Perhaps it wasn’t the best of ideas, yet he had, once again, nothing to do this particular day in Kumogakure no Sato. While he was listed on the active shinobi roster of the village, Haruo had yet to do anything of significance for such a position. Instead, he had been milling about for the past little while, seeing if he would eventually be assigned to a squad, and of course awaiting the upcoming chuunin exams. It was possible for Haruo to participate in the exams, but he hadn’t prepped enough to even consider himself capable of entering the chuunin exams. As such, he decided to simply watch the chuunin exams instead of partaking in them as well.
 
Thus, with little need to prepare for the exams ahead, except for clearing out a schedule to simply watch them, Haruo had free days ahead of him for the week ahead, unless something would be thrust in front of him that indicated he would be otherwise occupied. For the time being, however, Haruo did little of nothing, often just wandering about the village without too much to worry about. If he were truly honest with himself, while he was somewhat satisfied by the ease of the days, they were certainly lacking in excitement. Of course, he hoped to remedy that soon after the chuunin exams came to their conclusion.
 
This is what brought his back to the park near his house, knowing that he could pass the time faster if he weren’t constantly staring at the clock if he remained at home all day. As he entered the park, his black shoes pressing down against the concrete path paved out, Haruo looked around, just to see what was going on for the time being. Things were fairly simple as far as he could see, nothing out of the oridinary as people of all ages milled about, children running around and playing with other children, the elderly sitting and watching the younger generation move about.
 

Haruo took a seat on an empty bench, his dark gray jeans pressing down against the oak wood bench, one of the many throughout the park. His red v-neck shirt Haruo was wearing had yet to meet the wooden structure, as he sat up without leaning against the back of the bench for the time being. Instead, he would do things the more difficult way, and remove his gourd once he was sitting down, instead of doing it all while standing up. Moving about, Haruo would place the gourd on the ground beside him, just within arm’s reach of Haruo. Leaning back, Haruo placed his left elbow on the metal framing, the armrest, and then slowly lowered his chin in to his palm. Perhaps, for a few minutes, he could simply just close his eyes and doze off. There was nothing else for him to do, so this was one of the few options available to Haruo.

---

493 of 493 Total Words

The Uchiha's days usually consisted of walking around the Land of Lightning, preferring to not get in the way of those who inhabited the Village Hidden in the Clouds. He had never caused problems for the occupants of course, but his pale blank face concealed by a black cloak that swept the floor as he strode by them didn't make him seem the most friendly of people. Most people just ignored him, Atasuke figured they wouldn't be a bother to him if he wasn't to them, and he could live with that. Even though he felt that, he still wanted attention, from anyone really, at least to some degree...

Dirty looks not counting of course.

But most of the time he wasn't willing to communicate with others unless it was absolutely necessary. Such as when he purchased tools, or food from the grocers in the Market Place. Those kind of things were necessities. Simply talking to people for entertainment, and or pleasure wasn't something that he was certain that he could understand.

"What is the purpose?" He wondered aloud as he found his slowly form taking him into what appeared to be a park. His hood wasn't pulled completely over his head, so it partially concealed the Uchiha Clan Symbol on the back between his shoulders, so he was able to see directly in front of him. He knew this park, he had come around here numerous times prior to this.

Thankfully, there weren't even a lot of people present within the park. The main activities and events were more towards the centre of the Kumogakure no Sato, and the fact that it was the Chunnin Exams relatively soon, a few days he had determined based on the sudden influx of foreign shinobi, he figured the majority of them would be there, interacting with each other and the competition.

That means, there won't be a lot of people here.

A 'hmph' sound emanated from his throat as a small smirk revealed itself on his face as he pushed more of his hood back so that it was just borderline concealing the mass of hair that was on his head. Within moments, without even looking he could tell simply from how the ground looked that he was nearing his destination.

The thing was, when he looked up from the ground and at the bench when he had decided that he had gotten to his destination, there was something that was different about it.

There was that appeared to be sleeping on it.

Atasuke's head tilted to the side a bit as he watched the relatively unmoving figure before he took one bound and sat down on the bench at the very end, hardly enough room for him to sit on, but he made do. As he grew up, he stopped seeing a reason to complain about little things.

From there, he leaned back into the bench, and allowed his ebony gaze to watch the skies, as he hefted his arm and shoulder over the top of the bench in a relaxed manner.

