The Start of a New Life [Kurai or invite][Sunset Isle -> Makkura][NR]

Kouki manifested wings, a partial transformation of her bijuu, and used them to get her up in the air. After Kurai's words she didn't want to take her time anymore getting out of there - he had said that trouble seemed to follow people who were like them, Jinchuuriki, and that they weren't wanted there anymore. Kouki didn't want to cause the Kuraikage nor anyone else anymore trouble. So, she hurried to the beach resort where she found her family quickly enough. Her older brother was two years old than her while her younger brother was two years younger - both looked pretty much like male versions of her with much shorter hair. Her father's hair was grayed and the man had obvious burned and calloused skin from working in a steel factory. Her mother was pretty much the perfect picture of what Kouki looked like older - though she didn't have purple streaks in her hair and her eyes were green instead of blue.

Her younger brother, Yang, pointed up at her as she came flying in to the beach area. Ignoring the stares of the other vacationers she came to a stop quickly. Kouki scratched at the back of her head and looked at her mother and father; she would motion to Kurai (if he and Little Kong landed), "This is Kurai and Little Kong." She didn't know where to begin with her story but here wasn't the place to start with it. "Listen, I know this is normally the parents whole thing but while I was heading up to the mountains I ran into the Kage of Makkuragakure. He said we were welcome in his village. I also found out that things have been getting pretty dangerous out there, and we've already had our far share of trouble in Neutral City. I think it would be a good idea for us to take him up on the offer. We wouldn't even have to go back to Neutral City: I've got enough money to replace any clothing or anything we leave behind... what do you say?" She knew this was a lot to take in, but she really just wanted off of this island now, and she had no intentions of going back to Neutral City if all of this violence was lurking around.

Lee, her older brother, was already grinning from ear to ear. "A real village? Like back in the other world?", he asked excitedly to which Kouki nodded her head yes. "Sweet!"

"Wicked cool! Maybe I'll meet someone who can teach me to kick your butt and I can finally get payback for all them times you stole the bathroom before me!", said her younger brother excitedly.

Kouki's parents looked at each other long and hard and then back to Kouki. Her mother looked on the verge of tears and Kouki's father looked hopeful. "Alright, Kouki. We trust your judgement and if you think this is what is for the best then we'll go. I think it would be better too, your mother does as well...", Kouki's father responded. "Just let us grab our stuff from the hotel room." Her parents and brothers hurried off, leaving Kouki standing there.

Kouki was glad to hear them agree so readily; and none of them seemed worried about any possessions they left behind outside of what they had in the hotel room. Kouki simply stared at the ground, digging the toe of her shoe into it.

He followed her back to the resort area. His bare feet touched down in the sand, and Little Kong remained on the back of his neck, not wantimg to get down if they weren't staying. Kurai remained silent when Kouki introduced him.

She explained to her family that they would be welcome in Makkura, and that things were getting dangerous elsewhere. Her family seemed excited to get to live in a village again, and Kurai noticed that her mother looked a lot like she herself did in the other world.

Kurai kept his emotionless look, and remained silent. Much of his old self was coming out again. He knew he shouldn't have let the situation bother him as much as it was, but he just wanted to get back home as soon as possible, and put it all behind him. Perhaps another situation to leave the village would come about, he'd just have to wait for it...

Her family had apparently packed rather light for this vacation as they all returned fairly quickly, and each of them carried only a single bag. Her older brother, Lee, was walking with his face half-way in a book, glancing up every few seconds to make sure he didn't run into anyone. Her younger brother was attempting to sneak up behind Lee, apparently interested in seeing whatever book he was reading.

Her mother and father were walking slightly slower than those two, but both had beaming smiles on their faces. Her family was indeed happy at the prospect of getting to live once again in a village - and very happy to be getting out of Neutral City.

Kouki glanced out at the ocean, wondering how exactly all of her family would get across it. She knew each one of her family members could breath underwater - it was a trait that everyone from Denyruu had possessed. She also knew that all but her younger brother had mastered the art of being able to walk on water - and perhaps he had too while she was gone on that little survival adventure.

