You have beautiful eyes.:

    In the land of fire, a farm resided. Quiet and peaceful, this content state was soon broken as the door to the farmer's house bursts open. A man rose from the ground, scratching his head as a chicken clucked from on top.

    "If you have time to be a lazy bum around here, at least go into the village and get some work down!" shouted an old man, a cigarette in his mouth. The man on the ground slowly turned with a look of tiredness. "All you do is laze around, legs crossed! That is not all you need to be strong!" The man with the chicken on his head yawned as the older man went on. "Get some money, and then you'll have the right to say you're busy! If you have the time to get kidnapped for about two-hundred days, then you have time to earn some ryo!" The door was slammed shut as the man stretched. "Sheesh, pops, you're the one who says meditation's important." With another cluck, the man looked up towards the chicken's head, which peered down towards him. "Come on, Pox, let's get going." Aethir sighed, walking towards the farm's gates. "The hell kind of name is Pox, Vee...?" Aethir's eyes looked over to the girl who was playing with a small puppy. She stopped to look at the man, sticking her tongue out to her.

    "Lazy bones! Go get some money!" she said, giggling shortly after. The giggle was her way of letting others know she was joking.

    "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it, Princess Vee..." Aethir waved, yawning once more, and then scratched at the small bit of stubble forming on his face.

    "Don't come back until you get a lot like last time!" shouted Vee, the girl giggling once again. She stared as Aethir stopped walking, turning suddenly to her.

    "Right away, you're majesty." Aethir bowed, smiling to the girl. The chicken, Pox, clucked also. The two watched as Vee began to laugh loudly, the dog barking happily. Spotting blue in the corner of his eye, Aethir spotted a woman slowly entering through the farm gates with a basket of apples. "You need any help with that, Ma?" The woman smiled, giving a single pat to the ronin's head. "No, no, I'm fine. Just a quick run to the market for some apples, for tonight's pie." he heard her say, watching her walk closer to the house. 'Apple pie... That's delicious...' he smiled, licking his lips and rubbing his stomach.  "Oh! Gramps sounds like he has an extra stick up his butt than usual!" Vee laughed in the background loudly. "I'd be careful if I were you!" Ma gave a single wave to Aethir. "As I recall hearing, you're meant to be getting some work done, right Chicken Boy?" Aethir blinked, looking up at the clucking chicken. "I'm on it..." he sighed, walking out the farm gates, turning to close and lock it. With a deep breath, he began his way towards the village that was Konoha.


    Walking through the town, Aethir received many greetings, some from several shop owners as he made his way to the mission outpost. Casually walking in, the desk clerk greeted him. "It's been a while! Where ya been?" she smiled, crossing her arms. "Oh you know, being kidnapped, and the like." He yawned once again, reaching for a random scroll from a basket with the letter 'A' on it. He casually opened it, read it, and handed it to the clerk. "I'll take this one." he nodded to her as she took it. She opened it to read it, looking at the ronin with a worried expression. "You sure? It's an A-Rank mission you know... You'll be having to..."

    Aethir listened to the mission details, nodding to each objective. "Yeah, I'm sure." he smiled to the woman. "You're either pretty strong, or a dead man, ronin..." she commented, scribbling something on a piece of paper. "I want to believe you're strong, but...you do realize you have a chicken on your head, right?" Pox clucked at being mentioned, the tired ronin slowly nodding. "That I do..." he yawned while talking, unaware of how rude it was. "That I do..."  As the woman stopped scribbling, she pointed to the ronin. "Well then, I wish you luck, ronin." she nodded, her attention turning to another person.

    A group of kids with a older man had walked over, all of them having the leaf village headband. Suddenly, one of the young kids gasped. "You...!" Aethir turned to see a small kid smile up to him. "I-It's you...! You're the guy who taught me how to fight!" Aethir stared, slowly yawning once more. "You know this guy...?" whispered one of the kid. "Of course! You should of seen him, there were twenty of us and none of us could lay a hand on him!" The older man, after speaking with the clerk, glanced to the younger kids and then towards Aethir. "I don't recall ever seeing you in Konoha, stranger." the man spoke to Aethir. He simply shrugged in response, Pox clucking. "Well, you know, being kidnapped for two-hundred days by pirates will do that." The smaller kids gasped in amazement.

    "Pirates?! No way!"

    "Nuh-uh, he's lying!"

    "I don't know, I think I saw pirates once..."

    Aethir grinned, crossing his arms with a smile. "I'll tell ya the story if you want." he nodded to them. "Of course, if your sensei isn't in a hurry."

