Abyss of Fire (Finished)

Reaper of Souls

Braving enough courage, Kiba decides to ask the question on everyone's mind.
  "Why do you collect the headbands?" Raijin stops cleaning to look at Kiba.
   "Because they were traitors to their people, they don't deserve the privilege of wearing its symbol anymore." A small nod of approval comes from Kurenai, she knew that if Kakashi was here he would absolutely agree with Raijin. Kiba finds himself agreeing with his pack mate, 'A killer he is, but at least he is loyal to a fault',  giving a respectful nod to Raijin he sits back down. A small smile spreads across Kurenai's face, she original thought Raijin was simply a broken person made into a killing machine, but with that simple statement he has shown that loyalty and honor mean a lot to him.
  "R-Raijin, how did you get so strong?" This catches everyone's attention, as the shy and silent Hyuga heir asks her question.
  "I never stopped fighting and I was trained until my body couldn't go no more. Then I got back up and kept going, because I wasn't gonna be stopped. You are strong, Hinata, I have seen your skills, all you need is to discover your inner fire. Once you do that, don't stop training and never give up. I believe that all of you have the potential for power, but keep training and expand your training as time goes on. Never just settle with the power that you have."  Hinata nodded her head furiously at her words, the two other genin silently nodded in agreement. Kurenai herself fully smiled, glad to see that Raijin has been changing, slowly changing, but progress is progress. Setting the headbands aside, Raijin reaches into his pack and pulls out a small box. Setting the box down he opens it up, and Kiba has to stop himself from laughing when he sees multiple cups of instant ramen stacked on top of each other in the box.
  "I thought it would be a good idea to bring some rations along, in case we get tired of hunting." Unable to hold back his laughter anymore, Kiba started to laugh loudly with Akamaru snickering as well.
  "Naruto turned you into a ramen addict like him!" Kiba keeps laughing, soon enough the rest of the team joins in, even Shino laughs softly. Raijin on the other hand stays silent, waiting for them to get done laughing. After they are finished he reaches back into his pack and pulls out a small tea kettle, this almost prompts Kiba to start laughing again, but a quick smack upside the head by Hinata of all people shuts him up. Everyone's eyes snap to Raijin as he actually chuckles for the first time since they've met him, he chuckle turns into a full on laugh, 'well, this is a first', the team thinks to themselves at Raijin laughing. After he stops laughing, Raijin reaches up and removes his helmet and then his mask. Setting them to the side he takes out a one of his canteens and fills the tea kettle, placing it over the small fire to heat the water. What doesn't surprise Kurenai, but surprises the others, is that he starts hands each person a ramen cup and its apparent he's not gonna run out any time soon. Making sure each member of the team has a ramen cup, Raijin waits for the water to boil. Once the steam billows from the little opening he pours water into each persons cup them his own. After everyone is served, the team eats in peaceful silence for the next half hour. Looking up to the sky, Raijin sees the sun is slowly starting to set. Standing up from his spot he leaves his pack where it's at, while making sure he has his weapons. Looking to Kurenai he nods to her, as she already knows what he's going to do.
  "I'm gonna take the first watch, have one of the others relieve me at midnight." She nods back to him before he turns and starts walking off into the woods. After walking for 5 minutes, Raijin leaps up into a tree so he can keep watch.
  