There was no reason they couldn't share.

WC: 533

“I don’t…. want… to.” He mumbled out the words, almost as if they were inescapable, yet his conscious was unaware of the sound escaping him. Rather, Haruo still had his eyes closed and was on the brink of waking up, though was unaware of the surroundings around him for the time being. He hadn’t meant to be caught up in the lull of a nap, as he had wanted to rest his eyes for short amount of time, but from what he could tell, as his consciousness and awareness slowly began returning to him was that he fell asleep. Another mutter escaped him “Mooom… five more…. minutes.” before he could fully realize he wasn’t at home. It was more of a reflex for him, as no one had tried waking him. The momentary confusion was interrupted by the sounds of nature and people. The birds chirping high in the sky mixed with children yelling from afar, Haruo slowly came to the realization he had dozed off in the park.

Of course, the bench he was currently sitting upon didn’t aid him in having a comfortable nap, as there were far more comfortable places, such as the grass, where he could have done as such. With a slight internal groan, Haruo slowly began to reopen his eyes. It hurt to absorb the light, even if he hadn’t closed his eyes for too long, but it was a stark contrast to the slight darkness he was graced by earlier. As his adjusted to the difference, he flushed slightly as he came to the realization that he may have spoken out while he was just waking up.

As he noticed that there were many similar features in the people about, he assumed he hadn’t been napping for far too long. The only difference seemed to be from the corner of his eye; a person that he only just came to realize was there. Blinking, the hand that was resting upon the metal armrest hesitantly moved to the back of Haruo’s neck, scratching it at the point where his hairline just ended. A quiet laugh escaped him, directed at himself, as the person beside him had likely heard, what Haruo had said in his lulled state. Of course the person would’ve likely known he was asleep, or assume he was simply resting his eyes,

Returning his hand to the metal frame, Haruo quickly gleamed towards his gourd, making sure it was still there, before looking in the direction of the male seated beside him. For one, Haruo could easily tell he hadn’t seen this person before. He wasn’t sure if the person was paying attention, though they certainly seemed to have been resting or at least was prior to Haruo’s earlier words. He wasn’t sure if the teen next to him was awake, so he opted for the safe route, something general that could easily be taken as Haruo simply muttering to himself, “Nice day, today, eh?” Of course, he wasn’t expecting a reply, nor for the male to be really paying attention, though it would be better than sitting here awkwardly for the time being.

---

535 of 1028 Total Words

Within a few minutes of sitting on the bench, he continued to look up towards the sky to the fairly blue sky and the clouds. How clouds formed into certain shapes was beyond his understanding. He couldn't understand as to how people saw animals, but recently he had taken on the 'activity' of simply looking at the clouds to try and determine whether there truly was an identifiable shape, or better yet, an actual animal.

In those few minutes, it occurred to him that this supposed activity was one of the more boring things he had ever taken part in, in his life. Lowering his gaze to the area around him, from underneath the edge of his cloak, his ebony gaze analyzed and located all the people that were walking by them, some of them looked in interest at the two, but they soon started to hurry on their way when they realized that the darkly clad cloaked figure was watching them. A part of him cried out for acceptance, but he suppressed it, something that he had been doing since he was twelve.

The day his father died, Atasuke had felt dread, but for what? He had loved his father, hadn't he? From what he had told him, the sharingan woke itself up after traumatic experiences. Wasn't watching your father die and being incapable of saving him traumatizing? He thought so, but within the depths of his mind, he knew that he hadn't made the effort to try and save him. I only watched, he realized at that point and his head lowered so that his chin rested on his chest, unwillingly giving him the appearance that he had fallen asleep.

It was pointless to think about that, and before he could even think about raising his head, he heard the sound of words uttered quietly, as if they were telling him in confidence to keep it a secret. Mom? And he spotted the bottom half of the person beside him, and he didn't dare to move. He couldn't even guess as to how the sleeping male would react to him if he figured out that he was in close quarters with another male whilst he had been in his light slumber.

The shallow breathing that was akin to people who were sleeping disappeared, and the Uchiha realized that his bench companion had woken up, and he remained tense, muscles unmoving as he waited for a reaction to his presence. Wait, why should I care? His head went from side to side, chin dragging over his chest as he wondered why he cared about the opinion of some stranger, and from there his head rose up again.

