Hahahaha... cute, strong, and fearless. I'm starting to like you Emeni," says Mugen.

"Unfortunately for you guys, the feeling is not mutual." If you guys aren't going to pay me for anything then I'm out of here."

Kazuma decided to toss a bag of money at Emeni. "Here, that should persuade you enough. Take it before Romeo over there makes me vomit all over the place."

"This still isn't going to make me go with you two, I just met you today and don't trust you yet."  While Emeni was talking, a voice was heard outside the hotel window.  "Doton Kekkai: Dorō Dōmu (Earth Style Barrier: Earth Dome Prison!)" All of a sudden, there was a large earthquake and the sun stopped shining through the windows of the hotel.  Residents started panicking as it was now pitch black inside the building.  An individual who had just entered the building ran right back through the door, however, he soon ran into a rock solid wall.  Rokku had created a massive rock dome, surrounding the entire hotel building.  Chakra was being collected from all the people trapped inside.  "I will weaken them first, then we attack," said Rokku.  



While Rokku was busy, Danji confronted Sanmaru and Nani.  "So we meet again," said Danji as he smiled at Sanmaru.

From the roof of another building Taka could see the giant dome and its user. "So this is the power of the Akatsuki, huh. I bet I could smash right through that barrier," she said. With great speed Taka made her way to the dome. Once there she quickly charged her Chidori and used it to blow a hole in the dome. "HURRY UP," she exclaimed, "EVERYBODY OUT NOW!!!" She then ran inside calling out, "Leaf Shinobi! Hey! Leaf Shinobi!"

Before any of them could react, the dome reformed just as fast as it was damaged, covering up the hole. What the..?!? Then Kazuma recognized what was going on: a trap was set up. "Kakusu-Ken, listen up!" he said aloud "This is an Earth Dome Prison Jutsu. It's made to keep people in and quickly recover from any damage while draining our energy. That means someone already knew where Emeni was going to be AND knew we were here; in other words, this was a trap set by You-Know-Who." Kazuma then turned to Emeni. "Still don't trust us now? We have to get outta here, or else we'll be too weak from out chakra being drained.."

Sanmaru stared down Danji, kunai in hand and getting into a battle stance. "What a bother. You were the last person I expected to see again. But you're in between me and saving my teammates." Glancing back at Nani, Sanmaru ordered "Nani, back me up. But be careful."