You are not connected. Please login or register

View previous topic View next topic Go down Message [Page 1 of 1]

1One Jump Ahead [Private/No Kill/ Keiko] Empty One Jump Ahead [Private/No Kill/ Keiko] Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:37 pm

Bokuden

Bokuden


D-rank
Sometimes it even amazed Bokuden how quickly and completely he had adapted to his new life in the Village Hidden in the Sands. Just a few short months ago he thought he would die from the heat after spending more than 5 minutes outside during the day time here in the desert. Now, he might as well have lived in the deserts of the Wind Country his whole life with how little the climate affected him now. It was still far from his ideal weather, but at least he didn’t feel like he was going to melt every moment he spent outside during the daylight anymore. Sunagakure did have its redeeming qualities after all. One of which was the very bazaar he now traversed.

Bokuden had always thought as Kumogakure as a bustling bastion of trade and commerce, and thanks to his family’s involvement in the imports and exports of the Lightning Country, that thought had always remained true. The merchants and vendors that peddled their wares in Sunagakure’s Grand Bazaar however, were cut from a different cloth than the traders back in the Lightning Country. Many of the goods were hand-made, from the clothes to the jewelry, each piece unique with its own story to tell. The merchants were lively, as were the customers that bartered and haggled their way down to any deal they could manage. There was a natural energy about the whole experience that Bokuden enjoyed… in moderation. After all, one could only handle so much excitement before it stopped being exciting and started being irritating. It took quite some time for Yui, Misoka, and Suzume to get Bokuden acclimated to the people of Sunagakure and their mannerisms. At least it was them that he had to guide him, if not he imagined himself being imprisoned for the fits of rage he had been tempted to unleash on rude civilians in the past.

A weapons lover himself Bokuden would always brows the wares of the forges and armories that lined their own section of the bazaar, all in direct competition with each other, selling the tales of the quality and grandeur of their products. Obviously the tales were more extravagant than the weapons themselves, but Bokuden enjoyed hearing them nonetheless. He had yet to find a weapon of exceptional quality floating around in these bazaar shops, but as long as they kept bringing in new merchandise and telling new stories he would humor them. Maybe someday he would find a weapon that he would just have to have, but until that day came it seemed as though the rest of his arsenal was safe from replacement.

His favorite part of the bazaar however, was the long expanse of city streets which housed the vast majority of the bazaar’s culinary goods. Bakers baked bread fresh all throughout the day while butchers cut meat for their customers right on the spot. Bokuden wasn’t so fond of the produce though, as without any real fertile farmland to be found in the desert they would almost always have to settle for shipped in produce which just wasn’t fresh. The real marvel of this part of the bazaar were the spice shops that housed foreign and exotic spices by the jar. Bokuden had loved this part of the village since the first time he walked through these streets and the aromas of the spices wafted through his olfactory. Even with all of his family’s money and all of the travelling he had done, this bazaar still managed to present to him a plethora of scents and flavors he had never before experienced. In his time in Suna he had even began to pick up cooking again, learning all manners of new recipes and tastes that he had never had access to before. It was here that he intended to spend the next several minutes, combing through every shop to see what they offered, slowly snacking on a warm roll of freshly baked sweet bread as he browsed.





674~

Keiko

Keiko


D-rank
Was she melting? She was definitely melting. The very particles that held her body in place were being reduced into free-flowing molecules - she was sure her skin was going to melt right off. At this point in time, about a week after she had first stepped foot into Kaze no Kuni, Keiko could no longer comprehend what could have possibly possessed her and rationalized her plan to travel to Sunagakure, of all places. Physically, she found every day exhausting, the harsh sun openly mocking her when she stepped out in the day, the harsh dry breeze leaving a disgusting sticky layer of sweat on her at night. The few times she had managed to convince herself to do some training, she found herself straining to access the chakra that she would have normally used without thought. It was as though the heat was suppressing every inch of her being, an ever-present entity that protested loudly against her existence in its territory. It explained without a doubt now why the members of the Aisu clan avoided the land as much as they could, some even going as far as to request not taking missions to Sunagakure.

As she was jostled by a rude elbow for the umpteenth time, Keiko let out a muttered curse, pulling her arms closer to her body in an attempt to minimize her exposure to the harsh environment that was the Grand Bazaar. Lilac eyes gleamed from within the shadows of the hood that shielded her fair complexion from the sun, the cloak it was connected to wrapped snugly around her. Keiko had realized two days after her arrival that simply stripping down to minimal clothing was not the most effective way to deal with the temperature. The lack of clothing only served to expose herself to the sun, evident in the ugly burns that appeared at night. Her newly-cut hair hung just before her shoulder, the magenta hue lighter than ever in the sun. Keiko had been quite fond of her long hair, but sacrifices had to be made, especially if it meant surviving Sunagakure.

Food. First, she would comfort herself with food. She had gotten rather fond of a particular pastry stall located in the Bazaar, mouthwateringly delicious - almost enough for her to momentarily forget her discomfort. Weaving her way through the throngs of people and breezing past pushy stall keepers, she finally found the familiar faded blue cloth that covered the top of the pastry stall.