Soon, the human entity beside him began to raise up, and a hand reached backwards. For what? And he heard the sound of nails over flesh and he visibly relaxed, even releasing a pent up breath.

Then he spoke to him, to Atasuke directly, and the Uchiha took a pause as he wondered as to what he should say. Most people he knew would simply agree and go from there, but the Uchiha wasn't most people. In these days, they were few people. So he thought himself unique. Instead of the polite answer, he'd go with something else...

There was a pause, how should he phrase this?

"Is that what your mom said when you asked for five more minutes?" The hood of the black cloak that belonged to the Uchiha youth was pulled back just enough so that from the side it was possible to see the side of his facial expressions. If his bench companion had delegated the time to looking at his side to Atasuke, he would find an ebony eye on his side of Atasuke looking straight ahead and rapidly moving as it took in everything around the duo. But that wasn't the important part, the feature that played the biggest part were the lips of the Uchiha curved upwards into a sly grin. Something that people who were familiar with each other did when making a friendly joke.

Something that friends did.

WC: 704

The words escaping were merely just that, though he wasn’t sure at first if the person seated next to him was entirely awake or not. Haruo, having spent most of his time around civilians, wasn’t as cautious when it came to strangers approaching him, though this being his home village aided him in simply accepting things as they were. As his eyes travelled to the right, to where the stranger would be sitting, Haruo took a quick peak noticing the relaxed posture, before going back to watching the people mill about the park. Haruo often came here, solely due to the short distance he had to travel from his home to get here, simply to relax. There wasn’t much going for him elsewhere for the time being, as he was temporarily stuck in a state of limbo, having to switch from dealing with his father’s business to become a shinobi.

Haruo gently drummed his of his left hand on the metal they were resting upon, aimless creating a beat that wasn’t truly recognizable to the ears. It took a moment, but he heard a reply, of sorts, coming from the stranger next to him. At first he was about to take offense to the words, for just a moment, as his eyes quickly drifted to the male. Another second passed before the upwards turn of the lips of his unknown companion registered in Haruo’s mind as a smile, one he could deem as friendly.

It wasn’t often that Haruo came across a person who made a joke which could easily be taken in a different context, something more offending or condescending. Yet, there wouldn’t be the grin upon such a person’s face, nor the slightly friendly atmosphere that one could simple tell was in the air. Slowly easing his fingers to a halt from their constant tapping, Haruo simply turned his head so he could get a better look at his bench companion, trying to figure out the best method in which to reply, something he seemed to be over analyzing. With a friendly smile gracing Haruo’s lips, he fished for a word before closing his mouth once again. One could consider him stumped for a reply for the moment. Reckoning it best to just play along, Haruo simply tilted his head at a slight angle to his left.

“Eh, not necessarily those words.” Was Haruo’s first response to the jest made towards him. “Just take those words and spin it so that it comes out as a kind threat, and that’s basically what she usually ends up saying.” It was the truth, to an extent, though it certainly was more demanding that anything else. The reasoning behind it was simple, as it would be with any other parent who wanted their kids to wake up at a reasonable time, instead of sleeping until it was practically noon.

“I’m Haruo, by the way. Akemi Haruo.” His greeting was based on the assumption that they would be conversing for a bit longer, at the very least, and it wouldn’t really do, for Haruo at least, to simply categorize the teenager as a complete stranger. At least a name would let him individualize the person. Haruo extended his right hand, just a bit away from his body, such that he would meet the stranger for a handshake, should he accept it, halfway through. If not, it was simple for Haruo to withdraw his hand back towards his body. He didn’t bother asking about the person’s name, seeing as how the question would be in the air, even if Haruo never asked it aloud. Either way, if the person would introduce themselves or not, shake his hand or not, Haruo would wear a small smile as he would as the simple question of, “How are you?”

---

649 of 1677 Total Words

There was a fairly long spell of silence. When one first woke up from slumber, the senses were temporarily dulled. The brain worked hard at thinking back and reminding you as to where you were and did it's best to get the flesh machine that carried it, back and running and optimal efficiency. Atasüke could only imagine what his companion's brain had processed and what he had actually heard, or been listening to when the Uchiha had made the passing remark in regards to his mother. Would he be mad? Would he try and cause a fight with the anti-social boy? There were numerous possibilities that he had already seen unfolding. All of them, negative, and all of them he was prepared for.

