Hitomi put her hand to her head and laughed, "Intimate, huh?"<br/><br/>"Eh, your Daimyo's caused a lot of problems, you know that?" The mercenary replied, "He's been damming the rivers, destroying bridges... Refugees and civilians always have it hard when a minor village goes against a great one... If he cared about his people, he'd just surrender to Suna now." She looked to the side, "Amegakure won't be much different. But that's what keeps us sellswords in business."<br/><br/>They traveled for the better part of the day, through sandy dunes and dusty rock formations. Eventually, the terrain flattened out and they could see in the distance tall towers and buildings... and a looming sea of clouds above, dark and grey casting a distant downpour upon the whole place. It was unmistakably the village hidden in the rain.<br/><br/>They found themselves on a road by accident, but it led straight to their goal. The lands leading up to Amegakure were increasingly barren. Too much water, after-all, would drown even the greediest plant. Lakes and swamps led up towards the city... and even as they walked, empty buildings began to flank them, like ruins. It was all quiet.<br/><br/>Almost too quiet.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>The tall figure leaned back slightly, his one good eye revealing a bit of surprise at hearing her own name. "So..." He said, "You know of us, then? The Bansentennin? Few know of that name anymore... even fewer are able to speak it." He did not relent, and kept his blade out, its quiet yellow glow pointing straight at her... even as she moved aside and sat on the bed.<br/><br/>"Ah, I thought so." The masked man said, putting his hand up to it and removing the veil. He was an older man, in his thirties by her estimate... He had blue eyes and a wore a surgeon's mask that obscured his mouth. He closed his eyes and gave her what she could only assume was a smile, "I do recall... a certain girl by that name, apprenticed to one of our old comrades."<br/><br/>"Which?" Ryoichi insisted, "Naito."<br/><br/>"Mm. I haven't heard from him in quite some time." Ryoichi said in his same old metallic voice, narrowing his eye at her, "Our invitation was sent out to<em>him,</em>not to some whore."