Oto Border

[Nicholas]

The grinding sound stopping, Nicholas emerged from the shadows at the back of the cave, deactivating the shinigan as he did so.
"The rooms are fini - figures."
Nicholas said, eying the two sleeping on the floor.
"Guess I'm out here for the night as well. Akemi, you should get some sleep - I'll have a shadow clone guide you back, there shouldn't be a problem once you're in one of the rooms, I've used the mica in the rock to reflect light in from outside."

[Akemi Yamagata]

Akemi pushed herself away from the wall and dusted off. She looked over at Kurakuren and Sachi and grinned, "It really didn't take Sachi long to fall asleep, as soon as she sat down she was out, same kind of goes for him. I guess they were exhausted." She walked over to Nicholas and patted his cheek affectionately for a second before shaking her head. "I guess you do come in handy sometimes huh?" She said playfully teasing.

She took a step back and looked away from him for a moment, "I've been thinking about earlier.. about Tsuki and what she said about Ryo.. I don't think that my father knows about it. It wouldn't make sense for him to hire outside the family if Father was okay with it.. What do you think?"

[Nicholas]

Nicholas was silent for a moment.
"Are you saying Ryo acted without the clan's approval?"

[Akemi Yamagata]

Akemi faced Nicholas once more. "Well, if Father approved of Ryo's actions, then he wouldn't have chosen someone from outside the family to do the assassination, especially paying for it. If he were to hire someone, he wouldn't have hired Tsuki. So none of it makes sense."

[Nicholas]

"And why wouldn't he have hired her? Her partner may have been a complete amateur, but at the very least she had the nerve required for the job, and she came from the same country. If anything, those reasons argue that it would make sense for her to be picked for the job, especially since she was familiar with your abilities." Nicholas said, moving towards the edge of the cavern and sitting on a ledge, cloak opening as he did so, elbows resting on his knees and fingers interlocked as he rested his chin on his hands.

[Akemi Yamagata]

"Father is all about respect and his own honor. Its true that Tsuki's knowledge of my abilities and the fact that we're from the same country should be in her favor.. but in my Father's eyes, she and I are in the same boat. If he were willing to order my death for bringing disgrace to our family name, then he would not hire Tsuki when she's guilty of doing the same to not only her family but my own as well. She was suppose to marry my brother and left Getsugakure the night before the wedding, causing disgrace on the Yamagata clan. Father is not so forgiving." Akemi answered.

She looked toward the enterance of the cave, wanting very much to go sit under the moon. Instead, she let out a sigh.

[Nicholas]

"Alright, so that rules out your father's direct involvement. We still can't say that he hasn't simply passed off the job to Ryo with instructions to simply do whatever it takes, or failing that has simply removed you from the 'do not touch' list."

[Akemi Yamagata]

Akemi pushed her hair back away from her face and closed her eyes.

"I guess it could be either of those, but its not like I can do anything about it right now, and neither can you. We just have to keep our minds on this mission. Me, helping Kurakuren, Kekeya, and the others rescue thier friend from the Sound Village, and you making sure that no one makes off with Kurakuren. I'd say we both have our hands full right now without adding my mess to the mix." She said with a sigh.

She fought back a yawn, and smiled at Nicholas. "I think I'm ready to see what magic you created back there."

[Sachi Akita]

"THE SKY IS FALLING! ORANGE IS EVERYWHERE!" Sachi yelled out in her sleep, breaking the peaceful quiet.

She was still sleeping, her eyes still closed. Her purple hair down in her face. It was clear that she was having a nightmare though. She started moving around slightly.

A few minutes later she stopped, and relaxed, a bright smile spread across her face.

"Oh shiny...." she said, followed by a very loud snore.

[Nicholas]

Nodding once, Nicholas made a single clone without standing up. Motioning for Akemi to follow, the clone walked down the nearly pitch black hallway for about 30 feet before stopping.
"Turn right, then walk about 7 feet. The entrance to the room is there. Follow the wall around the corner until you see the light."
The rooms, while they themselves were decently lit by light reflected through tunnels only a few inches wide, had smaller, sharply curved hallways only about 3 feet wide to allow the occupants their privacy - unfortunately, this also prevented light from entering the main hallway, making it nearly impossible to navigate at night.

Back in the main chamber, Nicholas removed Zanryu's scabbard from his sash and lay it on the ground in front of him, settling in for the night watch. Figuring that he wouldn't have much else to do until morning, Nicholas made a small number of clones and sent them out of the cave and deeper into the country towards Oto - while they would be useless in combat at that distance, they could still use the shinigan just as well as he could.

[Sachi Akita]

It was bright and early when Sachi woke up. She left the cave and appeared a while later carrying a basket full of berries and different types of plants. She skipped along into the cave humming a tune.

"Good Morning guys!" She called, "I have some stuff we can use to make breakfast! Look, I found some edible plants!" She dropped the basket of plants and berries on the floor beside Nicholas and gave him a thumbs up sign.

[Nicholas]

Not having slept at all the previous night, Nicholas was still wide awake, and viewed the mass of plants with apprehension.
"Sachi............ can you even identify more than half of these?"

[Sachi Akita]

Sachi put her finger up to her chin. "Hmm.. " she grinned mischeviously at Nicholas, her eyes shining brightly, "No.. not on my own. BUT I did use this," Sachi pulled a book out from her sack and showed it to Nicholas, "its a book of plants with very detailed pictures and discriptions. It was a present from Akemi. I used it while picking the plants and berries to make sure that I picked the right ones. Don't worry, I wouldn't kill you......" Sachi said, then added a giggle at the end of it.

[Nicholas]

Nicholas simply stared.

"........ I think I'll get my own food...." Nicholas said, slowly standing up.

[Akemi Yamagata]

"Sachi, you shouldn't tease him like that." Akemi said, coming in from outside the cave. She sat down on the floor beside the basket and started looking over the plants very carefully.

"Its okay Nicholas. I'll go through and make sure that all of them are what she thinks they are before we start cooking them. If you want, you can double check once I'm done. For now though, you could go take a nap. It looks like Kurakuren is still resting, and I can keep an eye on things for a bit." she offered, looking up at him from her spot on the ground.