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[Retane]

The members of The Horsemen arrived at the entrance of their destination. It hadn't taken long at all, as they had been to the ninja village before. They had used the forest, itself, as a means of getting there quicker, hopping to and fro on treetops, swinging from branches and diving to the ground when things were too thick. Jack and Arith had made it a game to see who would get there first, and even Inirtias had joined in on the fun after being his with a snowball, and antagonized by his fellow Lythian. Retane had stayed ahead of the group, but looked back occasionally to watch the three with their antics. Jack was as nimble, if not more nimble then the other two and seemed more skilled then THe Emerald Warrior had remembered. The Guardian was growing stronger.

Retane had touched ground first, with Jack Frost following, with Arith and Inirtias trailing. Now the Horsemen reached the entrance of Mokugakure. The green mercenary looked at the walls, made of tall trees that were large and had grown side by side together. The namekian had, again, been impressed at how the shinobi had fortified their city using nature itself. The trees themselves were happy and cared for and respected the ninja as a whole. The Emerald Warrior could sense it.

The group stepped through the archway, and immediately three masked ninja appeared and stopped them. "May I ask where you are going?"

The namekian looked into the eyes of behind the mask and focused on them for a moment. The shinobi had short spikey hair and his eyes reminded him of someone else. The mask's markings reminded the Emerald fiend of a cat of some sort. The ninja looked to be about Jacks age and near the same age, if not slightly more muscular. The mercenary took a moment to think of his response, not wanting to offend the shinobi, "I am Retane of the Horsemen. The Morukage knows we are coming."

"I know who you all are. Lady Tsunade asked me to wait for you and escort you to her. You are kind of known a bit around here now." The ninja was calm.

"So you knew who I was and knew I was coming and my destination, but you sill asked? Didn't want to stop and just tell me you had orders to escort me?" The green mercenary pondered his thoughts outloud.

"Pretty much," the shinobi started. "I've heard about you and have seen your performance in the Dante's Abyss. I had to see the response for myself, and I like to make my own judgment."

"I see", The Leader of the Horsemen stated. "So what judgment have you come to?"

"Jury is still out, it would seem, but we should get going right? Wouldn't want to keep the Lady waiting?" The shinobi turned and took the lead while the other two backed up giving room for the Horsemen to pass. It was obvious they would take up the rear. These two also wore masks, and the namekian started to wonder what was with them. Were the masks there to protect their identities perhaps? They seemed special in some way, almost like a classified bunch. He had seen them before but he was unsure what they meant. He would have to ask one day.

Retane followed, as the other three kept close behind him with the the duo shinobi taking up the rear. They quickly approached the market and it was more different then before. Some people even smiled at the namekian, while others still tried to avoid him. Little kids pointed at all of them smiling, while some whispered to their friends. The namekian didn't bother listening in to their conversations this time. He didn't have to to know that it was mixed emotions. They also had a destination and he didn't need to get pissed off and make a big scene like he had before.

As the group passed the market, and were headed towards the Mogukage's tower there was a call from behind. The group turned to look at a familiar girl running at them. It was the same girl that had verbally accosted Retane the first time he had entered the village.