Title: The Secret Ninja War and What Happened After
Characters: Jin, Touya, Kurama, some Risho and Bakken and random shinobi
Summary: Obviously the proper thing to do when trying to leave a super secret sect of super skilled ninja is to first point out how un-ninja-like they are, then try to make happy hour for the second day in a row. Jin and Touya leave the Shinobi, and Kurama comes recruiting.
Notes: I needed something quick and (hopefully) fun, so this was the result. This was based on a what if of the shinobi sect being a much larger organization in Makai, and assuming that Risho was leader of the whole sect as well as the team, for various currently undescribed reasons that I kind of want to explore later.
x-x
It was a nice enough day in the Makai; the windstorms common to the area were only a strong breeze and the acrid glare of the Demon World sun had filtered through the hazy atmosphere, casting a harsh, but cheerful enough glow on the forbidding landscape. They walked leisurely, because by now they had entered land that belonged to the Shinobi, and the stories associated with the area made certain that lesser demons would not follow here. And really, at the end of it all, there was no need to rush for time, and sometimes it was nice to just walk, especially when the company was good, even if one was a Windmaster.
Touya had insisted they do this the proper way, which was unsurprising given the ice demon's code of honor. Jin couldn't have cared less and had said so, but now trudging through the spiny underbrush and groves of thick spiky trees that comprised the forest outside the sect headquarters and training grounds, he thought that he didn't mind seeing it all one last time. After all, there was the tree that he'd crashed into when he'd first been learning how to fly, and the pile of rubble that was all that was left of a rather large rock after he and Touya had finished sparring, the side path that led to the clearing with a stream that had been a favorite retreat of his master's, and the various brightly colored and toxic plants that Gama had used in the bases of some of his paints. Now he took it all in again fondly, but with no real longing, and kept the less savory memories associated with his time here at bay by putting his hands behind his head and whistling as he walked. Touya, for his part, simply walked forward wearing the poker face expression he used when he was deep in thought, his steps relaxed but purposeful.
Soon enough they reached the area that had been cleared at the base of the mountain to form a training ground. There was a dojo at the edge of the mountain, and a whole series of caves and tunnels inside the mountain itself where various members of the sect spent their time when they happened to be here, but the two travelers did not need to look further than the clearing. Risho stomped over to greet them as if he'd been waiting, a scowl on his face.
"You're late," he snarled, when both parties came to a mutual stop several paces apart.
"Not really," Touya said calmly, hands in his pockets. "That scout at the border should have given you an estimate when he reported." Actually, the scout probably hadn't arrived much faster than they had. The apprentice had gotten caught in a practice snare trap likely set by another apprentice in his rush back and hadn't caught up with the two shinobi until they were almost there, but Touya had born the brunt of Risho's anger often enough, and he saw no reason to provide the sect leader with a scapegoat to take out his imminent rage on.
"I meant the Tournament!" Risho snapped. "It ended a month ago!" By this time Bakken had lumbered over to take his place next to Risho, and Touya inwardly sighed.
"We had some things to take care of," he replied blandly. Some things that might or might not have involved a vault inside the mountain they were staring at right now, setting up and testing a network of contacts, just in case, and a bit of investing of some of the items in the vault. Not more than his and Jin's shares from some of their bigger jobs, really. Though if one wanted to be quite accurate about the details, he supposed that meant he and Jin had already returned once a few weeks before for the vault contents.
Slightly more impatient to just get to the point, Jin hovered a few inches in the air, beaming, and said bluntly, "We just came back to tell you we're leaving, so now that that's done we'll be off on our way." He grinned widely, ears wiggling, and Touya almost had to smother a smile at the other demon's enthusiasm.
"Leaving?" Risho hissed, arching an eyebrow, and Bakken shifted to an offensive position. Then Risho laughed loudly as if it was a joke, and it was Touya's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"We're leaving the sect, Risho," he stated again flatly. "This is our official notice to you as sect leader. You have our word that we will not interfere in any way with any future activities of the Shinobi as long as we are left alone." Unspoken was they were not offering Risho a choice, and had every plan to fight back if the Earthmaster didn't agree.
"How dare you! You can't leave!" Risho glared at Touya, his energy levels surging. "I'll beat you black and blue and teach you a lesson you'll never forget!" He prepared to form his earth armor, but a strong gust of wind battered the loose earth away from Risho's body, and Bakken took a step back in surprise and fear.
