Through the wilderness of Konoha, a strange cry could be heard. "I CAN DO IT!!" the voice shouted, coming from near a forest clearing. "I CAN DO IT!!" the voice of a man was heard accompanied with the sound of rushing water. Along with the shouting, the ronin was breathing heavily, almost whimpering as he held a plump red fruit in his shaking hands, a strawberry. He soon fell to his knees, clenching the ground as hard as he could, becoming a bit choked up from something. "B-But the d-doctor...The doctor said....the doctor SAID!!!!" he shouted, flicking his head to the sky, roaring. "I CAN DO IT!!! I CAN EAT A STRAW-" Cutting himself off, Aethir shoved the strawberry into his mouth, chewing rapidly as he stared seriously...at some point in the ground. Everything was normal, the taste of the strawberry, and the texture. Everything was fine~! Except when he tried to swallow... "Ngh...Ow...P-Pain..." he whispered in a strained voice, shutting his eyes tightly as he repeatedly tried to swallow the mashed fruit. "The- ...The doctor said I could eat strawberries. I...I mean he said don't eat solid foods but...but...I'M GRINDING IT, RIGHT?!" The ronin smashes his clenched hands into the ground, clenching his teeth. "Th-The doctor...The doctor didn't lie..." he panted, putting a hand to his face as tears began to form in his eyes. "I...I can eat strawberries....It's the same as blending them..." Aethir was silent as the wind blew, as if patting him out of pity or sympathy...

One jutsu later, Aethir was now sobbing loudly in the chest of his water clone... I...need....all the strawberries..." The clone blinked, looking down at the sobbing Aethir, the ronin looking up with red irritated eyes. "I NEED. ALL OF THE STRAWBERRIES. NOW." he demaned, the clone smiling awkwardly. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!! ....YOU DON'T!!" The muffled sobbing continued as the clone looked around slowly with a nervous smile. "I CAN DO IT!!" Aethir screamed in the clone's chest, the clone patting the poor ronin. "I can...do it...I can...I...can't...do it...I....can't...eat strawberries..." Aethir gripped the clone's clothes, sobbing louder, the clone...not sure what to say except stare. Apparently, from what the clone gathered, Aethir was having a mental breakdown from not being able to eat strawberries besides strawberry juice and smoothies... He needed the whole fruit, not an artificial substitute... And apparently, some doctor that had checked up on him...apparently told him he could... But what he failed to remember was that the doctor told him no solid foods. This included whole strawberries... It didn't sound bad at the time when the doctor was explaining this to him, but this throat pain he feels when swallowing whole foods...was making things incredibly...INCREDIBLY...difficult...

Word Count: 490
Aethir's chakra: 210/250
Clone's Chakra: 25/25

Jutsu...stuff:

Motoichi was taking his time off from missions with ease.  Visiting Konoha had been the most peaceful time of his newfound life as a shinobi.  Who'd have thought that he'd be having such a relaxing time outside of his own village?  He almost felt safer in the land of fire than he did in the Hidden Rock.  It was something about the trees and hearing all the birds around him that made things feel safe.  The forests surrounding the Hidden Leaf village were wonderful for late afternoon walks.  Something that Motoichi found himself doing more and more as of late.

In the forest, he had caught a small spider walking along a tree's root. Grabbing it by one of its legs, Motoichi placed a bit of chakra on the spider before letting it drop back to the ground. Quickly, he pulled out his kunai and cut at his hand. Watching the spider run, it soon lost a bit of its leg, suddenly stopping and curling up at the pain. Smiling now, Motoichi discovered he had finally achieved a new jutsu that he was having trouble developing: Reciprocating Pain.

Today, as he found himself walking the several little trails within the outer, surrounding forest of the Hidden Leaf, that Motoichi heard a loud cry come from deeper within the woods.  He turned, stretched his neck out to hear the cry better.  It came again.  To the east?  Or were his ears deceiving him and it was from the north?  Again, the cry echoed out.  The northeast.  He was sure of it.  Anticipating a calamity, Motoichi pulled out his kunai, gripping it tightly in his right hand as he raced on through the thick wooded forest.  The loud, sharp cries continued.  The closer he got, the clearer the sound.  Soon he was able to distinguish what was being screeched out.  He was getting close.

Running up to a larger oak, Motoichi rested his back on it, hearing the cry come out louder and clearer than ever before.  Whoever it was, they were right on the other side of the tree.  The sound of hard, muffled sobs hit Motoichi's ears.  What was going on?  The cries had been about strawberries.  Why was someone crying about strawberries?  He couldn't make sense of things just yet.  Carefully, Motoichi rested his kunai back into its pouch.

Wait and listen.

First things first, he would need to know more about the situation.  Motoichi extended his hands to the sides of the oak tree's trunk and tossed out chakra strings to spread around the area.  Making sure his hands were still on his side of oak tree, in hopes of staying hidden, he honed in his chakra to the strings he had let loose.  They began to vibrate and hum within his fingers, relaying to him the sounds of the forest and of the person sobbing on the ground.


Post: 487

Chakra 135/150:

"I SWEAR!!!" Aethir shouted, lifting his head from his clone's chest, the clone having a wet spot on it's shirt. "I just- You become so sick....And you think you're fine, and a doctor tell you you can't eat solid foods..." Aethir coughed as he was trying to clear his throat from the screaming and crying. "You just- ...It hits you...you know?" The clone was silent, quickly looking off in a direction as if it had heard something. "A doctor tells you no, and you think you can do it...so....THROAT PROBLEMS-" The clone covered Aethir's mouth as the ronin blinked. 'Hmm? ...Hmm...What's up with him...?' Aethir blinked more, listening to the silence of the forest as the clone slowly scanned the surrounding area. Finally, Aethir shook free of the clone, yawning loudly. "What's your problem? ...Can't you see I'm having a ...mental...break down?" he spoke to his clone, the clone glancing at him while staying alert. "What am I even doing here? ...I DON'T KNOW WHAT I LIVE FOR!!!" he shouted, soon giving off a long strained whine, covering his face. He laid on his back on the ground, groaning in a high pitched tone. The clone slowly changing from being alert to being somewhat more relaxed. He wasn't paying total attention to Aethir as he was listening and watching for any sign of movement. "I'm...just...go to sit here and think of me ...and strawberries. Strawberries, your time with me was wonderful...Amazing....UGH WHY!!!" the ronin curled into himself, hugging himself, not his clone, tightly as he continued on with his rambling.