Sparing a furtive glance to the left of himself to try and gauge as to what his companion was doing, Atasüke tried to guess as to how long this one had been a ninja for. Who knows? He's kind of like me, probably has to be forced to do things... and even then, he'd probably do the minimum. From that, he had determined that the chances of him getting a negative response would be extremely high, or extremely low. From an experienced stance of the lazy way of life, Atasüke knew that there weren't a lot of things that could get one who was lazy to do things. The aforementioned joke, may have just done the trick however.

So before the expected onslaught of words, the sly grin slowly dissolved from his face as if it were salt in water, and it slowly revealed a relaxed face. Looking as if he were in the most serene scenario possible. He had long ago come to terms with accepting the outcome that his actions, well mainly words, had brought him too. Usually being the loss of friends. The most important thing that he took from that was the regret of not ever feeling sorry for himself.

What he hadn't expected was a calm and measured response. The words that had been expelled from his mouth were certainly not the ones that he expected, and he temporarily remained stunned before a genuine smile, one that reached the entirety of his face broke out underneath his hood. Adding to that, he softly chuckled. "I can imagine, most mothers are like that," he said whilst his ebony gaze tracked the various people that wandered through the park around them. It started to make the Uchiha wonder as to how people saw him when he walked aimlessly through their village.

Akemi Haruo, huh? He couldn't say that he had heard of him before, but the same could probably be said for Atasuke when he opened his mouth to give his own name.

"Atasüke."

The name slipped out of his mouth through the use of a soft voice. He never spoke loudly. He had determined that if you had true respect, then in a room of shouting people, those who heard the quiet voice were the ones that would follow until the end of time.

He didn't give his last name because he didn't see a reason too. He never had, and those he had met in the past had never received a name either. Besides, if one were to get a good look at it, it'd be quite obvious as to what symbol he carried over his spinal cord.

Then a hand was extended towards him, an equal distance from the both of their main body masses. There was a pause, Atasüke didn't normally do this sort of thing with people.

He extended his own hand out towards Haruo's, and did what normal people did when offered to hand shake.

He shook.

When it was completed and they had brought their hands back to their respective persons, another question was asked.

'How are you?'

Another pause. Another question that he usually never got asked.

For a moment he turned his head to look at Akemi Haruo, before looking back towards what he had first been looking at. The sky. Arms moving to the back of his head, elbows sticking outwards, he certainly felt relaxed as his hood was borderline falling off the back of his head. "What about you?"

After he had gotten a response, he waited a moment before asking his next one. "So what made you become a shinobi?" A pretty basic question, was his own reason basic? He wasn't entirely certain anymore...

WC: 767

Receiving a name from the teenager sitting next to him was the most Haruo could hope for, as it was at least a gesture deemed as friendly. Repeating the name Atasüke within his head, Haruo tried to remember the name to a face. The lack of a family name didn’t surprise Haruo too much, though, to an extent, he expected one, but it was something he could easily look past, simply due to the fact he had often done the same. Most of the time it was due to his slight forgetfulness, other times it was simply due to him just supplying his first name and then things quickly moving on from there.

There was slight internal surprise for Haruo as Atasüke shook his hand, as he expected it to merely be shrugged off entirely. Though he was glad this person was friendly enough, since it would have been far more awkward and off-putting for Haruo to stay within the boundaries of the park, or even on the bench they both occupied at the current moment. Taking his hand and placing it back his lap, Haruo looked just past his newfound companion, taking in the rest of the park while also paying attention to his… friend? He didn’t know if he could call him that, but Haruo supposed it could possibly happen.

When the question was posed forward to him, the same one Haruo asked that went unanswered made him raise his brow in the slightest. Usually it would go as the other person answering and then questioning, but he didn’t mind with the way things were going at the moment. He supposed that the question would eventually be answered by Atasüke, though either way it wouldn’t hurt Haruo supplying him with an answer. “I suppose I’m fine. I’m just trying to pass the time away really until the Chuunin Exams start or if something else comes up. There isn’t really much to do, except wait really.” The answer was the truth, though the rest of it fell to him not being an active shinobi for the past few years. He didn’t mind not doing such, though his mind always wandered to what his life would be like if he had actually became a full-fledged shinobi right once he graduated the academy, something which multiple people had done. He left a pause after he spoken, wondering if Atasüke would simply provide Haruo with an answer of his own.