    "Actually, I'm interested as well. Please share."

    The ronin nodded, smiling. "Well, I was traveling down the road to get some fruit for my family. And then this big guy with a claw comes out, and..." the man began to tell the tale of Zorata, and how he obtained his own ship, true animation present in his voice.

    "That...was an interesting story, Stranger." the sensei smiled, looking down to his genins. "Don't you guys think so?" They were all shouting and screaming all at the same time, going crazy over the story. "Dust release! I wanna learn that!" shouted one of them. "Have any scars on you? Can I see?" Aethir smiled, looking at the crowd that had formed. Ninjas of different ranks had gathered to listen to the story, wanting to do a mission at first. "Well, it was fun telling the story to you guys," the ronin nodded, slowly navigating through the sea of people, "b-but I have a mission to do!" he smiled to everyone. People complained about just coming in at the end, Aethir nodding. "I-I'll tell you another time, all of you!" he smiled. Finally popping out of the mission outpost building, he took a deep breath and began to move towards the main village gates. 'Maybe...' He wiped the sweat from his forehead, walking out the gates now, 'Maybe I should keep that story on the low.' Pox clucked, as if able to read his mind and agreeing with him, the ronin trying to recall the mission details as he continued on.


[WC: 1217/2500]

    Walking through the woods, the ronin yawned once more. "Earn some ryo...come home...and enjoy some apple pie." he shrugged, inhaling...which turned into a yawn. "Ugh... Did he have to wake me up when I was napping? It's only been a day since I've come back, and I'm used to waking up at sunset..." The ronin bumped into a man, who quickly grabbed his sword hilt. "Phew, 'scuse me." he nodded to the man, walking around him. "It's really rude, you know, Pox? Waking someone when they're trying to sleep... Sheesh..."

    "Hey!" Aethir turned, heaving the man shout. "I don't appreciate a nobody bumpin' into me like that!" The ronin yawned once more before speaking. "Well what do you," Aethir smiled tiredly, "neither do I." The man turned away, walking further down the road as he spoke to his chicken more. "Seriously, can't you like...you know, wait until it's sun-" His sentence was cut short as he suddenly threw his fist forward after turning around. It crashed into the shouting man's face, the ronin delivering three solid kicks to his side. Pox clucked with each impact, Aethir smiling. "Whoa," he looked up to the chicken, "you know how to count, Pox?" The animal clucked once more, flapping it's wings. "Crazy, dude, crazy-"

    "Hey!" shouted a similar man, Aethir turning to see another man dressed just like the kicked man. "What are you doing here?!" The man watched as Aethir swept his leg under the recently kicked man's, watching him fall to the ground. "Alright, pal, that does it...!!" shouted the man, rushing over with his sword drawn. Dodging each swipe of the sword with each, the chicken flying and ducking it's head with Aethir's movements, the ronin yawned when the onslaught of attacks ceased.

    "Hey, can I ask you a question?" the ronin pointed, the man staring.

    "W-what?" he waited for the ronin's question.

    "...How would you feel when someone wakes you up, and you only have three hours of sleep? Wouldn't you feel...wronged?" The man was patiently waiting as the other man began thinking before nodding.

    "Well yeah, two hours of sleep isn't...really a whole lot of time-"  

    "Tell it to this chicken." Aethir spoke, handing Pox over to the man. He slowly took it as the ronin began to walk off, several clucks being heard before quieting down. "It's name is Pox." he said, waving a hand to the man as he left.

    "W-well Pox, when someone wakes me up early," the man began, looking at the chicken, "like the boss for example, I kind of get upset, but I know he needs my help! You know, like a good henchman I am, I help him. B-but I don't want to sometimes, so I..." he went silent, the chicken clucking to him.


    Aethir walked on down the path, seeing another man that looked exactly...like the last two he passed, carrying a sword. He walked on by, not saying a word, the man watching him. "...Who are you?" the ronin turned to the sleepy man, yawning. "I-" He then rolled out the way, staring at the man who had attacked him! "Zombie! Y-You're a zombie!" Aethir raised an eyebrow, staring at the man. "What the hell are you-" The swordsman screamed, running towards him. "I've been living for this day! The apocalypse is here!!" he cried, swishing and swaying his sword wildly around...blindly.

    "You-"

    "Die, Zombie!"

    "You-"

    "Die, die, die!"