Word Count: 771
Aethir's chakra: 210/250
Clone's Chakra: 25/25

Taking his routine stroll through the forest with Tony, who was as usual asking for food.  Suutei had come out to retrieve the camera that he left out there the previous day.  "Tony if your hungry I think there are a few strawberry bushes near the river, take this container and go pick them.  And make sure you rinse them in the river before putting them in the container."  Suutei removed the square plastic container from his bag, handing it to Tony.  "Okay Suutei."  Suutei continued in the direction of where he believed he left his camera, while Tony ran off towards a clearing near the river.

Picking up his camera off the ground, brushing off the dirt and bugs.  Listening in he could hear a faint voice growing in volume.  From what he could hear it sounded as if someone was having a nervous breakdown, the sound came from in the direction Tony ran off in.  Suutei started running in the direction, bobbing and weaving the tree branches.  Suutei could see the clearing up ahead, and two figures apparently twins one with his face buried in the others chest.  Rustling could be heard above only by him, and Tony fell off a branch on Suuteis head.  Suutei moved one foot forward, before halting he noticed a bluish color string at his eye level.  Wondering where the string came from he pushed the thought aside, and moved on towards the two men.  

Chopper perched on Suuteis head, spoke first.  "Hey mister!  Are you okay?!?"  Suutei banged Tony on his head, "Damn it Tony!"

WC:

Motoichi continued listening, hearing exactly what was going on.  Then, feeling a tug on one of his strings, he swung his attention around and caught hold of two more entering the area.  Hearing one of the two new arrivals scolding the other.  The whole situation was just weird.  Strawberries were hurting someone, and the other two were looking for strawberries.  Why all the fuss for strawberries?  Besides, this wasn't some strawberry farm.  There could be something bad about these strawberries.  Wild growing fruit wasn't always good, and while they weren't always bad, it was safer to assume they were.  That's what Motoichi always thought anyway.

Deciding that there was no danger coming from any of the four people now on the other side of the tree he was hiding behind, Motoichi extinguished his chakra strings.  He'd heard enough.  These people seemed to be in no big danger nor posing a threat to others.  Motoichi then sauntered out from behind his tree and saw the four people that had gathered around.  He looked from one to the other, getting a good look at all four of them.  It was good to now match the faces with the voices he had just heard.  There was the man crying about strawberries, accompanied with another that looked just like him.  Possibly a clone, Motoichi thought, although it could be the clone that was crying.  Have to wait and see to know for sure.  The other two was another boy and a smaller, deer-like animal that wore a hat.  Seeing the small creature slothing upon the boy's head, it was obvious they knew each other.

"What in the world is going on over here?" Motoichi asked all four of them.  He was hoping to better understand the situation.  Sometimes just hearing what was being said wasn't enough to fully grasp and understand things.  This was one of those moments.


Post: 322
Total: 809

Aethir sniffled before turning his head to the source of voices. He spotted someone nearby, Aethir sniffling and exhaling, looking at the clone with his red irritated eye. The clone was staring at the source of voices before, turning his head towards another source of a voice, Aethir doing the same. Standing there was another man, Aethir going back to being sir weeping willow in the clone's chest as he eyed him. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND MY SITUATION!!" he cried to the man's question of what was going on, and to the deer like animal. "I...!!! CANNOT...!!...EAT A STRAWBERRY!!!" Aethir slid down from the clone's chest, the clone staring awkwardly at the crying man. "Oh I can feel it... CRUELTY!! THE WORLD!!! IS..!!! ...So mean..." Aethir's sudden raising and lowering of his voice made the clone groan, slowly turning to the two, plus deer. The clone appeared to be getting ready to speak until- "YOU!!" Aethir shouted, his voice serious and stern, pointing at the small creature plus man. "DO YOU LIKE STRAWBERRIES?! If you do, you'll know my pain... R-Right? ...AND YOU!!" Aethir pointed at the other man, tears running down he face. "WHAT ARE YOU- WHY ARE YOU...SUCH A... CHERRY TO ME?!" The man stared at the two, eyes beyond crying a river.

The clone cleared it's voice, raising a finger. "I believe he's asking if you, sir with the creature, like strawberries, and you...A-Actually, I have no clue what the devil he's asking you..." the clone rubbed his forehead with it's index finger and thumb, inhaling slowly, and then exhaling...But then the clone soon gasped as Aethir grabbed the clone, shaking him. "I ASKED WHY YOU'RE A- WHAT- WHY HE'S A-"  "Please calm yourself-"  "NO....HE'S A GODDAMNED CHERRY!! A GOD...DAMNED...CHERRY!!! THE DAMN CHERRY FROM LAST NIGHT! AND IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU-" Aethir failed to point at the man, failing to even pinpoint him at first due to his watery eyes, eventually finding him, "YOU!! THAT I CAN'T EAT STRAWBERRIES. You know, I tried my first Konoha cherry in my strawberry ice cream. I GAVE YOUR PEOPLE A CHANCE AND...let me tell you..." He leaned over to the man's direction, narrowing his glaring eyes. "It's why I'm...sick..." he nearly hissed in a strained whisper, eyeing the...cherry man. The clone simply couldn't help but sigh and roll it's eyes... Apparently, the ronin was incredibly upset over one single cherry in his ice cream that made him sick... "I guess...he's waiting for a reply-"  "OH I'M WAITING ON ALL OF YOU."  "...Yes that..." The clone sighed, trying his best to keep the original Aethir silent.

