"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want."

This was where he had tracked the missing Genin after she had left Kirigakure by herself.  A village named Hacho that was on the border of the Land of Fire.  On one side of the village was a desolate wasteland that lead to a place that held mystical water on the other side of the mountains was the fertile forests of the nation that Konohagakure called home.  Of course he wasn't here to see the sights.  At least not yet.  He was here on business and it was business he was going to do.  The first part of his plan was to find places of interest to kids that fit Miuu's personality type.  If that failed he would go to everywhere that had a large influx of people and find someone was guarding the area.

The first place he would go was Main Street.  Main Street usually had the most people passing by and was the most likely location to find someone who caught sight of the girl he was searching for.  He had already worked out his cover story should a citizen ask him his relation to the girl.  He was the girl's uncle who was searching for the girl after he father got sick and died.  Overcome with the grief, the girl fled and tried to forget about the pain of the loss.  Good story that should help him when trying to get sympathy.  Especially with older women.  Of course, he had the picture redone without the headband and his own was hidden on his person.  His vest however was safely tucked away in the bottom of the pack he was carrying.

Then, with picture in hand, he made his way through Main Street, making his way towards whatever governmental building was in the town.  As he passed he would ask everyone who got close enough with a worried town if they had seen his niece anywhere.

It was a day like any other, Kyonshi Kiro was making his way home for a short break. He was a simple man, with simple dreams, only to be cut short with love, and a family. He was no longer the great ninja medic. He worked at one of the small restaurants, being a waiter and so forth. But after his wife's death and his children grew to be men, he could not say that he was still himself. Nonetheless the old man wandered home on his break, only to retrieve some money for hustling some games of pool.

"What a peculiar man..." Kyonshi thought to himself. He watched some man asked around to find someone. Perhaps a lost relative, or like he often did, was finding someone who had ventured far from home. He approached the man, only wondering his real purpose in the village. Being that it was just outside of Konohagakure many ninja came there prior to visits inside. But as a resident of the small town, he took it upon himself to help out the less hostile.

"Excuse me young man." He approached him from the rear, tapping his shoulder with a pool stick. To any outsider, and someone not well versed in the game, thought it no more than the cane he used to walk. However those in the Hancho knew what that stick really did. "Are you lost?"

Katsuro seemed to only get the the least useful information from the citizens that walked through the street.  Some had seen her just yesterday.  Others had ever seen her.  One even said that he had married her three years ago.  But all were quickly dismissed as fallacies and completely useless information.  Frustration didn't come close to what the aging Jounin felt as he wondered the streets in what appeared to be a wild goose chase.

And then he felt a solid object tap him on the shoulder.  Not hard enough to cause pain but enough to get him to turn around in his particular form of Fight or Flight, affectionately called Fight or Fight Harder.  His shocked looked quickly went to one of grief, facial expressions being one of the few things he was taught to manipulate as an ANBU.  The stick looked to be nothing more than a walking cane but he knew the firmness would inflict some pain if used as a weapon.

"Yea, a little bit. I'm looking for my niece.  She ran away after her father died."  As he spoke he turned to look over his shoulder as if he was looking for someone.  "A man on the coast said she was coming this way."  After a second of looking around he pulled the picture from his pocket and offered to show the man the blonde haired, fifteen year old girl that he claimed to be his niece.

Kyonshi smiled when he saw the picture, only to fully recall the young girl. "Yes, she was here." He smiled... it was just like the other day for him

---

"Ugh, this place is hopeless."

Kyon peeked over through a displacement of books in the local library. The voice was young, but far from innocent. He could hear the hint of a killer and an assassin, as well as a broken family. She pushed books with haste and threw scrolls aside.

"What in the world are you looking for missus?" Kyon asked through the books. She returned with a furled glare. Kyon tasted the rage as he walked around the aisle of books. He noted the few books she had at her side, all containing things on Ninjutsu and variants of it. There was Chakra flow, basic anatomy...

"Get out of my business, old man." She metaphorically discarded him like trash. He responded with a smile and took a guess. He leaned his pool stick against the wall of books and rose his hand to his face. His hand was open. He slid his fingers across his cheek, each finger turning into a chakra scalpel, and cutting his face. With a face of little pain he brought his hand back forward, tracing the wounds and healing them immediately.

"How'd you..." She dropped her books, stunned. Her eyes like a chold who tasted candy for the first time.

"First, I want to know your name."

---

He stood before the man, "If I may," he began, "How did her father die?"

The man's acknowledgement brought a look of joy to his face. The man seemed genuine in his recollection but he also seemed to have a devious side to him as he spoke. Maybe the man would try to extort him. If he did, he had a few things that would most likely result in him revealing what he knew but first he would try something a little nicer. A partial truth.