Her father looked off in the direction of the shadowy area. "That's Makkura, right?", her father asked and Kouki nodded her head yes in response. "Suppose a little underwater adventure would be nifty to have on our way over there. What do you say family?" The rest of her family agreed and her father chuckled. "We'll see you over there, Kouki. Don't worry, we won't get lost. Maybe I'll even get to wrestle a big fish for old times sake. We'll probably take our time; this place is so beautiful and exotic, it reminds us all of home."

Kouki watched as her family walked straight into the water after waving goodbye to the three of them and disappeared beneath it. A groan escaped Kouki that was more dramatic and playful then worried. "My father would wrestle a shark if he could find one... He's done it before", she said as she shook her head. Figuring she should explain to Kurai the reason why her family wasn't re-emerging she looked over to him. "My family and I can breath underwater because the village we used to live in was mostly submerged beneath it."

"So, ready to go?" She figured she should give him a chance to see if he had changed his mind about wanting to leave so soon. She knew her family was likely going to take a good while to get to Makkura simply because they would be too busy enjoying themselves; therefore she wasn't one hundred percent worried about making it over there right away. Still, she'd leave if Kurai wanted to.

Kurai shook his head and put Little Kong down. The sand was feeling too good beneath his feet. There was a tropical atmosphere here that reminded him somewhat of Hinowa. Did he really just want to go back home just to be bored with training again? This was the first time he'd been somewhere else in this new world. He didn't want this to end just yet...

"Not really," he said. He went down into a squat to run his hands through the sand. "I've been to beaches before, but never one quite like this..." The water looked clean and clear. The giant city Edge was across the river, and he'd never seen such a place like that before. Nearby was the resort area that Alec spoke of, where there were stores and bar areas. Folk were playing in the water, people were sun tanning, kids were building sand castles.

Kurai took in a deep breath of the smell of the beach. "The Kuraikage might get mad, but it's something i'm ready to deal with whenever it happens. Why don't we stay here for a day or two? The Kuraikage's family owns this place, I don't think they'd really mind. Makkura isn't far from here, we can get back there anytime..."

Little Kong's mode went from down in the dumps to excited with Kurai's suggestion, meaning he was all for it. A few more days vacation would be nice, and the thought of playing hooky was quite exciting. There was also the chance of seeing Kouki in a bikini... His face turned a little red just imagining it.

Kurai said he wasn't ready to leave and Kouki couldn't blame him: this place was like a little slice of paradise. Kouki felt like she hadn't got enough of the place yet and she knew that it would take her family a while before they would honestly get to Makkura - they were likely on their own little adventure down under that water - so she wasn't in a rush to leave either. When Little Kong went from down in the dumps to happy again Kouki couldn't help but grin.

"Staying it is!", Kouki said excitedly.

She dropped her bag on the beach and knelt down. She unzipped it and began to go through the contents quickly. Towards the bottom she found what she was looking for and pulled free a small bundle that was a bikini, and several towels, as well as something to put on over her bikini in case it got too chilly which was a deep purple sun dress. "Good thing I prepared for spending some time on the beach... I prepared to camp out here because I didn't want stuck in a hotel room.", she explained.

She picked up her bikini and then looked around, noticing that there were several personal changing tents not more than twenty feet away. "I'll be right back!", she said before darting off towards the nearest tent. She paused long enough to make sure no one was inside and then disappeared within it. Once inside she did a quick change into her bikini. The bikini tied around her back and the back of her neck and was black in color with deep purple colored swirl designs. The bottoms tied on the sides in the same bow method as the top and matched in both color and design. Once finished changing she adjusted her hair back into a ponytail and then paused as she looked in the mirror that hung inside: there was a serpent dragon shaped seal that ran along her body and it showed plainly now that she was in a bikini; as well as the lean muscle that normally was hidden beneath her clothing due to her taijutsu training. She gave a shrug, figuring that most would probably think it nothing more than a wicked tattoo - at least, as long as Suiro kept still, as the tattoo often moved when she did.

Shrugging again she darted out of the tent and back over to her bag where she stuffed her clothes inside, grinning excitedly.

Kurai went to put one of his bags near one of the lawn chairs in the resort area. Little Kong started doing a jumble of cartwheels and flips, entertaining many of the kids playing in the sand.