"It's fine, Jin," Touya murmured. The wind had mussed his hair slightly, and he looked even younger than he usually did. Added to his diminutive height, the scene might have been laughable if not for the look in Touya's cool, pupil-less eyes and the cold crackle of energy that began to form around them. Bakken took one look at the ice master's expression and had to stop himself from taking another step back, and Risho suppressed a shiver as both of them remembered a certain mission on the icy steppes of Upper Makai. Touya took his hands out of his pockets and let them hang at his side, ignoring the way Risho and Bakken followed his movements with their eyes. "We both know I can beat you in a fight Risho. The only reason I put up with you was because of the debt I owed Master Domon." It wasn't really the only reason, and Jin had yelled at him more than once for some of the others, but the message was clear. Both Risho and Touya knew that Risho's master had never considered it a debt, and even if it was, Touya had more than repaid it by the time the old master had died. And now Touya himself was stating that while he was offering to honor the old contract by swearing to not interfere with any future endeavors of the Shinobi, he considered the terms fulfilled and would no longer hesitate to fight for what he wanted.
The strongest enemy is one with something to live for, Risho remembered his old master saying, and he grit his teeth together until they creaked as he backed down.
"Very well," he ground out, and stepped back. "Leave."
Jin gave a whoop that made Risho clench his fists again, but Touya simply nodded, then turned and started calmly walking away without looking back. Jin hurriedly flipped through the air and flew off after his friend, hovering near the smaller demon as they entered the forest again.
"You're not really going to just let them leave like that, are you?" Bakken grumbled next to him, and Risho rolled his eyes.
"Of course not. The last trial was designed for this. Spread the order."
x-x
"So, ya want to take bets?" Jin put his hands behind his head again and peered almost thoughtfully up at the red-gray skies through gaps in the gnarled branches of looming trees as the two of them strolled away from the Shinobi stronghold.
"Nah. There'd be no one to bet against us."
Jin nodded. "Aye, and I'd be even more disappointed in Risho if he didn't use it to his advantage and go through with the thing."
Touya shrugged, and the two of them stopped for a moment to admire the Black Tunnel, a narrow cleared path between two rows of trees growing so tightly packed together that the trunks almost seemed to form walls and the meshed branches and leaves overhead formed a canopy so thick that the only light came from the periodic gaps that had been cut through it. It was the shortest and least dangerous entrance and exit into and out of the Shinobi territory, as the woods and mountains surrounding the rest of the lands were protected with all the tricks and traps of the sect and the natural dangers of the Makai itself. At least when no one was guarding it, of course, which had been the whole point of setting up the tunnel in the first place.
"Last chance to just fly outta here, Toy-kun," Jin reminded his companion, but his ears were twitching and he had a wide, fanged grin on his face.
Touya snorted. "Very funny, Jin." They both knew that this taking this route to breaking away from their sect would be the shortest and least troublesome path at the end, all things considered, which was why they'd finally agreed on it. Anyone who had passed the Trial would be free to leave, and that had been the whole point of returning in the first place. Risho could hardly go back on his word if half the sect had been present as witnesses. The two demons shared a smirk, then Touya shrugged and took the first step forward. It was time for closure. "Let's go."
x-x
The first shot was an arrow that looked like a giant, jagged thorn. The two demons leaped away from each other, and the projectile passed easily between them. A wall of ice blocked the explosion that came when the arrow thudded deeply into a tree on the other side of the path, and the next three arrows clattered harmlessly to the ground as conflicting wind neutralized their flight. A hard punch from Jin sent a scaly lizard demon that had charged out of the underbrush flying back into it, and Jin quickly flattened himself against the ground as a volley of Shards of Winter went flying past the lizard demon to find their targets further in the trees.
"How many'd you get?" Jin asked, standing up and moving to stand back to back with the Ice Master.
"Two or three," Touya murmured, scanning the surroundings, his right hand ready to form his ice sword with a thought.
"Kinda surprised they attacked straight on right off," Jin commented. "Woulda expected something more stealthy in keeping with the Shinobi spirit and all."
"Well, they do have masks on. I think that kind of counts," Touya pointed out, just as the woods began to fill with fog.
"Guess I spoke too soon, huh?" A whirlwind sprang up with Jin and Touya in the center, and Touya laughed quietly.
"Guess there goes your chances of a straight up brawl."
"Aye. Since that's not an option any longer, how about we finish this off the fast way? We've got a fair enough idea of where most of them are by now with the changes in the trees and the ones that aren't hidin' their energy and such."