    "I...I'm over here..." He stared as the man stopped and looked at him. "Z-zombie!" he readied himself, Aethir tilting his head to the side. "I'm not a zom-... God damn it, forget this..." he sighed, rushing the man. Crashing an elbow into the man's nasal canal, he caused him to fall to his knees and...well...collapse. "Well, I know it's a little too late for this, since you're unconscious and all..." The ronin sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'm not a zombie...Y-you know, just for the record..." he nodded, slowly sliding away. He glanced around the area, trying to act as if nothing had happened, Aethir beginning down the path once more.


    "It was said that eight hours of sleep is required for maximum benefits, but I always end up have four..." the man sighed, gently scratching the chicken as he sat. "I mean, I get that he needs me as a henchman, but I..." An odd sniffling noise, followed by some sort of sobbing was heard, Pox looking up to the man before clucking. "You... Do you understand me, Pox?" The chicken clucked once more. "W-wow... I think... I think I can understand you...understanding me!" he stared in shock at the chicken, watching it bob it's head. "Two hours of sleep... That's not a whole lot of time for a healthy sleep..." The man gasped, snapping his fingers. "You know, speaking of healthy, there's a diet I'm trying out! Full of fish and other proteins!" The chicken clucked, flapping it's wings. "O-Of course I wouldn't eat you, Pox! You're my new pal you know..." The chicken relaxed, giving a single cluck as it did. "Fish, on the other hand, are my favorite meats... One time, I caught this BIG fish with my brother..." he began to tell a story to Pox.


    Aethir had stopped walking, looking tiredly at the surrounding three people...who look exactly the same as the last people he ran into. As a matter of fact, they all looked the same! 'And they all seem to start their sentence with-'

    "Hey!" shouted one of the men.

    'There we go, yup.' he nodded, looking over to the shouting man. Suddenly, one of the men attempting to slash at the ronin, the man dodging with ease. His eyes widened a bit as he saw the other men's swords coming his way. The sword stabbed into the ground, Aethir having had bent his body in a ridiculous way. "Nice." he spoke, unwinding his body which created a large ranged roundhouse kick, the heel of his foot smashing against the three men's cheeks. They all appeared to have flew away from their stabbed sword, Aethir yawning loudly afterwards. "Boy," he began, sluggishly walking down the path, "do I love ... Y-you know...that thing I do with my body, and makes people ...go in pain." He shortly snapped his fingers, smiling. "Taijutsu! Y-yeah, I love that..." he commented before walking like a drunkard further down the path.

    He stopped, counting to himself. "One, two, three... And three here. That makes, six. So like... That's six..." he nodded. He turned back down towards the path, continuing his drunk walk back towards Pox and the man. Suddenly, a large man dropped from seemingly nowhere, Aethir staring at a large bald man with a spear. "Oh...look at this, the- .... The boss, right?" The man roared in his face, stomping strongly once.

    "My men... My strong pen, powerful and skilled enough to defeat even the mightiest Jounin, possibly Sannin!" Aethir sniffled before yawning. "Taken down by a wimp such as you?! I see no Konoha headband. Who are you, and-" The man was cut off as he received a strong punch to the face, and soon was swept from below by the ronin's legs. He then began to be stomped on by the ronin, his face changing from normal to terribly bruised. "I'm. A bit. Cranky. From. No. Sleep. So. Please. Could. You. Not." Aethir spoke with each kick, his tired eyes showing great irritation...


    Night time had fallen, the man lying on his back as the chicken clucked while resting on his stomach. "You know Pox, I haven't felt this great since ...since..." Pox clucked. "Yeah, since before I joined this whole criminal thing!" he smiled to the chicken. He then turned, seeing the ronin walk over, splotched of blood present on his body and face. "Alright, Pox, we're going home. Mission complete." Aethir waved his hand lazily, yawning once more. The chick flew up to Aethir's head, the sound of the man standing up quickly. "W-wait! ..." the man spoke, Aethir turning curiously. "P-Pox....Pox and I, we ....we bonded. Please," the man extended his hands to the man, "Please let me keep Pox..."

    "Or, you know, you can follow me and come over for some apple pie tonight... You know, hang out with us, and stuff..." Aethir shrugged, walking down the path. The man stared before running with the ronin. "I..." he began, "I give up this life of crime. D-do you know of any jobs I could have? Aethir shrugged, heading over to the main village to turn in the mission. "You know, I think I might have the perfect job for you. Going shopping for a woman. How does that sound? Or you can be the chicken whisperer." The man looked over to the ronin, slowly nodding as they continued down to the farm now.


[WC: 1540]
[TWC: 2757]