Word Count: 1240
Aethir's chakra: 210/250
Clone's Chakra: 25/25

Suutei puzzled at the entire situation, why did everything have to be weird now in Suuteis life.  Tony was a link to a series of misfortunate events, but this man passed the epitome of odd.  The man shot a question a Suutei first, asking if he liked strawberries.  Suutei did not have any kind of emotional attachment to strawberries.  This psychopathic man on the other hand did, then he pointed the question to Tony.  Before either Tony or Suutei could answer, the man ran up on the other male in the area referring to him as a cherry.  Suutei and Tony took a look at the strange male, sizing him up they didn't see much of a cherry.  "Suutei if you ask me, I'd say he was more of a pear and that strawberry guy is bananas..."  Tony began snickering at the pun he mad about the two males before Suutei banged him over the head.  "Chopper your such an ass."  Tony rubbing his head spoke aloud to the howling shell of what should be a man, "Well sir...er uhmm mister...I love fruits well I'll eat pretty much anything but strawberries are my favorite."  

The man became more hysterical weeping into the now what Suutei sized up to be a clone.  Suutei felt as if the man disrespected the village he belonged to, and approached the clone.  "May I?"  Suutei would not wait for the clone to answer, as he reached down to grab the man by his collar.  Tony had jumped off of his perch atop of Suuteis head and approached the other man, or the cherry man to be exact.  Tony still had in hand the plastic container given to him from Suutei.  "Hey mister!  You don't look like a cherry to me.  Would you like a strawberry?"  Tony held up the plastic container filled with strawberries, making a dire mistake exposing them to the world.  Even the psychopath.

WC:

The crying man began to wail and shout even louder now.  Apparently it was Motoichi and these other two arrivals, the boy and his deer, that weren't understanding the situation.  Well, at least he gets that I don't get it.  And then he said it.  The words that Motoichi had heard before but they had been so erratic and, at times muffled,  that he just didn't figure it out.

He couldn't eat strawberries.

Obviously strawberries were important to him.  Very important.  Sure, there are other fruit in the trees, as the saying goes, but still no strawberries.  This was an existential quandary staring Motoichi right in the face.  The very basic question that probably ate at the minds of Adam and Eve, an old tale now long forgotten by most people.  Adam and Eve, two people alone in a garden full of fruit and vegetables.  Every kind you could imagine.  Yet there was one tree, standing straight up in the middle of the garden, that they were forbidden to eat from.  And so, the existential quandary had existed.  If they could have every fruit, why not the fruit from that one tree?

To put himself in the shoes of the crying man who couldn't have strawberries, Motoichi decided to imagine.  Imagine that he was alone in a garden, full of fruit.  All the fruit in the world.  Even strawberries.  Yet the only fruit he couldn't eat was strawberries.  He could look, he could stare, observing the heart shaped, spotted fruit.  Yet that was it, he could never eat it.  And that's when the reality of the crying man's situation finally sunk in.

Oh, the pain!  Oh, the cruelty!  To have come across strawberries out here in the forest, and not be able to eat them!  It was a new situation for Motoichi to grasp, but he did indeed grasp it.  With both hands he had grasped the situation.  And the horror that came with knowing what was at hand... unbearable!

Motoichi exhaled sharply, pushing back his dark auburn hair as suddenly he was addressed by the crying man.  At least, he was almost sure he was being talked to.  The man began saying something, pointing his finger over in his direction.  The extended finger wavering for a moment before finally pointing directly at him.  He began calling Motoichi a cherry, a cherry man.

Cherry? A cherry man?  He stopped for a moment, his hand still clasped to the top of his head as he tried to understand why the man was calling him a cherry.  The crying man then started accusing him, or was it the cherry, for the reason he couldn't eat the strawberry.  Flabbergasted, Motoichi dropped his hand, not knowing what to say.  The clone -- Motoichi was sure that the man being clung to and cried on was a clone now due to the crying man exclaiming something about last night and no clone would still be around this long -- the clone tried to translate as best he could.

At a loss, Motoichi's eyes caught the color of his own bangs hanging in front of his eyes.  Cherry!  He thinks my hair looks like a cherry!  "Wait, come on, this is a dark red at best.  I'm no cherry man!" Motoichi exclaimed, slightly hurt by the implication that he was similar to a fruit as well as being implicated to a fruit that caused this man so much grief.

And then the deer came up to Motoichi.  Walking up to him on hind legs.  Hind legs!  The deer then began speaking of all things!  Holding up a plastic container of strawberries, the deer asked if Motoichi wanted any of them, saying he didn't look like a cherry.  At least someone..er...thing gets it, he thought to himself.

"Wait! What are you doing?!"  He yelled out, pushing the plastic container of strawberries back at the deer.  If the strawberry guy saw this he would lose his sanity for sure!  Motoichi turned, keeping his hand pressed against the plastic container which was now being pressed against the deer in an attempt to hide it from the strawberry man.  Did he see it?  Oh, please no, tell me he didn't see it!


Post: 715
Total: 1524

The clone inhaled and exhaled, eyeing the man who once had the creature near him approach, soon picking up Aethir. "E-Er...well..." the clone responded, but found it pointless to finish his statement. Aethir...look a bit lifeless as he was picked up by the collar, his body limp. "You don't understand...And the cherry doesn't understand." he sighed, and would slowly lean onto the person holding him. He then began to sob again. "No one...understands..." As the clone sighed and turned to see a deer holding up strawberries, it gasped, covering it's mouth. "Sir...?" the clone spoke, then tensed up as Aethir's eyes were already on the fruit. His heart began to speed up, bumping strongly as his blue eyes were locked on the red god fruits. He panted, eyeing the fruit he longed for, finding it so unfair that he could not enjoy that which he used to.