While squatting near where the water was coming up to wash over his bare feet, he couldn't help but to keep staring over at the huge Edge City. The Kuraikage as well as Jr had told him many stories about the place, but this was his first time really seeing it. He'd heard about the crime, the bad guys, the criminal organization. And now, there was apparently an alien from another planet over there somewhere causing all kinds of trouble.

He kind of wanted to see the alien for himself too, but there was little chance of that. Jurai's eyes were also attracted to the huge tower in the center of it all, seeming to stretch up into the heavens themselves. He could see clouds flying by some of the upper floors. That had to be the home of their Company, Darkman Tower. Did the Kuraikage's family live there? Kurai would visit that place one day.

Little Kong flung water on Kurai and ran off screeching, but it sounded more like laughter. "You little ass..." he said with a grin. He figured things would be fine as long as no one found out they were Jinchuuriki, and they'd be able to enjoy themselves here for a while...

Kouki slung her bag over her shoulder after putting her things away and placed it by a lawn chair that was nearby the one Kurai had chosen. Once her stuff was down she looked up to see Little Kong flinging water at Kurai. Laughing softly she ran down to the edge of the water and straight into it.

The water felt heavenly and comfortable; reminding her of the happy times of her past. She dived underneath of the water for several seconds, eyes open as she took in the beauty of the underwater life. All sorts of colorful coral could be seen deeper in as well as colorful fish - some of which she was sure probably wouldn't exist elsewhere. Figuring she would leave getting a closer look at the fish for later she allowed herself to resurface.

She walked back towards the shallower parts of the water, a grin plastered on her face. She reached up and pushed the bangs that had fallen out of her ponytail out of her face. "Staying was definitely a good idea.", Kouki said excitedly.

"Yeah, we would've have missed out, surely."

Kurai stood and took the top half of his body out of his suit. It was waterproof just in case he did happen to have to enter water for whatever reason, but the water was warm. He ran and jumped into the drink, with Little Kong not far behind. The water felt comfortable and looked clear. There were fish and other aquatic creatures swimming around. It was all beautiful.

Then, there was Kouki, and how she was showing off all that skin. Kurai himself had never been close to a girl, and his mind ran through many scenarios of how to get close to her. The only reference material he had was the many Manga he read, but would any of those silly situations actually work? No... it was usually because the male was a good guy that he would end up with the girl, usually through much trial and error. But, was he a good guy?

He'd done alot in the other world, like fight bijuu with his bare hands, but he'd done little to nothing here. Well, being close to her for now seemed good enough...

Kouki watched Kurai and Little Kong enter into the water after Kurai removed the top half of his body suit and grinned playfully. She dived back into the water, swimming around through the clear, warm liquid. She swam in a full circle around Little Kong and Kurai before she resurfaced, moving faster than the average swimmer: she didn't want to stay underwater for too long and draw un-nessecary attention to them, or cause some passerby to freak out and think she was drowning.

She allowed her body to float upwards, on her back, and floated on top of the water. Her arms were lower, in the water, and she could feel a random fish come swimming by right beneath her finger tips. "I'm definitely going to have to make it a point to come here every so often. This place is simply magical.", she said with her eyes shut as she felt the warmth of the sun on her face. She was definitely glad that Kurai had wanted to stay.

A man appeared at the resort. He had wild black hair, and a pair of goggles on his forehead. The man was hovering in mid-air. He wore a white t-shirt, blue cargo pants, and black sneakers. There was a large red cape on his neck, moving and flapping around as if it was alive.

There were a lot of people at the beach that day, but there were two in particular that he seemed to take notice of. He could sense something... different about them. It seemed like both of them were... more than one person. One of them seemed to have a companion with him, a monkey.

Were these some of the ninjas that Alec brought back with him from the other world? Interesting. Ghost didn't have a problem with them at all, it was just that this was his first time seeing some of the ninjas other than the muscular man with the glowing eyes, or the blind kid Holeman who could fly on clouds.

Kurai was beneath the surface of the water, getting a good look at female body parts that he didn't all that often get to see. Looking was fine, but touching was something totally different...