"He was killed. By bandits we think," he started. "He was in possession of something couldn't save him and after his body was returned the object wasn't there so we can only assume that it was because of bandits. I have a feeling she may be trying something foolish in order to take vengeance. I told her that Kirigakure would take care of the problem but you know kids. They think they always know best. After her father died she was placed in my care," not a complete lie. Her return had been placed in his care, whether it was forced or not was up in the air at the moment.

"Since her mother abandoned her, her father was the only parent she knew. Sadly I wasn't around as much as I would have liked do to my job. After her father died, I was gone away on business and she was left to fend for herself. Her name is Miuu and mine is Katsuro. Katsuro Michiki." False name is false.

He smiled, knowing fully the man was a fake. Perhaps he had good reason to lie, but to introduce himself under the wrong name only proved to be untrustworthy. "I do recall her being here. She checked out some books and made her way into Konoha." he admitted, "Only if I could remember why she came here in the first place..." He rubbed his chin, his stick resting at his side...

---

"Miuu you say?"

"My friends call me Lotus."

He stood in the aisle with her, discussing whatnot. They interrogated each other, testing each other's strengths. He thought back to the stories of his childhood, only to relate to the girl.

"My father was a swordsman once, not a seven swordsman. He went around the world protecting the weak and using his sword as a shield." he smiled at the girl, "But you want to advance your father's Kekkei Genkai and become the greatest medic in the world? Who also has a sword? Now that I can admire. Rigna-"

"Rinha." The girl corrected him, "The Rinha Clan." She looked at him like a sensei. And wanted to become everything he used to be. "Why did you give up being a shinobi, Kyon?"

"I had a family, I fell in love. I didn't want to lose anymore days of my life or wake up wondering if someone was going to kill me."

"Oh..." her face fell to the ground, ashamed of her question. He was an old man. He gave up his dreams so that his children could achieve theirs. He reached into his back pocket to retrieve a scroll. He handed it to the girl. "My personal notes." he said, "I was meaning to archive them here, but you could take the first look..."

The smile on the old man's face brought a somber look to Katsuro's face. He knew the smile well. It was he was trained in for a long time. It was the face of an experienced Shinobi who knew more than he let on. It was his face just a few years older and less damaged. He knew he had been found out and the old man would probably realize this as well. The information could not be trusted until the man was vetted. He was possibly an enemy trying to lure him into capture in an enemy village.

"So, sir, it seems we have a similar background. You know I lied and I know you met the girl in this picture. Most of what I said was the truth however I'm not her uncle. Her safe return, however, was entrusted to me." He paused a moment to reveal the headband hidden underneath his shirt to the old man. "I am a shinobi tasked by the Mizukage to retrieve Miuu who appears to have lost her way." He paused one more time to pull a scroll bearing the Mizukage's seals. "I can tell by the way you carry yourself that you are indeed a former shinobi, if not a little grizzled."

His tone was most respectful with a hint of agitation at himself. But only a little. If what he suspected was true, then the elderly man before him was a seasoned shinobi and only a true master of subterfuge would have been able to fool him. Of course, everything he said was true for the most part. He didn't go into excruciating detail but did give the man the basic gist of it. If the man was indeed a shinobi he would know that Katsuro did have the authority to do everything in his power to retrieve the girl, regardless of consequences.

He looked back at the young man only to find the answers he was looking for. It make his smile shine with admiration, that hope of the next world was just beginning.

"The Rinha are experienced medics." he told the man, "Had you kept your lie I would have redirected you, but since you have no purpose other than to return the girl home... I will tell you." He begun to lean on the stick, only to have it not bend. It was one of great expertise, and his weapon of choice. He was once the greatest medic known to man, and his only subskill was the arts of weaponry.

"She was here no more than a week ago. She left with a boy." he told him. "I saw her on her way out, only to have their company increased by another." his face revealed a shred of fear, afraid of her fate. "She was the daughter of the Kirigakure fabled Swordsmen. Her intentions is to bring honor to her family's name. She came to me to learn to heal." He leaned in a bit towards the man, his tone lowered and his voice soft, "I know ANBU when I see them. Both those men she was with were such."

He looked at Katsuro, only to express his own ideals and observations. "She doesn't need saving." he spoke, "She needs a family."

Katsuro nodded as the man spoke. It seemed his assumptions were correct about the man. Definitely a former shinobi who either retired or was forced out for some reason, he was leaning towards the retirement bid more than anything. The man looked like he still kept himself in shape rather than what someone who was bitter and forced out would do. After the man finished speaking, Katsuro nodded. That's all everyone needed. A family.

"That's a true skill sir. Knowing who someone is when they've been trained to be as discreet as possible is a true skill. But thank you. Maybe by being saved she will realize she never stopped having a family. I like to think Kirigakure takes care of their own." He paused a moment to think back on his own daughter and how well she had been taken care of during his missions. "If you don't mind, sir. I'd like to have your name and, if it's not too much, what village you used to serve."