The clone eyed Aethir, nervously looking over at the strawberries, getting an idea on how not to have a repeat of an incident earlier this month. The clone, being the man himself, is aware of the strawberry withdraw symptoms, the ronin entering stage three of seven. The first would be the shock of being unable to enjoy strawberries for some time, Aethir staying calm as he just had to wait for a time to reunite with his lover... The second would be what he had demonstrated at home. Denial, and trying to develop a work around to this 'no strawberry' policy... The third would be extreme depression and sadness, the gradual lose of one's sanity, Aethir demonstrating that he was at this point by calling a stranger a cherry... And the fourth of seven stages was what Aethir was entering now... His heart sped up even faster, his breathing growing heavier as he now breathed through his open mouth, still eyeing the fruit. This feeling inside, this growing maturing feeling...was rage. Pure rage that others could enjoy such a delicacy while he had to suffer a time without them. The breathing halted, a strained, high pitched cry slowly erupting from the man, as if he were having some organ pulled from his stomach by some invisible force... "This...is not good." the clone blinked, slowly turning to the strawberries nearby.


Now, to anyone who wasn't Aethir, it'd just look like he was screaming like a psycho. But to Aethir, a lot more was happening from not eating a strawberry... In his mind, the ground was catching fire by dark pink flames, leaving behind a scorched black ground. The skies grew dark from the even darker clouds, black clouds almost as flashes of pink and red can be seen within the clouds... The man let out a louder cry, hunching over with his hands over his face, the nails on said hand bleeding bloods that trailed down his arms and onto the ground. Then, upon the seventh drop of blood, the ground split open, even more pink and red flames sprouting from the growing crack in the now rumbling earth. The crack increased until several cracks with flames sprouting out were formed, eventually a large hole in the ground making way for one...fearsome...creature... Rising suddenly from the flames was a four fingered skeletal hand and arm, soon crashing near the screaming ronin. The ground soon sprouted red cable cords of some sort, wrapping around the arm as another one rose from the flame, this time covered in pink and golden flames in the shape of a large claw of some sort. Soon rising from the flames all together was a large headless skeletal body, some of the bones greeted with the same red cables from the ground as it coiled around each bone, purposely leaving some bones exposed. However, the cords eventually met at the top of the missing head, forming into a shape of a strawberry, dark green leaves sprouting from the top as red juiced flew and rained onto the screaming ronin. Was it blood or just strawberry juice? No one will know... Roaring even louder, the ronin's body shot up, Aethir inhaling sharply to scream more, eventually the skeletal strawberry beast slowly having a mouth created. The fleshy tissues of the strawberry ripped open as jagged sharp teeth were presented, a long split tongue slowly presenting itself to the world from the inner confines of the mouth. Finally, the creature roared loudly, causing birds of all kind to fly in fear from the increasingly rising pillar of pink and red flames. The roar sounded like a mix of a gorilla along with a reptilian screech, accompanied by some unrecognizable higher pitched screech. Hell, this whole thing was unrecognizable... However, the strawberry monstrosity began to eye the tributes before him, to further fuel the strawberry kingdom in which he guards. The cherry man, the strawberry fan, and the strawberry deer. The monster didn't pay any attention to the deer or the man that the deer belonged to, but rather eyed the cherry man. "Your people... Your kingdom... And your ruler... " the strawberry monster paused, eyeing the man, "...will suffer a slow torturous death... " the monster breathed, it's voice deep and sinister, pointing a flaming finger at the cherry man as it roared once more in the man's face, the same flames rushing from it's newly created mouth towards the man.


...Of course, none of this was actually happening outside of Aethir's mind, the clone casually attempting to get a strawberry and feed it to the screaming madman in a peaceful forest clearing, not forgetting to give a 'thank you' bow to the creature before leaving. No one was really in any danger, Aethir was just being dramatic... Of course, that own't save anyone from Aethir's physical capabilities and combat skills... If the clone was allowed to get a strawberry from the small creature, then Aethir, once fed, should be normal again, no longer screaming...but will be incredibly depressed again...

Word Count: 2148
Aethir's chakra: 210/250
Clone's Chakra: 25/25

As Suutei gripped the man by his collar shaking him, the clone tried to inform him about Tony's actions but it was too late. Suutei saw Tony open the plstic container full of strawberries offering the cherry man some. The world as Suutei knew was coming to an end, the strawberry psychopath was going into a state ofshock! Suutei had no idea what to do, the man let out a shriek of terror that could rip the heavens apart. Suutei finally was able to piece it all together, the strawberry man and his clone. The main problem was the strawberry man could not eat strawberries for some reason, thus resulting in his acts of hysteria. The man was in a state of withdrawal, and due to his studies of psychology he would say the man was entering the fourth stage. Apparently this man was an addict to strawberries, and recent events caused him to no longer consume the delicacies. The strawberries were his drug, and the only way to calm the man down was...Feed him the strawberries Suutei then thought the addiction would only heighten the next time this situation, but who was to say they would meet again. Though the man did appear to be a shinobi, he had no symbol of his affliation to a village. Suutei got a dangerous yet interesting plan, he might even get a few laughs out of it. Though he would need help, after all this man was a psychopath and was surely capable of dishing out some damage.

The mans shrieks began to cause his ears to ring, and knew trying to shake him was a bad idea. Suutei released the mans collar and backed up towards Tony and the cherry man, the clone was reaching in the container to grab a strawberry. Suutei stopped him by gripping his wrist, and giving him a look telling him no. Banging Chopper over the head, "What the hell is wrong with you Chopper, do you want to get us killed you moron!" Suutei turned to the cherry man, and took away the container of strawberries handing it to him with the lid on. "Okay listen. I have a crazy idea, but it might work. Weirdo clone I need you to take that container and get as far as possible. Cherry guy, i need your help to subdue this guy its a long shot but, I think it could help him." Suutei really was not sure if his plan would work, but he hope he coud help this man somehow. Suutei looked over the man who was referred to as a cherry, apparently he was affiliated with Iwagakure, he hoped he was strong maybe they could fight. Suutei looked at both his temporary comrades hoping they would cooperate. "Suutei what should I do?" Suutei looked down to his companion flicking his blue nose playfully, "Your gonna help us fight him." Tony looked terrified and gulped, Suutei could tell he was nervous he would be fine though. Suutei then looked to the Iwagakure shinobi hoping he to was on board with the plan.