These thoughts disappeared with the presence of another abnormal person on the beach. Kurai pushed himself out of the water quickly while doing a backflip, and pulling his bodysuit back on. He landed on his feet upon the water's surface, and looked toward the man, who had a big red cape on.

Who was the guy? Was he an enemy? He didn't look to be in attack mode, but one could never be too sure. He didn't think they were doing anything wrong by being here, but this guy, seeing as he could fly, had to be something special, just by the looks of him. Kurai started to get excited some. Was the guy going to attack them? Would Kurai get to show his skills in front of Kouki, like the hero in his mangas?

Kurai's sudden departure from the water, and the way that he moved so quickly, caused Kouki to lift her head and look towards the island. There she saw what looked to be a rather powerful individual who could fly. Kouki lowered the bottom half of her body down in the water so that her feet were touching the sandy bottom of the ocean floor. The water came up to her waist but she paid it no mind.


Who was that guy? And what did he want? Did he live here on the island? Kouki found herself feeling weary - she had already been told that there were dangerous individuals running around lately, ones that had no problem obviously with attacking people. To Kouki it looked like Kurai was ready to fight if it came down to it. Kouki knew that the people in this world had a mass of different powers, just as ninja did, so she was curious to see what would happen if it came down to it.

She took several steps forward and out of the water, coming to a stop a few feet away from Kurai as she kept her curious gaze on the guy with the red cape. She didn't bother asking Kurai who that guy was, as she figured if he knew he wouldn't have reacted the way he did, so for now she would simply watch and see what would happen.

The 2 kids below looked like they were taking attack formations. Ghost grinned. "Oh don't worry about me, i'm not here to fight," he said, waving his hands. "You might call me... a guardian of sorts. My daughter owns the island. I felt something strange over here. You two aren't exactly... ordinary. But you're not doing anything bad, so you have nothing to worry about from me. My guess is you're shinobi that came back with Alec from the other world, huh?"

But then his head spun to his left. Something real was going on at another part of the beach, a fight. The hatred and amplified feelings he could feel from even here. Someone wanted someone else dead. His daughter was in the midst of these feelings, but she wasn't directly involved. Still, Ghost made a clone of himself, sending it to go flying to investigate discreetly.

Cloning:

He could see many people running on the beach away from the situation in question. "Hmmm... seems like we have ourselves a situation not too far away... One of them feels... evil, demonic. The other... I can't quite tell what they are. Something... out of this world..."

The caped man said he wasn't there to fight them, and that he was the owner's father. He said he was a guardian of sorts, and that he knew that they weren't 'ordinary' meaning he knew that they were Jinchuuriki. Since they weren't doing anything wrong, he said they didn't have to worry about him.

But then he spun his head around. Kurai himself could feel that something was going on not far away. people were running down the beach away from the situation with looks of fear and terror on their faces. A fight? Between something demonic and something not of this world, according to the caped man... It excited Kurai. He almost wanted to go look...

The caped man made a copy of himself, sort of like how he himself could make shadow clones, so such an ability wasn't really a surprise to see, but the caped man was able to do it without hand signs, which meant he must have been quite strong. Were these the kinds of things that went on normally on Sunset Island and in Edge? Kurai started thinking he might start coming around more often if that were the case...

Kouki hadn't been exactly trusting when the caped man said he wasn't here to fight, but then he mentioned that he was a guardian of the island and the owner was his daughter. He could sense something strange from them and it made Kouki wonder if he could feel the power from the bijuu within them. He could tell they weren't ordinary, but that since they weren't doing anything wrong they wouldn't get any trouble from him. Then he mentioned Alec and she scratched at her head a bit. "Well. I didn't exactly come over with Alec, but I am from that other world.", she responded, feeling no need to really hide the truth considering how much he seemed to know.

She could see people with looks of terror on their face moving away from an area that it was an obvious a fight was brewing in. The red caped man made a clone out of himself without the need of hand seals and Kouki could only blink in shock.

"Does stuff like this happen often?", Kouki asked. It was hard to believe that such a beautiful place could be violent.

Ghost landed on the ground. He could feel hard winds being blown from the fight, and could see great clouds of sand being kicked up. Large waves of water were being generated, and he looked to see large waves washing up over the coast across the way over in Edge City. He wondered if anyone were hurt over there.