Later that night

   Raijin sits silently at his post, not having moved a muscle since he arrived. The darkness is all enveloping, but Raijin is used to it, having fought countless battles in the dark of the night without any illumination. Hearing a sharp whistling noise, Raijin leaps from his perch as a kunai imbeds itself into the tree where his head was. Landing on the forest floor, he unsheathes his swords as three shinobi land in front of him, surprisingly they are not of the Hidden Sand Village, but of the Hidden Mist.
  "We finally found you, 'Reaper', a bounty has been placed on your head and we have come to collect." Silence greets them as Raijin points the tip of his katana at the ground, all three of the shinobi have no clue what he's doing but then he shouts before driving the blade into the ground.
"Lightning Release, Earthshaker!" The area all around them erupts with lightning bolts striking the ground at random in very quick intervals, pulling his sword from the ground Raijin sprints towards them, weaving between the lightning bolts.
  "Water Release,Evil Windmill Water Shuriken!" A shuriken made of water and chakra launches towards Raijin, flowing chakra into his sword Raijin raises the sword to the sky as it absorbs a lightning strike with the sword crackling arcs of electricity. Bringing the sword down in a slash it cuts the water shuriken in half, the heat of the sword is hot enough to evaporate the water shuriken. Raijin doesn't slow down as he comes within a few feet of the enemy shinobi, two of the three charge at him with kunai drawn and ready for hand to hand combat. What they did not expect was Raijin's skill with a blade, using both his wazikashi and katana with precision as he is able to block and parry strikes with both.
  "Water Release, Beach Crab!" Two crab like pinchers launch from the ground underneath Raijin, luckily he is able to leap out of the way before lunging forward again with a powerful leap, his boot impacts the face of one of the Hidden Mist shinobi, sending them sprawling against the ground. Turning his attention to the one still coming after him with a kunai, he blocks multiple strikes before slashing his sword downwards to the left. The shinobi falls to his knees as blood pours from his mouth, Raijin was able to cut him from his right pectoral to his left hip, effectively cutting him open as his organs spilled onto the forest floor.
  "Water Release, Water Sword!" Leaping back, Raijin is able to dodge the blade of water from the third shinobi who finally attacked him. Both of them stand a few meters away from each other, staring at each other. The black lenses of Raijin's mask unnerve and frighten the shinobi, that is what she didn't attack immediately like her two partners did, and now one of them was dead and the other completely unconscious. Raijin can see her physically shaking in fear and realizes that she is in no place to fight him, killing her would be easy and he knew it.

  Deciding that enough was enough, Raijin slowly walks towards the shaking shinobi. Appearing like a true monster in the pale moonlight shimmering through the trees, the shinobi trembles in fear before falling to her knees. She knew that she couldn't win, and was far too afraid to try and fight, 'maybe he'll be merciful', the kunoichi thinks to herself. This thought is quickly destroyed, as her entire chest is turned into smoldering and melted flesh by Raijin's las pistol. Falling face first on the grass, the blood of the kunoici begins to stain the ground, turning from the dead woman, Raijin looks at the unconscious enemy laying on the ground. Walking towards the downed fighter, Raijin crouches down and reaches for the shinobi's head, with a quick jerk and twist he snaps the shinobi's neck. Taking the headband off, he goes and collects the other two, hearing movement in the trees he snaps around in time for the rest of the team to arrive, the Hidden Mist headbands still clenched in his fist. Any question or concern that Kurenai had died right on the spot, looking at the carnage she almost through that he had killed civilians, but the headbands clenched in his fist disproved that quickly.
  "They were after me, apparently I have a bounty on my head and they came to collect." Raijin doesn't say anything else before placing the headbands in the pocket of his jacket.
  "Should we... bury them?" Kiba asks, looking at the bodies with a look of disgust, they attacked his pack mate and they got what they deserved.
  "Leave them to the buzzards, they are no concern of ours. They attacked one of my students and they paid the price." Kurenai says coldly, usually she wasn't one to do such a thing but they attacked one of her students just for a bounty.
  "Raijin, you and the others go back and rest, I will take the watch." A simple nod is all she receives from Raijin before he leaps away, heading back towards camp with the rest of the team. Kurenai once more looks at the carnage before her with a grimace, 'he's making a name for himself, there's already a bounty on him', a sigh escapes her mouth as she takes a position in the trees, hoping that no other surprises will show up during the night.

Kirigakure

  Currently sitting in her office, Mei Terumī, the Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village looks at the bounty paper and description of Raijin. The picture itself was of him wearing his gas mask, instead of frightening her it intrigued her, it made her curious of who was underneath the mask. She did not want the bounty to be created, but had little choice as the village elders and her advisers said it would bring justice for the death of the shinobi that's Raijin killed, as it apparently wasn't his place to kill the shinobi. Running a thumb over the picture she would read the description given of Raijin, his height, weight and a brief profile of who he is. She knows something is amiss, as she's never seen shinobi gear that is shown in the picture. After reading over it and taking one last look at the picture, she decides that she wants answers. Instead of getting them from informants however, she decides to get them from the source itself.
  "ANBU." She calls out, and two Hidden Mist ANBU arrive in front of her.
  "Yes, Mizukage." Looking at the the paper once again, she thinks of her decision before looking back at the ANBU.
  "Select a team of hunter nin to track down Raijin Krieg of Konoha. Capture him without harm and being him here, I want answers and all I have received is hearsay and faulty intelligence." A simple nod is all she receives from the ANBU before they disappear to do as ordered. Looking at the photo once more, she smirks as she thinks of what he will be able to tell her and what she will learn, 'The Reaper, that's what they call you, very fitting', Mei thinks to herself as she sets the paper down, she knows it's only a matter of time before he is brought to her, patience is the key.