WC:

It was too late.  The crazed man had seen the strawberries.  Instead of going berserk and attacking the two for the strawberries, he instead lit up like a siren.  The loudest and shrillest cry Motoichi had ever heard up to this point in his life billowed out of the crazed man's lips.  It was awe striking as much as it was painful to the ears.  The worst of them all to receive the pain seemed to be the clone and the man holding him by the collar.

The cry kept going and there seemed to be no end in sight.  The crazed man's clone came up to Motoichi and the deer, reaching for a strawberry.  The strange deer-like creature nearly gave him one but right before the clone could grab a strawberry his wrist was stopped by the other man's hand.  Motoichi looked up from the plastic container to see the other man shaking his head no to the clone.  Now in close to this other man, Motoichi got a better look at him.  So far, he hadn't really looked at him, the crazed lunatic being of much more interest.

The other man was just a boy, young and still had much of a baby face about him.  His hair was long, just stopping before his shoulders and kept in a mess, just like the other boys of his age group.  The boy had clear blue eyes that were as blue as painted glass with a petit pointed nose that he crinkles often, petite lips that rarely form a smile.  Suutei's clothing was of the standard Konohagakure Prepatory school uniform, a school that Motoichi had come across during his wanderings of the village's many districts.  All the kids seemed to wear the navy blue sport coat with white trimming, their gray colored pants finishing off the uniform look.

The boy banged the head of the deer, calling him Chopper.  Suddenly there was a plan, a plan to help the crazed man.  Motoichi seemed only at a loss, not really understanding if there was any way at all to help the man.  The boy began to detail his plan and Motoichi strained his ears to hear the boy's words over the loud cry of the wailing man.  He got the gist though, he was to hold down the crazed man while they took off with the strawberries.

The deer then spoke up, calling the boy Suutei, asking what he could do in the situation.  Suutei answered with having him help fight the crazed man.  That's when Motoichi finally realized what might be going on.  "Wait, what?  You want to fight this guy?"

He was at a loss.  This guy, this lunatic, seemed more likely to kill if something more was teased on him about strawberries.  The plan to take the strawberries and run now seemed like a bad idea.  "I have a bad feeling about this," he shook his head.  "Let's see what the clone has to say before we do this, yeah?  I mean, he is the one slightly related to the guy."

Motoichi turned to face the crazed man, who by now had finished screaming.  The eerie silence that followed such a loud screaming session created a chill through his spine.  The silence irked him in all the wrong ways.  Whatever they were going to do, they'd better do it fast.


Post: 573
Total: 2097

The ronin had stopped screaming as was simply breathing heavily, hands still over his face. He slowly removed them, the hands lowering to his side as he soon lowered his head along with them. His eyes were wide open, the ronin himself looking to be lost in some world that was not reality. The clone, after having it's hand grabbed, continued to stare at the ronin, soon having his attention turned to the two males near him. The clone nodded to the two as they finished their piece, now having the strawberry container in his hands. "W-Well," the clone began to speak, "The only way I know how to fix this is a straw-" As the clone looked slowly towards the man's direction, the ronin had burst to a speed of eighteen meters per second, quickly ending up near the group of people. 'Cherry...' the ronin repeated in his head, eyes still appearing lost in another world. 'Cherry...Cherry...Cherry...Cherry...Cherry...Cherry...Cherry...Cherry...' As he closed the distance between him and the group in less than a second, the ronin had already picked who was first to suffer his wrath. Cherry man. The ronin would deliver a quick, strong punch to the man's face, then he would turn to punch the other younger boy's face, knocking them both away one meter. He would have kicked the little deer, but noticed that he somehow had strawberries, which in his mind, made him a resident and firm believer of the strawberry kingdom. ...It's best not to ask. He then would turn to smash his fist into the collar bones of his clone, but stopped, seeing himself... He legit forgot that it was his clone... "Now...Let's see about those berries..." the ronin would pant, sounding nearly out of breath. He then would slowly look down to stare at the strawberry container, reaching for it slowly while focusing his hearing on the cherry man or young boy, listening for any sudden movements ... The clone did hear what the boy said about running with the strawberries...But the problem was...strawberries could fix the problem, at least delay it... Maybe it was a bad idea to run instead of just let the ronin have some of the fruit... With that mindset, the clone would stand still as the ronin continued to reach for a strawberry.

Word Count: 2548
Aethir's chakra: 210/250
Clone's Chakra: 25/25
Born Ill Counter: 1/8

The man became frantic screaming the word cherry repeatedly, at the Iwagakure ninja.  Then swung his fist at his face and as soon as he blinked he could see the psychopaths fist closing in on his face on a crash collision.  Suutei began rolling after being struck in his face by the man, he crashed into a tree which stopped him from continuing his roll.  Suutei winced in pain trying to pull himself to his feet and could feel his face swelling.  "Ugh like I said stupid idea."  Able to stand up now after finding the strength to stand, he was dazed walking towards the violent man.  Shit that really hurt...  Suutei never thought the Ronin would hit him this hard, actually he never thought he was that strong he didn't appear to be.  Suutei now stood with the man and the strawberries letting him take one instead of being struck again.  Suuteis head began to spin and he believed he had a concussion.

Chopper tried to keep Suutei from falling over, as his eyes began closing and started to lose consciousness.  Suutei fell over to the ground unconscious, "Suutei!  Wake up!  Suutei!"  Tony tried shaking Suutei to waken him, but he needed a hospital.  Tears started pouring from the small reindeers eyes, and he looked up at the strawberry man. "This is your fault, you hurt Suutei!  You...You...Psycho you hurt Suutei now he won't wake up!"  Tony believed Suutei was dead but in fact he just simply was knocked out by the man.