He said the word serve with a mark of respect as if it was a Shinobi's greatest duty to serve the village in whatever capacity they could manage. Regardless whether he gave his name and village or not, Katsuro would look towards the horizon and smiled. "You wouldn't happen to know which village these ANBU hailed from do you? Or have any distinguishing features of these two?"

"When you lose everything you ever loved... your family... your belongings, and your honor, then you will understand the girl's pain." Kyonshi spoke. He looked at the man, only wondering how he could not have noticed it before.

"Kyonshi Kiro." he spoke. He kicked his stick, flinging it outwards to his side. He spun the stick, only to point the end of it at the man. It was no more than two feey from his face, as the cue was lined up on his shoulder, "I was ANBU captain. I gave up my life for peace." And at the end of the stick was the Kirigakure symbol engraved into base of it.

"One was a boy, the other a crime lord. I cannot recall their names, nor villages, for I was chasing one of my loose chickens." he set the stick once again at his side, "However what concerns me is that you are chasing after a girl who is no longer a genin, while you have an actual missing ninja who have collected more swords than he has hands." He turned to his side, to make his way back to work. There was no need to hustle pool today. He found something much more rewarding. "Actually, I do recall one thing. The boy had Samehada."

He was half turned away, yet the distance between him and the man was unchanged. He wondered if what he was doing was the right thing. He could have told him the great tale of his friends...

But he could not sell out his great friend's daughter...

Honor. Honor was a funny thing. When you have it you never notice it but when it's gone you miss it as if your own family had been killed before your eyes. That's what Katsuro felt like at the mention of honor. He had abandoned his honor when he started to enjoy the death that surrounded his life. He could only nod though. He hadn't lost his entire family like Miuu had and what was a measly thing like Honor to the loss of your family.

And then his name sparked a meaning behind it. Kyonshi Kiro. One of the fabled members of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Former ANBU Captain of Kirigakure. A hero to his own mentor and a respectable member of Kirigakure. He brought his right fist and brought it over his chest and rested it over his heart. A sign of respect he was taught and one he meant with every fiber of his being.

"I apologize for misleading you sir. My real name is Katsuro Senju, former member of Kirigakure's esteemed ANBU. My mentor considered you to be a hero, sir. Before his death."

He paused a moment as he heard the last tidbit of information. Samehada. Stolen weapon from Kirigakure. Original owner was probably dead.

"I believe the great swords should be recovered, don't get me wrong, but Miuu has been missing for some time. Some fear her to be dead. She left without warning to anyone and the Mizukage has asked me personally to search for and and bring her back if possible. Though, if there is an opportunity to return the blade to it's rightful place then I will take it but the mission is to safely return Miuu to her home."

And then it hit him. A missing ninja who had collected more swords than he had hands. He had no knowledge of this man in the bingo books. "This man you speak of. The one with more blades than hands, who is he? I have no knowledge of this man and I've read just about every Bingo Book from the past 14 years or so."

Kyon looked back at him, only have his attention caught by the surname of Senju. How a Senju ended up in Kirigakure was not beyond belief, but meant that there was another web of secrets. The swords was his focus, and would remain so.

"I didn't have the heart to tell her..." he clenched his fists in regret of a foolish mistake. "But perhaps this bit will help you bringing her home.." He turned away, making sure he could no longer see the man, "Shibuki, that was her father's sword." he told Katsuro, hating to refer back to the tale of years ago. "Ages ago, swords went missing. First we lost Kubikiribōchō. Our man disapeared, and so did the sword. A month later another of my allies fell, and once again a sword went missing. This time Nubiari." He planted the cue before him, his hands folded over the top. "Then one day, I met the man who had claimed the swords..." He recalled the short tale of years ago...

---

A mist lingered in the air as snow began to lightly cascade in a downward decent. It was rare to have a snow just at the beginning of winter. A young man wandered through the snow bearing the mask of a wolf. He saw a figure in the distance. The man lifted his hands to attempt to flicker his way to the figure in the distance, only to have a voice interrupt him from behind.

"Children have no reason to be the snow." the figure said. "So inside before you catch a cold."

The young man turned to face the voice. He would have attacked by any means, but to have someone that close, and to have not made a sound nor be sensed, meant he was already dead. He spun forward and looked at the voice. He was astonished to see the creature that spoke. "Who... Who are you?" He looked down at the figure, only to find both swords of his allies in his grasp.

"You..."

"That look in your eyes." the figure spoke, "You are swordsman. From the looks of it, Kiba is in each of your arms. Wise placement." He looked down at the masked boy. The figure had a voice dark and aged, something beyond comprehension. "I was ANBU once. I used to believe in protecting our village. But then I saw the larger picture. With power, comes death." He pointed the tip of the needle at the young man's face, "I did not kill your friends. I killed those that did."

