Atsudoushi Shrine
A large shrine located near the peak of a large mountain. Being near The Forest of Demons, the shrine serves as a type of gate between the human and demonic realms. It is also said that within the deepest chambers of the shrine, The Dragon Maiden trains without rest among demonic spirits.
Nara Eric presumes that the setting was set and laid out for them... After all, were there no better places to travel than in places unknown? He and his team had travelled quite the distance in search of treasure, or in his case, in search of treasure. Unwittingly his comrades followed, not realizing that they were on a treasure hunt, not in the next match of the jounin exams. Of course, that's precisely why they were there, but Eric reasoned a little side-trackedness never hurt anyone. Nara Eric garbed in standard jounin attire, save for the darker coloration of his clothing and green camouflage pants, his sword strapped to his back, somewhat hidden underneath a backpack. His headband upon his forehead, it hid signs of previous damages, where it had saved his life on many the occasion. His brown eyes matched well with his dark brown hair, and the emblem of his clan embrazened on the collar of his flak jacket and upon its back. "This way team!" He shouts, gesturing towards the mountain as they travelled down a beaten, yet not all that trodden it seemed path, with grass as their outline, a few rocks and hills along the way, dotted with boulders ranging from their size to more than four times their size. The path was only somewhat windy, and the four man team easily traversed it. After all, they had all been through worse.
Shortly behind was the first chunnin among them, Raisan, staying relatively close behind Eric, a large pack matched Eric's save for the somewhat larger size. The chunin flak jacket and pants were almost covered in pockets, presumably only half of them at best filled with things by appearance; this would make it seem baggy, but they were actually quite fluid in movement. Black, spikey hair complimented a small, healed scar on his left cheek. While tan skinned, his stout stature of about 5'8 made Eric seem only a bit tall, although they were only about four inches difference in height. He fumbles with his gloves, each with a metallic plates upon them. The shinobi had a smile of relief upon his face as he groaned, "At least it is relatively cool... The wind is blowing, but at least it's cool air."
"You said it!" a dark kunoichi cheerfully stated, "Not only that, our next opponent this time won't be so dune happy!" A black cloak covered her completely standard chunin attire, hiding the very tips of her jet black hair, nigh shoulder length. She has two bangs framing the front of her face. She seems absent of her headband, the only indication of it ever being present was a slight indention, the only flaw on her face, her silver eyes drawing most of the attention in that area. She walked with a bit of a bounce in her step, keeping her distance between her teamates. "Just stay focused, because Renna, I don't think we know where we are,"
A tall kunoichi with a much older appearance warned. Her face was a mix of playfulness and deathly seriousness, immediately drawing to reason why she was the one carrying up the rear instead of the other two chunin. At 6'2, she was two inches taller than Eric, giving her a somewhat dominant stature over the group, although it was a weak assertion with her being relatively far from their jounin leader. Wearing the standard chunin attire, save for shin, arm, and even face guards, the last framing her face much like that of a forehead protector styled face guard. Her chestnut brown hair, almost silky in appearance, could hardly be noticed with the tight ponytail that she kept it in, likely skilled in the field of hair doing as well as being a ninja.
"Don't worry Makata, we're almost to that mountain, in case you were wondering where our final destination was," Eric commented, not bothering to look back, "and besides, I doubt our enemy can sneak up on all four of us." "Wouldn't be the first time, Captain, that you were wrong if they do," Makata retorts, "I wonder about you sometimes." "And I wonder why you're so dang young," Eric mutters to himself, out of earshot of any of his comrade. She was too young for him to handle... At least without a sentence. Or was that just for civilian minors... Ah well, he'll look it up later.
Immortal Guardian Shadowfire laughed quite boredly. He and his squad remained sitting at the front of the Shrine. The mountain offered a great battlefield, but before him was a massive field. The grass stretched far into the distance where a ring of rocks broke just before the end of the trail. A small path led into the field, which splashed in great contrast to the orange walls of the Shrine behind the four man squad. Standing in the lax posture as he was, Shadow's onyx colored hair gently fell to his back in straight waves. His eyes, a bright and unerringly piercing golden color, watched the field. The barriers surrounding the mountain were studiously being breached, and thus warned as the incoming squad moved closer, and closer to the position of Shadow and his squad. He was clothed in a black robe, with a twisting red dragon upon its back. A black sheathed sword sat across the small of his lower back, the handle poking out at his right hip, over a white sheathed blade. He had one pouch at his back left hip, where he contained his scrolls. Upon his wrists, hidden within the sleeves, were two wrist-guards with summoning Kanji upon them. Obviously meant for the projectile weapons that all shinobi carried. A gentle breeze caused his hair to flutter slightly to the left where another shinobi stood.
The man, Lathasa by name, stood stoicly. His eyes swept back and forth. He had shoulder length black hair, having let it grow out since he last battled. He had no clue as to what he wanted to do. A sword was strapped to his back, and red symbols were written down his right and left arms. A headband was strapped to his forehead, the traditional four diagonal squiggly lines dictating that he was from Kirigakure, shined brightly in the sunlight. Lathasa fingered his hair. He was dressed in the flak jacket, blue in color. He had two pouches, one on each leg, within easy reach of his fingers and hands. Lathasa turned his head slightly to the right. "Thorn... You ready for this?" The kunoichi he spoke to was a frail looking female.
She was dressed in a simple shirt and jeans, though they were altered to allow her to move with her amazing agility. Acrobatics were something she prided herself on. Underneath that she wore a thin sheet of armor, strong enough to deflect most kunai, shuriken, and senbon strikes, but thin and comfortable enough so as not to reduce her movement. Long blond hair fell in wavy waves to the middle of her shoulder blades, and bright green eyes appraised the situation with a practiced eye. She seemed bored as she sat on the steps of the shrine. She cast her gaze back to Lathasa and smiles. "What do you take me for? Of course I'm ready. But at the rate this team is going I'll have grown a beard. Oh what a sight that would be!" She laughs rather hysterically.
Another Kunoicihi scoffed. She was dressed the same as Lathasa, a blue flak jacket hugging her body tightly. Her hair, red in color, fell to her jawline. She had cut, and dyed it, since she was last seen. It was to her character, nonetheless, to remain as unknown as she could, thus changing her appearance as often as she could. She ran a hand through her hair, a small braid falling beside her right eye, and hanging there. She was laying down on the ground in a lax position, tracing designs in the dirt. When she spoke, it was soft, and firm at the same time. "Would you two shut up? They're almost here..." The Kunai she was using flipped up, and was flung at a tree, indicating the path the incoming shinobi would come through. All of them turned to look at the kunoichi except Shadow.
Immortal Guardian Shadowfire turned to look in the direction the kunai was quivering. It was right. The last barrier was breached as the Shinobi were less than fifty meters away. Shadow remained lax, but the others slowly rose to their feet. True to their words, they were all looking forward to the battle. It was the final of the Jounin exams, and Shadow had enjoyed everything else thus far... so this battle should prove another fun game to play. A gusting wind yanked at Shadow's hair and robe, and caused them to thrash violently in the winds. Shadow's golden gaze spotted the incoming team easily enough. The mountain path broke at the fields, and everybody would be easy enough prey for Shadow's and his team's eyes. With a flick, all his team rose to greet the incomers. "Took them long enough." Thorn laughed softly. "I thought you didn't care!" Shadow rolls his eyes, and Lathasa laughs. "You girls are incorrigible." Shadow chuckles his agreement. "Look alive, folks. We are throwing a party, remember? And our guests have finally arrived." Shadow and his squad started forward to meet Eric and his halfway into the field.