WC:

Not long after hearing the clones words did the real wackjob arrive in their group.  And then fist met face.

"Hey, how are ya?" said the fist.

"Pretty bad, you're totally in my personal space," replied the face, having come straight into contact with the fist.  Skin on skin.

"Oops, my bad.  I'll go check on that other guy then. See ya," said the fist as it turned to leave.

"..." came the face's response as it reeled back from the sudden hit from fist, not even registering that the fist had left.


That's how it went for Motoichi at the least, as his whole body spun back and toppled over at the sudden punch to the face.  He landed hard upon the ground, face first.  The knock had happened so fast, when he opened his eyes to see again he couldn't stop the wincing from the punch.

He hadn't been expecting any of that.  Where had that come from?  Now all of a sudden the loon was hostile?  Seeing the boy, Suutei, lying on the ground as well made things at least a bit better.  At least it was not just him that got punched in the face.  Still, there was no need for that.  Which, of course, explains why it happened.

Whatever is not actually needed to come across will happen if a lunatic is involved.

Flopping over to his back, Motoichi decided it would be safer if he just stayed down.  His whole face stung and he could already feel the swelling of a big bruise beginning.  At least my face isn't that pretty to begin with, he thought to himself.

Still, having been punched like so was not making him friends with this lunatic guy.  Especially after trying to put himself in the guy's shoes, too.  So much for getting perspective.  Now all he wanted to do was to fight back.  Yet how could he?  The level of the punch was harder than any he could muster.  This guy was way above Motoichi's current skill set.  The speed in which he made it to the group, even if they were not that far away, had been amazing.

"I hope that's a good idea for him to be eating that," Motoichi said to the clone referencing the strawberry that the lunatic was about to stuff into his face.  With that, Motoichi put a hand up to his face and moaned at the pain of the punch.  "I told you guys I had a bad feeling about this."


Post: 429
Total: 2526
Trained Reciprocating Pain 2500/2500
26 words leftover

Aethir had grabbed a large, plump strawberry, an emotionless look on his face. He turned over to the now unconscious boy, the deer shouting at him. '...And just what the devil is this creature spouting about...?' the man eyed the deer before raising the strawberry to his mouth. His eyes then turned to see the cherry man still conscious, looking at him. 'Cherry...Is still alive...' The clone however didn't pay any attention to this, busy responding to the man. "It is...Trust me...H-He's usually not hostile. It's just..." the clone turned back to the ronin who eyed the man angrily now. 'Still alive. He is still alive. Cherries...still...alive...' The clone eyed the strawberry just inches away from the ronin's mouth, the cure all for this situation...RIGHT THERE. 'No...Cherries think they can just...ruin an empire? My empire? No...No cherries...Nooooo...Cherries...They can't stop it...And you can't stop it either, cherry man...' The clone gulped, glancing at the other two stranger, plus creature, eventually reaching for the strawberry. 'Nobody can stop it...Cherry....Nobody...Cherry...Nobody...!!'  "CHERRY NOBODY!!" the ronin began to scream again, louder than before as he continued to eye the cherry man with extreme rage. However, the clone took this chance to shove the strawberry into the man's mouth, the man's screaming stopping as he slowly began to chew the fruit. Red juices dripped from the ronin's mouth as he slowly hunched over, eyeing the ground with wide angry eyes. The clone eyed the ronin with a worried look before offering more berries to the man. The man slowly took one berry after another, the enraged eyes changing to a look of tranquility.

"Mmm...This...This is excellent~!" Aethir smiled, taking the container of strawberries as he continued to chow down. "...You can...swallow them just fine, sir...?"  "Eh? ...OH! Well will you look at that! I can..." Aethir smiled to the clone, as the clone stared back with a worried look. "Sir..." Aethir turned to the clone as he was now pointing at the cherry man on the ground. Aethir blinked. "And just what happened to him? ...And that guy on the ground? ...And why is that thing looking angry at me? Is that...Is that a talking stuffed animal...?"  "You didn't have strawberries for days, maybe weeks... You know how you get..." Aethir paused his snacking to inhale slowly. He then exhaled, handing the strawberries to the clone. "Well'p...I uh..." The man stood up, walking forward, soon turning back to the clone. The clone shrugged. "Why are you...existing?"  "Well you needed a shoulder to cry on. Apparently." Aethir eyed the clone before nodding and walking over to the cherry man on the ground. "Whatever you do, don't stab me." Aethir cautioned the man as he glanced over at the small creature, on his way over. Eventually arriving, the ronin crouch down, resting his chin on his knees to stare at the man with his cheerful large blue eyes, and an extremely large smile. "...I love strawberries. Do you like strawberries? Strawberries are amazing~ ...I...I'm sorry, I'm Aethir! Howdy~ ..." The ronin would have extended his hand for a handshake, but...if what the clone said was true, he probably shouldn't get to comfy with a guy he just hit... The clone sighed, waving to everyone in the area. "It's okay, he's ...He's...okay. I think." The man gave a thumbs up to the clone as he continued to smile to the cherry man.

Word Count: 3155
Aethir's chakra: 210/250
Clone's Chakra: 25/25
Born Ill Counter: 2/8

OOC:

The man, the lunatic, started screaming again and all of it directed at Motoichi.  What was wrong with this guy?  He hadn't done anything wrong, nothing that he could think of at the least.  Yet the loon was furious, angry that Motoichi was still alive.  Like what the heck?  The guy wanted him dead?

And then the clone pushed the strawberry into the man's screaming mouth.  That had shut him up.  For a few seconds as he chewed, the forest was left to another eerie silence.  After swallowing the strawberry, the lunatic's whole demeanor changed.  His body looked relaxed, loosening up from its tensed and primed state.  His eyes softened and his face was calm.  He actually started to smile, enjoying the flavor of the fruit.