"Ma'am, I'm back!" Keiko called, making her way behind the stall to give the older woman a brief, affectionate hug. The owner of the stall was a sweet old lady, blind, but with an amazing ability to always produce a never ending supply of delicious pastries. With her daily visits, Keiko found herself growing as fond of the old woman as she was of the food. Although their exchanges were brief at best, the daily greetings they gave each other were enough to leave both with smiles to last the day. Handing the woman a handful of coins and taking a pre-packed brown bag full of an assortment of pastries, Keiko pulled out a piece and stuffed it in her mouth, turning around abruptly, only to collide into a tall man who had been passing by.

A gasp escaped her as she took a startled step back, grip tightening on her bag of pastries. Her hood slipped off her head as she glared at the man, irritated even though she knew it wasn't his fault. The fact that she couldn't really gauge his reaction irked her even more as she found herself looking at the partially covered face of the stranger. There was something oddly familiar about the shock of white hair that jutted out from beneath the turban-like headwear wrapped around his head, but she couldn't quite place it. Realizing that she couldn't say anything with the pastry still stuffed in her mouth, her free hand reached up to tug at it as she chewed the piece that she had bitten off.  "Excuse me." She would say stiffly, though her narrowed eyes reflected little apology.


Running WC: 699

Bokuden

Bokuden


D-rank
Thud.

From seemingly nowhere Bokuden would feel a small impact collide with his body, briefly staggering his stride as he made his way through the bazaar. Bumping into people inadvertently wasn’t an uncommon thing in such a busy thoroughfare. In fact, it happened so frequently that some would consider the perhaps unwanted physical contact with total strangers in the bazaar part of the experience. It took Bokuden some time to grow accustomed to customs like these and in truth the years of training that he had underwent as a shinobi still implored him to place his left hand onto the hilt of his katana, hidden beneath his white cloak and prepared to cut down whatever unsavory character happened to lay a hand on him. Some habits just didn’t break, no matter how often you’re advised against it. But being cautious in the world of shinobi was not a bad thing. That very acute instinct for protecting one’s own skin was an asset in his line of work. And as long as the civilians couldn’t see how close they came to meeting whatever religious figure they believed in at the edge of his blade, no harm done, right? His outfit change since settling down in Sunagakure had more practical applications than he initially imagined.

Turning his head Bokuden would look for the person that he had collided with, seeking to make sure they were okay and not hurt in the collision. When he did turn though, he would realize that he would need to look down to lay eyes upon the person who bumped into him. Raising an eyebrow curiously as the young woman tore the pastry from her mouth, he would pause at the realization that this was not the first time the two of them had met. This girl… her name was Keiko, if he recalled correctly. They had met each other, or rather, she first bumped into him in the Hidden Mist Village during their Seven Bells incident. He recalled having to save her from a band of mechanized puppets that had been chasing her through the warzone. It appeared she was still as clumsy as she was when they had first met. Amusing.

“I know running into me head first might be nostalgic for you, but if you wanted to greet me a simple hello would have done the job,” Bokuden said slyly to the girl whose facial expression told him that he didn’t fully recognize him yet, “But at least there aren’t any puppets this time. Hey kid.” He would not lower the high collar from his cloak to completely expose his face, but he figured if she had any inkling or suspicion of who he was beforehand, the clue would have given her everything she needed to connect the dots. Curling his right hand into a loose fist with his thumb protruding in a similar manner to a thumbs up sign he would raise that hand up to Keiko’s face and gently use his thumb to swipe across the tip of her nose, removing a splattering of powdered sugar that had sat there from the collision with the pastry in her mouth he presumed. “Too much powder on the nose when you were doing your makeup this morning?” he teased, showing her the powdered sugar he had removed from her face, “You didn’t have to do anything special just to see me.”





576 | 1250~


1200/1200 (Relearning Med from Keiko w/ 20% wc reduction from Gifted)



Last edited by Bokuden on Fri Dec 19, 2014 12:24 am; edited 1 time in total

Keiko

Keiko


D-rank
The annoyance in her gaze shifted to one of startled curiosity as the man spoke. There was something strange about what the man was saying, enough to distract her from the fact that he had called her "kid". Puppets. The word immediately triggered the sifting of her memories through the time of the Seven Bells war, where at one point, Kiri had been overrun by puppets. It was a disgusting memory to have to recall, but it served its purpose as recognition flitted across her face. This had to be the man who had appeared out of nowhere when things were getting bad for her, the one who leaped right in the middle of a throng of puppets without hesitation and destroyed them all with ease. The stranger who answered her questions with roundabout answers, who referred to himself as a simply passerby with no actual intentions in helping her village.

