It had been a while since the exam fights had finished.  Having gotten his fight over with rather quickly, Motoichi decided to take his time and slink off to somewhere more remote.  He wanted to train, but being a Chuunin Exam participant, he needed to do things privately.

Fortunately for him, Takigakure was a large place.  Also, having some time off to train was a nice break to de-stress from all the hype and pressure of the Chuunin Exams.  So much was riding on all the contestants, and being one of the few from the Hidden Rock, Motoichi felt an added pressure on him to do well.  Plus, every time he saw those plush toys of all the contestants that made it this far, he couldn't help but feel more pressure.  Kids would be playing with him and other contestants.

Sure, he didn't think he was anyone's favorite for the Exams, nor did he really think anyone in the village cared if he lost, but just knowing that there was even the chance that people would be cheering him on, betting on him, hoping for his success, made him all queasy.  Everything that was flooding his mind now was the same when he graduated from the Academy.  How the elders had looked to him for a surging rise through the ranks, to see his potential tapped into reality completely.  The pressure seemed immense and ominous.

It was during these thoughts, when the pressure seemed to bottle all the way up to the top that the nightmares would enter his mind.  He didn't have to be asleep in order to get those nightmares.  Being awake wasn't safe for his mind either.  The sight of Eichi's roasted body seemed to forever imprint itself on various objects that he passed as he walked about the village.

He came to an underground cave, holding his head as if to help combat his thoughts on the present.  Seeing the cave appeared empty and secluded, he made his way down to train.  A few exercises would be good to get his mind off of the Exams and Eichi.  He began to stretch, getting all of his muscles ready for a long workout.

Post: 373

“This place should do rather nicely,” Hayato thought to himself as he trekked through the underground caverns of Takigakure. He had no expectations for what the caverns would be like, simply hearing about them in the crowds of villagers and festival goers that walked the streets of the Village Hidden in the Waterfall. Even he had to admit that the shimmering glow that reflected off of the water, illuminating the cave was a very visually appealing sight. There were no places like this in the deserts from which he hailed. There were no waterfalls or expansive underground networks kept alive by the reservoir of water that seemed to be ever present in this country. The most one could hope for to compare with this in the Sand was the occasional oasis out in the dunes, but even those were few and far between. Still, the desert was not without its own beauties, even if less obvious than the aesthetically pleasing waterfalls of Takigakure.

He had only come to this place on a whim at the behest of his own curiosity. With nothing of particular interest to him going on in the village itself right now there was little for him to do but explore all of the options that this trip offered him. One never knows when they will be given an opportunity again after all. Moreover, Hayato found himself enjoying the silence that accompanied the underground cavers. In stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of the village and the festival grounds that came along with the Chunnin Exams, the atmosphere within the underground caverns was much more subdued. Little could be heard in the great empty passageways save for the echoing of his own footsteps as he made his way through the caverns and the rippling and splashing of the water that seemed as much a part of the caverns as the stones themselves. Surely he wouldn’t come across anyone as he made his way silently through the caverns… right?

---

333~

Motoichi stretched his quads, thinking about how he needed to practice his balance as he hopped around on his left foot while trying to keep his right leg bent to stretch his quad.  Balance would be important, he could get to that later.  Next was the calf stretch.  Reaching down to his feet, he grabbed at the tips of his sandals.  His mind went to all the places that he'd traveled with these sandals.  They had really gotten him places and had really gone through some muck and grind.  Remembering that he stepped in some really nasty mud puddles and weird looking gook that had leaked onto a street from a street food vendor, Motoichi pulled his fingers off to a close hovering by his sandals.  The nasty places those sandals had been made him uneasy about the next time he would have to touch them.

Pulling up from his calf stretch, he began swinging his arms to give his shoulders some warming up.  It was during this swinging of his arms that another person showed up.  A tall guy, with long black hair.  The strange thing was that he wore bandages from head to foot, literally.  With one look, Motoichi winced and looked away.  The bandages were so tight that they showed the man's muscle's perfectly, but they also didn't leave anything to the imagination for his lower regions.  Wearing something so tight and flush against the skin, the dark-haired man was certainly one to leave a mark on Motoichi's mind.