Motoichi just lay there, keeping himself slightly propped up by his elbows on the forest floor.  "Is this guy gonna be alright? he asked the clone, to which the response was an uncertain affirmation.  The clone wasn't so sure either, but felt that he might be alright, if only temporary.

He just laid there, watching as the man slowly seemed to realize what all was going on, getting accustomed to his surroundings.  The guy was completely unaware of what had just unfolded, as if he had just woken up and before was all just an illusion, a dream.  It didn't make sense.  Motoichi couldn't believe that a simple strawberry could have switched back 'on' this man's sanity.  Although the situation was so crazy that he didn't really want to get in too deep into the specifics of how it all worked.  He would be better off knowing less about this, he decided, and just let what happen, happen.

The man came up and introduced himself as Aethir, apologizing for whatever had caused Motoichi to look at him weird.  Indeed, Motoichi did have a strange look about him.  This man had sent him flying with one punch over some strawberries, and now that he had one, he was all better? Right as rain?  It didn't make a difference, a punch was still a punch.  Yet what could Motoichi do?  He didn't have a punch like Aethir, so did he really want to get into it with him?

Seeing the hand held out before him, Motoichi reluctantly reached out and shook it with his own.  "Motoichi," he grimaced at the pain from his face, the swelling had started and his mouth stung when he tried to talk.  "My name's Motoichi...  you are really screwed up, you know that right?"

Motoichi pulled himself up to his feet, softly rubbing his left cheek to soothe the pain from the swelling.  That punch really had done a number on him.  Who knew how much punishment this guy, Aethir, could deal out?  It secretly brought admiration to Motoichi.  That kind of strength was definitely something to be proud of, something to set his sights on to one day have, if that was even possible.


Post: 505
Total: 531

While waiting for a response, Aethir was scratching the side of his head with his index finger. As the an shook his hand and spoke, Aethir laughed. "Eh...I get that a lot..." He sighed, standing up on his feet in front of the man. He inhaled slowly, holding the breath of fresh air, before exhaling. Then, he suddenly looked at the man with a worried expression. "N-Not that everyone gets a punch when they meet me! I just...I...I guess I'm just irritable from not...sleeping... Oh, and not having a strawberry... I love strawberries..." The ronin looked off to the side, a light blush from embarrassment forming on his face. "Don't you have something that you REALLY like, Motoichi? And wouldn't it make you upset not to have it? Huh? Huh~?" he smiled to the man and his swollen face. "But..if you want, you could..." he leaned forward a bit, turning his head to the side to expose his cheek to the man. He then pointed and poked at it multiple times. "I mean...It's only fair, right? I don't think an apology will cut it..." he said, hinting at the man to punch him. "O-Of course if an apology DID do it, then don't punch me! I'd very much like that~!" he quickly added on while waving his hands in front of his face.

The clone, still sitting where it was, slowly stood up and walked over to the deer creature and the boy. "Apologies. Is there anything I can do to assist your...um...companion?" he spoke to the creature, looking over to the unconscious boy. The clone then slowly turned to the still rambling Aethir, who was STILL going on and on about apologies and returning a punch. "BUT! HYPOTHETICALLY! I think that if I did punch you and an apology didn't cut it, a punch will do it, right? Because I'd like to be friends instead of enemies, and hey! An eye for an eye! OH! But if the apology WAS accepted- ...I'm sure you get what I'm saying. J-Just punch me lightly if you want..." the ronin finally stopped rambling, preparing to receive a punch if Motoichi decided to go through with the offer. Back over to the clone, the clone was simply eyeing the primary Aethir while listening intently to the creature for a response.

Word Count: 3564
Aethir's chakra: 210/250
Clone's Chakra: 25/25
Born Ill Counter: 2/8

Suuteis hand began twitching as the clone approached the two, with Chopper still gripping Suutei's shirt collar.  After a few minutes he was regaining consciousness, but was now filled with rage.  Blinking vigorously to the bright setting sun Suutei looked to find the man returned to normal, Chopper with tears in his eyes, and the boy he heard whose name was Motoichi.  Suutei saw the man leaning his cheek towards Motoichi, actually suggesting the hit him and more jargon he couldn't decipher.  Suutei leaned forward looking to Chopper, who now became ecstatic upon his awakening.  The clone held out a hand to Suutei to help him onto his feet, while Suutei mow holding his cheek soothing the pain that just intesified.  Suutei grabbed the clones hand as it hoisted him onto his feet, Suutei nodded in a way of thanking.  Chopper hobbled alongside Suutei as he approached Motoichi and the psychopath.

Except now the psychopath seemed calmer, friendlier...damn near angelic.  "Well since were introducing ourselves..."  Suutei thrusted his foot towards the mans exposed jaw.  If the kick connected he would continue to finish his sentence by saying, "I'm Suutei.  Suutei Kimura, glad to meet your acquaintance."  Ignoring the pain it caused he would smirk at his current actions of greeting the man.  This man was the Strawberry Jester, Aethir.

WC:

OOC:

To say that Motoichi wasn't considering punching the guy back would be an outright lie.  Yet before he got the chance to return the favor Suutei had beaten him to the punch - or kick.  He just sat back in bewilderment as the once knocked out kid had come back with great ferocity.  Was the kid just acting then?  Never had he seen someone recover from a knock out like so, but it sure was admirable.  Must be the energy of the youth.  Motoichi wished he had that kind of gusto again.  Another reminder of the time, the years, wasted away.

The boy stood and introduced himself after finishing his swinging kick, Motoich decided to introduce himself as well.  "Well... It's nice to meet you, Suutei." He gave a nod to the boy.  Whether the kick connected or not, the suddenness of Suutei's reappearance had changed the moment, allowing Motoichi to cool off his head.  "I'm Motoichi, in case you didn't hear before."