After a while, just mere seconds really, Atasüke would ask Haruo another question, one he did and did not really have an answer for. With a slight laugh escaping Haruo, his right hand went up to scratch his temple briefly, as he thought about the question. “What made me want to be a shinobi?” He repeated the question for his own sake, just trying to word out his answer in his mind. There were a few things that made him consider it, but he really wasn’t a shinobi, not yet at least. He hadn’t trained in ages, nor had he done any official missions. “I don’t really consider myself a shinobi… not yet at least. Ever since I graduated the academy, I helped my father with his business, though for far longer than I expected, but I guess it worked out… somewhat… in the end. My mom was a shinobi and she taught me before I attended the academy, so I suppose that was what led me to consider being a shinobi. Though, I think now I’ll be giving it an official ‘go’ at being a shinobi.” He answered, starting off a bit hesitantly, before the words simply came to him. If there were any questions, he would be able to answer them.

“What about you? It felt a bit odd repeating Atasüke’s earlier words, but they were fitting, “Are you a shinobi? He asked, simply due to the fact he wasn’t 100% sure he was a shinobi, but he assumed such. “Are you entering the Chuunin Exams?” Haruo asked immediately after his question, not allowing Atasüke time to answer his first two questions, as the last question basically would be answered with the first pair.

---

717 of 2394 Total Words

The moment the words of his own question had past his lips, he had froze. He froze because he had realized his own mistake. I didn't even answer his question! In his own mind, he had given an answer to the question, but it seemed that in reality there was no answer. Not even the hints of one and while he was in the midst of raising his hand to implant his face into his palm, he changed it's trajectory and placed his elbow on the armrest on his end of the bench. From there, he had placed his face into his palm so that he was slightly leaning away from Haruo as he sighed. This is embarrassing, he thought to himself as he had finally willed himself to open up his lips... But it was too late.

Idiot.

In his mind he had performed all of the other procedures perfectly. He had shook Haruo's hand, given his first name against his more natural response of not even answering or touching someone else... Everything else had been done to near perfection, even the joke he had used an icebreaker... In those moments, Haruo had been answering his misplaced question and he listened, all the while mentally tearing himself apart.

Then there was the other response.

He had repeated his question, probably to buy time to create a response, something that Atasüke did himself sometimes. It looked like they were actually quite similar in more than one way.

It was quite a bit of information to process all at once. But he took it in stride, replaying what he said in bits and pieces.

So he worked with his dad before this point. His mom helped him with his training before he had joined the Academy? Immediately when he had heard that part, he imagined the Hidden Leaf's Academy, all of his peers and he imagined where they were now, and his eyes slowly closed as he pictured his father's face with the smallest hints of a smile. Did I really love him as a father?

He left the question unanswered.

Then it was back to him.

Except this time, it was done with two questions, in a similar way as he had before, but asked in a quicker fashion.

He operated on a platform of living that allowed him to get to the point rather quickly. He hoped he could follow up with that in how he answered this question.

"I would consider myself a shinobi, but not the kind from a Major Village, I guess." It was hard to explain that he was a Ronin, especially since he had started out at the Academy. "Once I had graduated from the Leaf's Academy, my father took me on trips throughout the Land of Fire before I could even be assigned to a Squad." He paused. "I don't really know if that can make me a shinobi." He said with a chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head in an almost shy manner. "I believe the term is... Ronin." He supplied it to be a little helpful to piece together whatever parts he had left out. He had decided to let this Haruo come up with any stories or questions before continuing to the next question.

The Chunin Exams one, right? There was a 'Hmm' sound before he opened his mouth to answer.

"No. I see no reason to showcase my abilities for the entertainment of others, like some mere... Circus act." There was a small amount of hostility directed at the question, but when he had ended all signs of coldness were gone as soon as they had appeared, and the smile had returned to his lips. "You said you were waiting for the Chunin Exams, are you taking part in them? Is this a break from your training?" The questions were rapid fire, only sparing a second in between them for Haruo to process.

After the response from Haruo, Atasüke hoped to continue to steer the conversation with the question, "And what do you hope to have accomplished by the end of your life?"