"Ah, it's Mr. Nameless Stranger." She mused out loud, raising an eyebrow as he reached towards her face. Of course, it wasn't exactly wise of her to stand still and allow for him to get so close to her, but hey, she had just run right into the man and had yet to be cut down - that had to count for something. Wrinkling her nose after he retracted his finger, she took another bite from the pastry in her hand. "Arrogant, aren't we?" Keiko retorted with slight distaste, but by now, most of her annoyance had faded to curiosity. It had been some time since her encounter with this man, and of all places, they were now face to face in Sunagakure. To say that she had forgotten that man would be an absolute lie, her "saviour" - though she cringed at the word and would never use it out loud - had occupied her thoughts for a while after the incident. It quite surprised her that he recognized her as well. She must have left quite the impression, good or bad. But … what was there to say now? She clearly recalled that he hadn't been the open type, and part of her knew that she had been at least somewhat correct in guessing that he had been in Kirigakure back then on some sort of assignment. If it was the same now, then it was likely that she wouldn't learn anything new.

"Care for a bite?" She settled for a casual question, offering him her bag of pastries. Tilting her chin to gesture over her shoulder, she added, "That lady makes the best pastries." As she spoke, she would fidget on the spot, eyeing the nearby cluster of shadows cast by the stalls and shops. Standing in one place under the sun wasn't the ideal situation, but she wasn't about to voice her discomfort out loud.


Running WC: 1172

Bokuden

Bokuden


D-rank
“No thanks,” Bokuden replied, gesturing his passing on the offer with a wave of his hand and a smile, “I eat here often enough.” What he said was true. During his time in Sunagakure Bokuden had found himself sampling just about every restaurant and confectionary that the village had to offer, relishing the change of pace from what he had grown accustomed to in the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Of course one of the first places he would go to try out what Sunagakure had to offer was the marketplace, where he would find himself acquainted with the older women and her pastry shop. It now appeared as though this girl from Kirigakure now found herself indulging on the old woman’s pastries herself.

Speaking of which, Bokuden found it odd that he would run into this girl out here in the desert. The Village Hidden in the Sands could not be more different from the Village Hidden in the Mist, both in culture and climate, but especially climate. In fact, her being here of all places was particularly curious due to the fact that her knew her to be an ice user. He had never heard of a hyoton user that would willingly expose themselves to the arid, blistering heat of the desert. It seemed to go against everything that they would normally find comfort in physiologically. Did she have some sort of mission that had sent her here? Who would have thought it was a good idea to send a hyoton user on a mission to a climate that would inhibit their ability to perform. Then again, from what Bokuden remembered of the 7 Bells situation, Kirigakure did not necessarily have the brightest minds running the show.

“So,” he continued, “What brings you to Sunagakure? Seems a bit out of place for an Aisu.”





1557~

Keiko

Keiko


D-rank
Keiko shrugged as he refused her offer, a gesture that clearly said 'oh well, your loss'. Anyone who really knew her - of which the numbers could be counted on one hand - would know that she wasn't really the sharing type, especially when it came to sweets that she had taken a liking to. This was a rare occurrence, likely due to the surprise she felt in meeting this particular individual out here in the deserts. Her tongue skimmed across her fingers as she finished the pastry in her hand, lapping up what remained of the powdery sugar on her hands as she took a moment to consider eating another one. It was so hot. Too hot to enjoy anything. Even the sugar wasn't helping. Eyeing the nearby shade once more, she began inching towards it as inconspicuously as she could. Highly ineffective, but at least she was getting away from the heat.

Distractedly, she attempted to draw her attention back to the man's words, gaze flickering up to meet his. "Oh, you know. Just for fun and all that. I wanted to see how long it would take before I'm reduced into a puddle of water." She replied offhandedly, mentally cheering as she finally reached the cluster of shadows, a handful of meters away from where she had been standing before. He likely wouldn't give her a straight answer if she asked the same thing, and her answer wasn't necessarily completely misleading. It had mostly been curiosity, as well as other unforeseen circumstances that she found herself in Sunagakure. And now, she found herself regretting it, not that she would admit that out loud. "And seeing as you're probably not going to tell me your business, I'm just going to assume that you're stalking me. Unfortunately, requiring your help was a one-time thing, I'm sorry to disappoint ~"

Keiko found that it was beginning to get easier to talk about that one Seven Bells incident now that time had passed. Slightly. There was still that sense of pride in her that flushed in embarrassment at the thought that she had required help from a stranger in her own country, and his words from back then still stung, albeit less so now than before.

"A person incapable of fighting has no place on a battlefield."

With the thought in mind, it was frustrating that she was now here in front of that very same person, still with nothing to prove. Sure, time had passed and she had been training, but not enough to consider herself at a place she wanted to be. She lacked motivation, goals, reasons to move forward.

"Hey ... you. Train me. Or spar with me." The words would leave her mouth before she had time to register exactly what she was saying. If he had been making a response to her earlier comments, this random outburst would likely interrupt it, coming out of the blue with no warning whatsoever. What was she, suicidal? To ask someone like him to train her would likely get her a flat out refusal. And to ask him to spar ... somehow she was like a rabbit dancing in front of a tiger's jaws.


Running Word Count: 1713
Training Perception D-2 -> C-1: 1550 words
Remaining: 163 words

Sponsored content



View previous topic View next topic Back to top Message [Page 1 of 1]

Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum

Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden belong to © Masashi Kishimoto.