On par with a nudist colony, the odd entrant to the underground cavern seemed to be unaware of his fashion sense, or lack of it.  Motoichi quickly perked his head up to look at the newcomer.  "Hey there," he waved.  "what brings you here?

The moist air made the cave a humid place.  Motoichi's hair already seemed to be a bit damp just from the short time he had spent in the cavern.  Although the sun was blocked from getting its light in, the cavern was still well lit due to the strange green and blue lights that came from the cavern's water.  The light shone off the cavern walls like dancing blades, in time with the waves as the water reflected and refracted the light around.   The lighting was quite beautiful and something to bear witness, but Motoichi's attention was more focused on the new man that had entered the cavern instead of the cavern's beauty.

The man's look was rather sinister in all those bandages, his face seemed deadpan but that could just be his neutral face.  Motoichi had met quite a few people that looked scary with just their default look on their faces.  Always asking if those types of people were okay either created a funny situation or an defensive one, depending on the person.  Viewing the man walking in, Motoichi thought it best not to bring up the lack of facial expression just yet.


Post: 502
Total: 875

Despite the apparent solitude of the caverns that Hayato had found comfort in, it soon became obvious that he was not alone. It appeared as though some other curious soul had found their way there, drawn in by the rumor and allure of Takigakure’s underground cavern. He stumbled upon the man, seemingly stretching as if preparing for some kind of strenuous activity, a strange site to behold given the location they found themselves in. Even so, Hayato was not in a position to be judging anyone. He himself was merely a tourist visiting the caverns on a whim with nothing particular in mind other than sating the curiosity that had been built up by the conversations of festival goers back in the village.

Hayato would have been perfectly content moving past the man and pretending that neither of them had ever crossed paths, but this stranger seemed to have a different idea. It probably wouldn’t be considered all that strange of an act to greet a complete stranger and stir up conversation by asking something about them arbitrarily. In fact, to most people this would probably be considered common courtesy. Common courtesy was not something that Hayato placed a particularly great amount of importance in, but he was not a brute, oblivious to the social norms of the world around him. As such, he felt compelled to at least humor this stranger’s attempt at initiating a conversation.

“I heard quite a bit about these caverns back in the village,” he began calmly, but reserved, not intending to divulge too much too soon, “Locals and tourists alike seemed to be captivated by these caverns. I didn’t see anything of interest in the festival grounds this morning, so I decided it might be worth my time to come and see what the deal with the caverns was myself.” Hayato would pause for a moment before raising an eyebrow curiously at the man before him, “And what about you? You look more like you’re getting ready to run a marathon than enjoy the scenary.”

---

679~

The reflective, strange light grew brighter, allowing Motoichi to better see the man standing not too far before him. A relieved sigh escaped his lips as he saw that the man did, indeed, have pants on.  Though the thought that he had even imagined the man wearing only bandages that were skin tight made him cringe. Something about this place must have been affecting his mind to even dream something so disturbing like that up.

“I heard quite a bit about these caverns back in the village. Locals and tourists alike seemed to be captivated by these caverns. I didn’t see anything of interest in the festival grounds this morning, so I decided it might be worth my time to come and see what the deal with the caverns was myself. And what about you? You look more like you’re getting ready to run a marathon than enjoy the scenery.”

"Who says I can't run a marathon and enjoy the scenery? Have to enjoy something to be crazy enough to run that long." Motoichi joked. "But you're not too far from the truth.  I was planning on doing some exercises down here.  Wanted to get away from all the Exams fuss and have a moment to myself to think and put in a decent workout.

He took a moment to look around the cavern himself. It was a pretty sight, but the humidity was pretty bad.  The water looked safe enough though, and a little dive might make the beautiful lights even more entrancing.  Motoichi began taking off his shirt, setting it on a large rock next to him, leaving his sandals beside it. Without much of a second thought as to what might be in the cavern's strange waters, he plunged in. Not regarding the other man either until he came back up for air.

"Ah! The water is so cold!" he exclaimed. "Come on! Jump in! It feels great against the humidity in here.  Plus you should see what's all down here."

Motoichi looked up at the bandaged, and pants-wearing, man standing on the cavern's shore with pure bliss.  Would the man be enticed in? Swimming would provide a good workout and an even better stress reliever, all while possibly meeting someone new.  Things were definitely looking up for him today.


Post: 391
Total: 1266