WC: 708

Taking in the details that Atasüke provided him, Haruo tried to make a mental picture of it all, though there wasn’t much he could go off of as far as the story of Atasüke was concerned, though he didn’t mind one bit. He wasn’t expecting a life story, nor did he expect Atasüke to tell him much at all, considering they were still practically strangers who knew each other’s names and were on friendly terms for the time being. The most that Haruo could tell was that he would consider Atasüke an acquaintance, as one didn’t truly make a friend in one whole day, though the a first day usually set a condition forward on things to come. Haruo could see himself becoming friends with this Atasüke, yet considering he considered himself a ronin, Haruo expected the other teenager to eventually leave the village, as he was not affiliated with the place Haruo called home.

Not fully aware of the spectrum of relations between shinobi villages, though he certainly should be, Haruo marked this off as the first instance in which he met someone who, at one point, originated from the Village Hidden by Leaves, Konohagakure no Sato. If anything, he and Atasüke shared similarities in their stories, as far as what they did after the graduated from their respective academies. Both hadn’t been put on a squad after graduating and had, more or less, travelled with their fathers. Haruo assumed Atasüke’s father was a shinobi, unlike his own. Haruo’s father was a civilian while his mother had been a kunoichi at one point in her life, a well-respected one at that. Ronin weren’t uncommon, from what he could tell, yet Haruo rarely came in to contact with one, so he supposed that Atasüke had seen more of what the world had to offer than he did. A simple question, regarding his last thought, escaped him, “How does it feel to be constantly moving about? I mean, I have travelled before… just probably not as extensively as you. So, I’m a bit… uhh… curious.” He trailed off into a slightly uneasy laugh, feeling as if he could’ve easily phrased that better. Waiting for an answer, he simply went about to leaning casually back in his seat, staring straight forward, though still able to see Atasüke from the corner of his eye.

When his question about entering the Chuunin Exams came up, Haruo slightly tensed, sensing the aggression laced within the voice, even if it was the slightest. He simply glanced back to his gourd on the ground, to his left, off the bench. Knowing that it was still there was a relief, though he could’ve easily just sensed the sand ingrained with his chakra just as easily. Though when Atasüke spoke once again, Haruo relaxed from his small moment of worry and then looked back towards the vision ahead of him. He wondered what got him to act in such a way when it came to the Chuunin Exams, but did not want to bring it up, as it would likely be a topic that would cause more friction from the other party.

As the conversation came to Haruo’s participation in the exams, the answer could simply be provided in one word. “No. I won’t be taking part.” As for his reason as to why such was for Haruo, it was mainly his own fault, actually entirely his fault. While he hadn’t been an active shinobi for the past few years, he never bothered with any form of training. The only thing he had ever done using chakra was simply shape his sand to his own convenience, or utilize the academy techniques taught, though there were only a few occasions for the latter. “I haven’t trained seriously, so me participating in the Chuunin Exams would end up as me just embarrassing myself. Maybe if I had started training earlier I would’ve considered entering.” His voice gave away Haruo’s own feelings as to his words, that they were the truth. Maybe he should’ve began taking things seriously, or even been training casually for the past while, but that was something he could no longer change.

He hadn’t expected things to become far more serious… far more oriented towards one’s life goals. This was something Haruo always had trouble putting in to words, or even his own thoughts as he was never sure what exactly he wanted to do. Or perhaps that was due to having been a ‘civilian’ for the past few years? “Hmm… that’s one way to put someone on the spot.” A slight laugh escaped him as he thought on his answer for a couple more seconds. “I guess I just want to be strong enough to protect people, my family. Nothing really specific though. I just want to prove to myself that I can actually be a good shinobi, as I haven’t really been one at all for the past while.” That was the only way he could really put his thoughts in to words, other than constantly stumbling over them and his voice eventually transforming in to mumbling. A simple “How about you? was asked by Haruo some seconds after he had answered the question. Haruo felt that it was only right to ask the question in return, though sometimes he doubted others would answer the question… at times.

---

926 of 3320 Total Words

He was asked another question, this time it was about how did he feel about constantly moving around? In this case, he wondered if Haruo was going to be disappointed in his answer, but there was no way to find out until he actually gave him an answer, right?

"How does it feel?" He mulled over the question and his answer aloud. How does it feel, huh? He wasn't entirely sure as to how to explain it. "It's much more entertaining with at least one other person." The Uchiha knew that it wasn't as glamorous as he could make being alone seem. There was plenty of loneliness, and at some points it may seem like the best thing, but everyone required interactions with other humans. It was kind of why he was there, in that very park talking to Akemi Haruo. The solitude of the Wilderness, and the constant wandering that took him in and out of the Village grew tiresome... He needed something more in life, and he was going to get it.