Post: 167
Total: 698

Aethir awaited a punch to the face, soon turning to hear another voice. As he turned, he saw a kick coming his way. Of course, he was capable of dodging it if he wanted to, but...the offer did extend to the boy since he DID punch him too... As the kick connected, the limb pushed against his face, the ronin leaned in the direction the kick was going to minimize the damage he'd receive. With this having been done, the pain was nearly nonexistent as he made himself appear to be kicked back a few meters. As he hit the ground, he rolled purposely further away, eventually coming to a halt. After a moment of lying where he was, he quickly rolled back to the group, as if someone had recorded him rolling and was playing it in reverse. Stopping near them to look up at them, Aethir smiled as the point of impact on his face just appeared to have dirt on it. "Pleasure to meet you, Suutei! And hello to you again, Motoichi." he nodded to both of them as he continued to lay on the ground. The clone slowly made it's way over to stand over the ronin, staring down with a blank face.

"I don't mean to interrupt...but we should really pack..." Aethir's smiling face changed to a frown, looking over to the clone. "I'm aware." was all the ronin said, now looking up to the sky. "I am aware." As his eyes slowly looked over to Suutei, and then to Motoichi, Aethir suddenly sat up to point to the man. "Your offer has expired!!" he said, covering one side of his face as he kept pointing at him. The clone looked at Motoichi, then at Aethir, sighing. "It's a long trip to either village." Aethir turned to the clone, lowering his pointing hand, "At least remember to pack plenty of food."  "'Course!" Aethir nodded, standing up to look at both of his new acquaintances. "Eheh...um....say, do either of you know the way to either Iwa or Suna? ...I think that's what they're called- Is that what the villages are called?"  "...You...You don't know the way?"  "Of course I know the way! I just..." Aethir paused, scrambling for an excuse for...himself. "I just want to make sure my directions are correct! And the village name! Obviously!" Aethir laughed, looking over to the two before him, awaiting directions or a simple 'no'.

Word Count: 3984
Aethir's chakra: 210/250
Clone's Chakra: 25/25
Born Ill Counter: 2/8

Seeing the kick connect and Aethir get kncoked to the ground had done enough to let his anger subside.  He wasn't such a hot tempered man like some of his ancestors.  Now after seeing the damage done and being seeing a bit of the physical prowess between both of these guys, Motoichi felt it safe to say that Aethir could have beaten up Suutei though.  His punch versus the boy's kick seemed to be of two very different levels.  Probably could have killed us both over strawberries, Motoichi assumed to himself.

Still, now that things were better and Aethir was of a more sound mind, Motoichi saw no problem in helping the man now that he was wondering about directions to Iwa and Suna.  "I know how to get to Iwa from here, I've made that trip myself.  Plenty of different routes that I could suggest for you, however, Suna is a different story.  Never had the pleasure of visiting that little pile of sand."

Seeing that Aethir was interested in visiting Iwa prodded at Motoichi's curiosity.  What was he going there to do?  Hopefully not have a whole nother 'strawberry escapade' like he just witnessed here.  He almost asked himself, but held his tongue.  Instead, he began listing a few routes that Aethir could take back to the Village Hidden by the Rocks.  He made note of any good inns and towns that were along the way as well as pointing out areas of high crime rates and areas were bandits, thieves, and other sorts of trouble makers might make problems for wandering travelers.  Though, seeing how hard Aethir could punch, Motoichi doubted a group of bandits would be much of a trouble.

Motoichi's face really began to swell at this point, so he bid farewell after detailing Aethir a few routes, about three or four, back to Iwa.  Heading back to the his room in one of Konoha's inns that he called home, he was going to put a nice ice pack on his bruising face and maybe put his healing jutsu to work.

Later that night, Motoichi pulled out two cards from his deck and spun them with his fingers.  Transferring his knowledge into the chakra imbedded into the cards, he made one for Aethir and one for Suutei.  His memories of their meeting, their faces, and a bit of detail about their physical prowess all put into the card.  It was nothing to boast about, the information laying on those cards.  It was very little, and only begged for more information to be placed upon them.  Yet it felt good to already have some knowledge stored on his cards, finally putting them to use.



Post: 454
Total: 1152
Thread Total: 3652

Aethir smiled wider as Motoichi spoke of Iwa, but then frowned as he seemed to not know the way to Suna. 'Then Iwa is first I suppose...' he told himself mentally. The ronin paid attention as Motoichi spoke of the different roads and trails to take, taking note of the dangerous crime areas and smaller towns and inns to visit if tired. Aethir nodded to the man as he bid farewell, the ronin turning to the other boy and the small creature. "Yeah, I think I'll get going also..." he nodded, backing way from him. He then waved to his clone as the clone turned to him, paying attention. "Let's go!" Aethir smiled, then appeared to have exploded into a dust cloud from how fast he sprinted away. The clone bowed before dissolving into a puddle of water, the ronin leaping from tree branch to tree branch, weaving between the tall giant wood masses, making his way back to his apartment home in a matter of seconds.

When he entered the home, the first thing he did was right down the directions the man gave him. Then, he pulled out his makeshift map of the land, only having Konoha scribbles with a red color pencil and  Kumo colored with a yellow color pencil. Kirigakure was already colored blue because that was where the ronin had started his journey initially, so there was no need for a special mention. The man then took a brown color pencil and wrote 'Iwa' in the corner of the paper, piecing the directions and location of the routes the man was on about together. "So then...it's somewhere over here. And if that's the case, then..." Aethir took a green pencil and wrote 'Suna' in another corner. "Then Suna is down there... But I have a feeling that I better know which way to get to Suna before dying of thirst...He did say something about sand, right? ...I think I can assume that it's a dessert..." A thought then hit Aethir. "Wait... If this is the land of fire, why isn't this a desert? ...Makes NO sense...but okay." he sighed, looking at his near complete map, with little tiny mentions of villages and small towns along the way. "Almost done...This map is almost done... But...didn't I see a little route over here?" he commented to himself, circling the a piece of the map as he sat at his desk. "...Maybe tomorrow I'll check there. And here too... And oh, here as well..." he nodded, scribbling little symbols and lines in different places of the map, making little notes to himself to explore those places.

Word Count: 4435