Ghost put on his goggles while his cape flapped wildly in the winds. The female asked if something like this happened often here. "Well... over the years, the island has seen it's fair share of death," Ghost answered. He could remember the time Jr had to kill a demon, the time Demi died, and Alec came to avenger her, and also the time a vampire tried getting close to his daughter one night. "But no, not really... Fights like this here are pretty rare."

Word got to him yesterday about an alien, while walking past a TV set. This thing had been running around causing all kinds of trouble apparently, and recently it had come to Edge. Were it to cross paths with one of those Kanes though, god help him...

Exciting... that was the only word that he could use to describe the scene... exciting. Little Kong had gotten out of the water and was staring towards the scene with wide eyes and a slightly opened mouth. Winds were whipping about like a natural disaster. Large waves of water were being generated. The powers being given off to create such effects had to be nothing short of god-like.

"Do you know who is fighting?" Kurai asked, walking across the surface of the water until he was on the beach again, near the caped man, still looking at the scene down the beach. "Do you think you may need help protecting the island if this gets out of control?... Alec, the Kuraikage, has been nothing but kind to me and my family for the past few years... I'd like to be able to return that courtesy to his family if I can.."

A screech sound from Little Kong signaled that he'd help too if he had to. A battle of epic proportions such as the one nearby was one he dreamed of getting into himself one day...

Kouki kept her gaze leveled on the area where the fight was as she listened to Ghost and then Kurai speak. She had been wondering who was fighting too; could this be the alien creature that had been mentioned by Ka'lara? Or perhaps another threat that had decided to reveal itself?

Kouki folded her arms across her chest; Kurai had asked the questions she was curious about so there was no point in her asking the same. For now she would simply watch and listen. The fight was getting very intense, and she was sure that unless things changed someone was likely going to end up dead very soon. Or at least broken beyond recognition.

She glanced over to Kurai as he offered help to protect the island and grinned a bit: it sounded like he was itching for a fight and she couldn't blame him. If things had been peaceful for the past few years then he likely wanted to put all of that training to the test.

"Any help is nice, but if things get out of hand, I think i'll be able to--"

...Oh. The fight was over. It was a short exchange. The kid with the scarf struck first. The other guy seemed to shrug off the initial attack, but then the kid punched him so many times, it looked like something out of an anime. With the way the water was thrashing about behind him, the damage behind those blows had to be nasty. After a kick, the guy skipped across the water a few times, then fell motionless.

The alien kid went towards the guy; first Ghost thought it was to finish him off, but it seemed the kid had at least a drop of compassion in him, or maybe he didn't fight to kill his enemies. Maybe he was just doing it for the sport of it? The fun? He threw the guy back at the beach. After pointing at the girl with Amaranth, he said something and blasted off. Then that was it...

Well, as long as his daughter hadn't been harmed or threatened again, and as long as none of the island had been destroyed, it was fine with Ghost. Big waves washed up over in Edge, but Ghost didn't figure it anything major. Things would sure be interesting around these parts from now on with a guy like that around...

"Well, looks like we won't have to do anything after all. Ah well.." Ghost took a squat and sat in the sand, moving his cape out of the way beforehand. "Oh, by the way, my name is... well, my name isn't important. Just call me Ghost. Who are you two?... That girl is really pretty, are you two an item?"

The winds and waves ended. Ghost said the fight was over. It seemed he'd missed out, but that was fine. With the way things were around here, another fight could break out at any given time. he still wondered who it was fighting since he couldn't really see what was going on from here, but now that it was over Kurai figured it didn't matter.

The guy with the cape introduced himself as Ghost. He said his real name didn't matter, which just made Kurai wonder about him. "My name is Kurai Yanagi," was his answer. "This is my companion Little Kong of the sage apes."

When he asked if he and Kouki were together in so many words, Kurai grinned some while looking nervous. How would he go about answering that? "Well... uh... Heh... it's true that we have a bit of history, but I wouldn't say that the two of us were... official..."