"What fast way?" Touya asked, slightly confused. Unfortunately for the shinobi and the shinobi in training surrounding them, Jin and Touya had every bit as much of a home turf advantage as their opponents, and other than Risho, who was staying out of the fight like the cheating, power-drunk scum he was, there were no other shinobi masters currently present. Barring new blood entering the mix, this battle would end shortly anyways.
"You know? That new technique we've been working on! We'll just get them all at once!"
"That's not a very shinobi-like tactic, Jin," Touya protested mildly. "The move itself is kind of flashy and the results draw attention unless the job was to leave no survivors. The point of the sect was silence and stealth."
"There's no one else around, Toy. Who'd we be a drawing attention to? 'Sides, we're trying to stop being shinobi, so when did you start caring about what's shinobi-like or not?"
"I may not have liked my job, Jin, but I like to think I was at least pretty good at it," Touya retorted primly. He could sense the demons moving closer to Jin's wind barrier, and sighed. "Fine. I suppose we really shouldn't waste time fooling around."
Jin grinned, knowing that Touya had given in, and his ears wiggled. "Don't be like that, Toy. Now we'll have time to knock back a few at the pub before some other demon gets drunk enough to start a fight and trash the place again. It'll be a celebration!"
Touya sighed again, keeping his original first comment to himself, then gave a razor smirk. He widened his stance slightly and concentrated his power in his hands. "Whenever you're ready, Jin."
"Now sounds good," Jin yelled cheerfully, and the winds twisted together with a shriek.
x-x
It had been hard to hear what the two demons were discussing inside the whirlwind, but as the seconds passed and they seemed content to hide behind their shield and bicker, the other demons had become restless. Some of them crept slowly closer, looking for an opening to attack, and some of the larger demons, and the two other shinobi that could fly, launched themselves directly at their targets, hoping to attack from the top or make their way through the winds. Just as a swarm of demons was about to descend on the two shinobi traitors, the whirlwind suddenly seemed to become bigger and spin faster, the moving air howling loud enough to drown out any other noise. The funnel of wind narrowed for a moment, reaching higher into the sky and tearing off the branches in its path, then suddenly the winds rushed outwards towards the swarm of demons as they paused, frozen in surprise before each of them suddenly flew violently backwards, hitting the ground hard. A more experienced demon who had trained longer and been through more fights than the rookies who had barely realized they'd been hit would have realized that the circling sheets of wind had never actually reached them. Extremely experienced fighters who had finished their training and were already taking jobs might have noticed that the impact had come in the form of fist-sized hailstones that had flown out with unerring accuracy from small gaps formed in the whirlwind when the funnel widened, and each hailstone had been propelled along its course to the intended target on streams of wind diverted for this purpose.
"So's there anyone else?" an accented voice called cheerily, and from his hiding place in the shadows, Risho growled.
"They should all still be alive." A cool voice followed the lively one. "We could have just made a whirlwind of ice blades and mowed through the forest." Risho clenched his fists, but he knew what Touya was hinting at well enough. Projecting his voice so the former sect members could hear him, he ground his teeth together and spat, "Fine. You may leave."
x-x
The pale, packed dirt of the market grounds glowed a faint yellow gold as the sun set and lanterns were lit in front of each of the stalls. Peering at the map scribbled on a torn sheet of crumpled grid paper, Kurama readjusted the pack on his shoulder and slipped between two large tents to a more secluded corner of the market. The stall was small and homey; made of cheap varnished wood and only meant to be temporary, like most of the stands here, but there was a poignant touch of care and simple charm in the efficient but casual way every board fit together, and the bright splash of multicolored canvas that formed the awning. It made Kurama's human side feel almost guilty for what he was about to do. The fox side just scoffed and told him to stop being silly.
Jin was sprawled in a fraying wicker chair right inside the wide door of the shack. A row of crates covered with a slat of wood doubled as both a counter of sorts and storage, and behind the counter hanging from the walls were rows upon rows of masks. There were decorative masks and ritual masks and animals masks and spirit masks and protective masks and even a few human masks in all shapes and sizes and materials. Jin grinned at him and floated to his feet as he ducked inside the shop, but it was the voice behind him that formally greeted him.
"Kurama. We were expecting you a few days ago."
"Lucky fer you the festival's coming up and we stayed a bit longer because business has been so good," Jin added, and Kurama smiled.