He was confused. Was he not the killer? Was he not there to take down the village? Then it hit him. He knew who the man was. He knew the stories and the reward for taking down someone of myth. Nothing could explain how old he was, nor how he could humanly live that long. But that was it... he wasn't human.

He began to walk off, the young Kyonshi looked at the man that stood with the swords. He had no reason to believe him, nor any reason to distrust him. But if he was who Kyon thought he was, then he was a criminal by nature.

He watched the hooded figure walk towards the man in the distance. He could make out just little about the distant man, only to see the large weapon in his hands. "Who are you?" he asked.

The figure did not slow down, he did not stop. He did not look back, he did not react. "My name is Kaseki." he would say, "And I am not allowing your friends to die."

"Kaseki..." the young man would answer... "... The Hidden Mist...."

---

"... That was the name we gave him. He was banished to the fact he was a Konoha native. Yet he held the swords of my dead friends, protected me, rather than to kill me." Kyon spoke, a slight pause between his sentence. "That night Miuu's father was killed, and that night his death was avenged." He took a step forward... a single step. "But perhaps time changes a person. Maybe time is all we need to change. I wish you the best of luck, Katsuro. I trust Miuu will be safe under your care." He walked off, not knowing what else to say or do. He was an old man, and an old man he would remain. He had to do what old people had to do.

He had to go kick some kids off his lawn.

He filed all this knowledge away deep within the recesses of his mind palace as it was relayed to him. It wouldn't make it untouchable but it would make it a great deal more difficult for an enemy shinobi to access this information. Not that it mattered, he had no mind defenses. At least not yet. Miuu is the daughter of the wielder of Shibuki. Kubikiribocho was the first to disappear. Then Nuibari. This information would be well received by the Mizukage and then an idea popped into his head as he listened to Kyonshi as he told his tale.

He listened to how the young ANBU ran across the wielder of Kubikiribocho and Nuibari while searching for the killer of the SSM. How he ran across someone who wasn't quite human and held the name Kaseki. Someone who Katsuro hadn't heard of, probably above his paygrade, and someone Katsuro would be interested to meet in the future should he be permitted that chance by the fates.

And then his the person who held his new found respect started to move away. They would probably never meet again if they separated and Katsuro couldn't let happen. Not while there were questions to be had.

"Wait Kyonshi-senpai. I can tell you have lost a lot in the service of Kirigakure and, while I have no right to ask you to put yourself at more risk, I must ask you to return to service with me in the hopes of bringing Miuu back to her family." He started walking towards the old man, whether he stopped or not. "You may deny it but Kirigakure was a mother and father to us all. She nurtured as when we were weak and he taught us to defend ourselves and those weaker than ourselves from the bullies of the world. Right now a member of our family is in unfamiliar territory searching for vengeance alone. And with shinobi who only seek to use her to further their goals."

He paused speaking for a moment to let what he said to sink in and make sure he worded the next part right.

"You were a member of the Legendary swordsman and you know that one of the men, an enemy ANBU, has in his possession one of your swords and you let him walk away with the greatest treasure Kirigakure has to offer?"

He wasn't angry but his words came out with a level of force as someone who was truly passionate could muster. He truly believed in what he said. He truly believed that Miuu was apart of his family simply because she was a citizen of Kirigakure.

"And I don't mean the sword."

He stopped in his tracks, only to clench his fists at his words. The thought of returning to Kirigakure brought him anguish. He dared not to tell him that he passed down his swords in a retirement of his title. However the thought of his great friend's daughter, someone who was his niece by nature to be trapped in her memories of pain infuriated the man. It was not that he hated his country, but that he loved it enough to let it go. His time was long over, he was no longer an esteemed swordsman. He was Kyonshi, the farmer, waiter, and hustler... but not he yearned for one more thing...

"Let me tell them that I will be leaving. Then we will stop by my house before embarking this journey. From there I will personally retrace the steps of my niece." h turned around, facing Katsuro with a face of an angry old senile man. Words could not express his mixed emotions. But in the back of his mind he wondered about the other creature he saw that night so many years ago. As ANBU, he looked over old Bingo Books to find why he was removed from the ranks. He had been exiled from Konoha for refusal to kill a child, and hiding away the little girl. They stripped him of his title then. But he was called a monster for the great power they fears in him, the potential of controlling the whole village with just a few words. It was in the records he found he stole the mask of a deceased ANBU and infiltrated the ranks of Kirigakure, not to exploit secrets.. but to protect a country safely. He was caught by his own allies and removed once more... it was over a hundred years he embarked his path of being a missing ninja. Kyonshi was the first to see his face in over a century, and he spared Kyonshi's life, and continued to serve his country. If Kaseki could do that, why couldn't Kyon?

"When we find her, I will be the one to talk to her." he said, "I will be the one to tell her what happened to her father."

[/endthread]