Kouki expected the fight to take some sort of epic violent turn but that wasn't to be: instead there was a very violent and very short ending to the fight. A body was sent flying back towards the beach - which she figured was the loser who was likely unconscious given the lack of fight - and then the victor was flying away into the horizon. Kouki shook her head slightly, amazed. There truly were some very strong individuals in this world and it made her thankful that her family was moving to Makkura where they would be safe surrounded by strong shinobi.

She looked over as the guy with the cape introduced himself as Ghost and smiled politely. "I'm Kouki Uzumaki.", she said after Kurai had introduced himself and Little Kong.

She glanced back over towards where the fight had taken place, seeing a female with a red cape like the one that Ghost had on moving over to the un-moving body. However, her attention was quickly brought back to Ghost and Kurai as he attempted to answer Ghosts question of if they were an item, and his comment about how she was pretty. Her cheeks turned a light tinge of pink as the way that Kurai answered that question made Kouki think that perhaps he wanted them to become an item - especially when he mentioned how they weren't official. Feeling rather pleased with this idea her smile grew bigger.

Kurai and Kouki. They were ninja sounding names. Neither of them seemed like bad guys, or villains, like he'd heard about Alec and several others from that world, so they were alright in his book. It didn't take much to convince Ghost, but god help the fool who betrayed his quick trust...

"Well why not?" Ghost asked Kurai, leaning back on his elbows in the sand. "You're not getting any younger. Both of you are young and horny, I say just get it over with, ya know? Don't sweat the small stuff, just skip through the soap opera and get all up close and personal. Wham ban thank you ma'am, and hot sweaty and sticky. I mean, you're in the right kind of environment for it, right? tropical island and all that."

That monkey looked smarter than it seemed. Maybe it was highly intelligent and understood English. Maybe the monkey could speak itself. "Hey, Little Kong. Can you talk?"

Kurai's face turned about as red as it had ever been. No one had ever talked to him like that before, because his interactions with the opposite sex were little to none. He said they were both "young and horny..." and he couldn't exactly disagree with him, at least when it came to himself. Little Kong made a sound that resembled snickering.

"I'd think... there was an... you know... order when it came to these sorts of things... besides, I... don't know if its the same with her, you know?..." was all Kurai could think up to say as a response. He looked around in his embarrassment to see the child down the way with a cape on similar to the one Ghost was wearing. "That kid... she must be related to you, right?"

Little Kong looked at Ghost when he heard his name called. "Yeah..." was Little Kong's answer in plain English. "I don't like to talk much though, only when I have to..."

It was one thing when someone you knew talked like that - even though it was still embarassing - but it was entirely something else when such words were being spoken by someone who was a complete stranger. Kouki felt heat rising up in her face and knew that her cheeks were likely a rosey shade of red by now. She bit her bottom lip, holding back her huge smile. It wasn't like she didn't think Kurai was attractive, because she did. In fact, given what she knew about him, and how hard of a worker he was, and how brave he had been when fighting that bijuu... she really, really had the hots for him. But, she hadn't exactly been about to come out all blunt with it like that.

Kouki forced her shyness on the back burner when Kurai said that he didn't know if she felt like that and took a deep breath. She exhaled slowly, imagining she was blowing away her shyness in the process - it had a calming effect on her. "Oh, I like you Kurai. A lot.", she said, boldly - though her cheeks were still a rosey red color.

She glanced over at Kurai, forcing herself to look at him instead of the sand or her feet like she wanted to. This whole situation sort of made her feel like a school girl again, and she was very glad that her older and younger brother weren't around right now because she would have never heard the end of this if they were.

Ghost grinned like a child opening a present on Christmas. He clapped his hands and hopped up and down on his butt several times to see Little Kong speak. "That's so awesome! A talking monkey! Haaa!" he said. Sometimes Ghost acted like an immature child. It was hard for some to believe that he had a kid himself.

He was sometimes known to switch between childish and grown up at a moment's notice. With Kouki's confirmation that she liked Kurai, Ghost leaned back on his elbows again. "Well, there ya go," he said in a grown man tone. "Don't waste time when a girl as pretty as her says stuff like that... You never know what might happen. Aliens could come down from the sky and start beating us all to death..."

Ghost eventually got up and flapped the sand off of his cape. "Now come, new friends, we feast. I'm hungry..." he started walking towards one of the entrances to the underground complex...