"Jin. Touya," he greeted, and stepped to the side to allow Touya to pass. The ice master was holding a large, brightly painted wooden mask in his hands, which he carefully set upon the counter before turning to face Kurama. "Apologies. You were much harder to track down than expected. I suspect I would not have been able to catch up to you two at all if you hadn't waited." Touya flashed a quick, non-committal smile and leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest.
"No need to flatter us," Jin said cheerily. "Almost didn't realize someone was on our tail at first. Must be getting rusty."
Kurama found himself mirroring Touya's expression for a second before he let out a quiet laugh. "I guess that's it for the pleasantries, then. I assume you've heard from Suzuka?"
Touya nodded. "He mentioned it when we ordered more stock last week."
"Ah. I suppose there's no need to beat about the bush on that matter then, either. I would like to recruit you to undergo intensive training and fight for Yomi."
"Just as Suzuka said," Touya murmured, eyes flickering towards Jin.
"Mmm." The wind demon looked pensive for a moment. "Getting all into politics again. It'll be like that one time when we stole those scroll thingies back when Meichi still thought he had a chance against Raizen. And then Gorou hired us to take 'im out because he'd lost 'em or something, and Raizen expanded a huge chunk of his territory while the two of 'em were bickering. Never could understand what was so important about those scribbles anyways. Those drawings didn't even look like things."
Kurama blinked in surprise, as details behind a certain heist became clear. "Wait. The Shinobi have the Pavillion scrolls?"
"Had," Touya corrected. "Since technically we're not shinobi anymore. I can show them to you some time if you'd like since they're only of value as a collector's item for historians now."
"That would be…quite lovely," Kurama murmured, sharing a smirk with the ice master.
"So back to your proposal, Kurama," Touya started, with a glance at his partner.
"I've no great love of politics for all that we've been runnin' around in it over the years," Jin began thoughtfully. "This is a bit different, though. We both kinda owe you one, Kurama, and somehow I think we'd be missing out on a great adventure if we passed this up. Especially since Urameshi's involved." The Wind Master flashed his trademark fanged grin and bounced in the air a little.
"I agree with what Jin said. I'd like to see where this brings us, and the Makai as well." Touya ran a hand quickly through his hair, then crossed his arms over his chest again.
"Been spoiling for a bit of action, ta tell the truth," Jin grinned. "It's been nice just wandering around for a bit, but I'm ready for a real fight, especially if it's against Yuusuke!"
Kurama looked from the beaming Wind Master to the Ice Master, who gave a short nod of affirmation.
"Thank you," Kurama said quietly. "I'll send you the details after I've confirmed the last members of the party."
"Did Suzuka give you one of his calling devices?" Touya asked. "I can synch it up with ours and then you won't need to send messengers to find us."
Kurama dug what looked like a small mechanical eyeball out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Touya who ducked behind the counter to locate their own device. Jin floated over to the counter to examine the mask that Touya had set upon it earlier.
"This one's really nice, Toy-kun. Better'n my last one."
"Don't touch the paint, Jin. And for Enma's sake, don't try it on. That one's the commission." Touya's voice was muffled for a moment before his head reappeared over the counter. Lighting a small lamp, he set about pressing buttons on the two communication devices. Jin pulled his fingers back as if burned.
"Never thought all the times we helped Gama with his paints would come in handy. Especially that purple stuff," Jin muttered, rubbing his fingers briskly on the countertop.
"It looks like you two are doing a pretty good job making an honest living," Kurama commented.
"Mostly honest." The Wind Master grinned. "Selling things's tha best way to lay low fer a bit. Not sure what we'd be doing in a few months if you hadn't come along. Suppose we'd be making more offa sellin' information than we do now 'stead of acting on it."
"Here," Touya said, handing Kurama his mechanical eyeball back. "Call us when you're ready. In the meantime, we'll be making the ghost market rounds."
"Thank you," Kurama said again, feeling lighter than he had when he'd arrived. The fox purred smugly in the back of his mind, and he pushed the thoughts away for the moment. Jin and Touya were demons, but that didn't mean his own demon side would always be right. "I shall be seeing you soon."
"Of course." In general, Touya's moods seemed harder to read than Jin's, although Kurama was certainly old and experienced enough to know that was not necessarily the case. However, at the moment he was pretty sure both demons were genuinely smiling, and Kurama found himself feeling tentatively hopeful for the future as well.