"Like, when you're alone in a foreign land..." He was beginning to speak from experience here. How he had felt when he had left home, and began his journey of exploring the world and his first stop had been the Land of Lightning. "It's scary if you're not used to setting up camp properly, and even then, the chance of being attacked by mercenaries and rogue ninja is still possible." There was another pause as he tried to gain more thoughts. "It's fun though. Especially when you come to a new land and find new things, things you've never seen before and come to like them." He smiled at the thought of his past memories.

"I've been to the Land of Grass since it's close to the Hidden Leaf, and other places that I've forgotten, hah." He chuckled a bit and scratched the back of his head awkwardly at his forgetfulness. "The Land of Lightning... Err, Kumogakure is the only other Major Village I've journeyed too." Last he had checked, he was at the strength of a genin, and although he may have been an Uchiha he still had no sharingan to amplify his low-tier ninjutsu techniques. But before he even awakened his sharingan, he wanted to find a taijutsu Master... He had been hoping to find a mentor on the road while he had been alone, but to no avail he had arrived alone for the first time in the Land of Lightning.

...

He wasn't sure what else to say about it, so he simply let Akemi Haruo answer his next question.

Soon enough there was an answer and the Uchiha boy had learned that his bench buddy wasn't going to be joining the Chunin Exams. That means they were both going to be watching them? Atasüke was only interested in the head to head tournament fight though. He was curious to see if he'd view an interesting fight and would be able to adapt someone else's fighting style to his own moves.

He shrugged in response. "I'm certain there are people in the Exams who are not prepared, yet they joined anyway." Another shrug. "There will be people to embarrass themselves whether you take part or not." The same thoughts had gone through Atasüke's mind, but not the embarrassment part. His techniques were practiced to the utmost efficiency, but he couldn't do much else without someone to teach him some techniques. He needed knowledge outside of the ones he knew now.

His final question...

This time he was going to make sure to answer the question that was posed to him, rather than avoiding it and asking a new one. The memory of it happening previously still fresh in his mind. "I want to return home with people who support me, friends, and to become a respected leader." Hokage. But he wouldn't say the word aloud, he couldn't bring himself too. "Truly? I wish to be as powerful as the Legendary Kage before us." Yes, that's as far as he'd go with it...

A long conversation with a stranger made acquaintance. His interactions with people never really lasted this long, he usually scurried off back to his training either on the highest platform at the Battle Plateau, or he'd exit the walls of the Village and go out into the Wilderness and see how far he'd be able to go before turning back. As his own sort of test. One that measured his survivability, originality, and his ninja techniques all at the same time...

Glancing up to the sky, it was getting late, to the point that they had already begun to cut into his training time. If he wanted to get the full length, he'd have to skip going to the Market Place for a snack and just decide whether it was to the Plateau, or to the Wilderness.

He groaned inwardly, he slowly pushed upwards to his feet and finally took notice of the gourd that was beside him. His only acknowledgement of it being a quiet "Huh," as he turned his gaze to Haruo. "We may meet again or we won't." Another pause, should he make it more formal? Wasn't it more polite to do so?

No.

"Bye."

And he turned on his heel and walked off with the same slow gait that he had got to the bench with.

-EXIT THREAD-

WC: 934
TWC: 3646

TRAINING:

His mind reeled as the conversation he just had with the male replayed within his mind, trying to figure out what to make of it. They definitely weren’t friends, as one conversation could never make it so, but they were on friendly terms, something that could transition to a future friendship if the world allowed it to be so. Things couldn’t really be simple, but he supposed that it was better than nothing, though the likelihood of seeing this Atasüke certainly was high, at least during the period of the Chuunin exams, as Haruo assumed he would stay around to watch them in their entirety. However, after the conclusion of this years exams came to its end, Haruo doubted he would come across him again for a while, as he assumed the ronin would simply leave the village on his own whims. He owed his allegiance to no one at the moment, though Haruo supposed the teenager would one day return to Konohagakure no Sato, as he had simply grown up there. With nothing else to really do for the day, Haruo  simply stared off in the direction that Atasüke had left in, his mind reeling towards the symbol placed upon the back of his shirt. He couldn’t place his tongue on it, for what it meant, but he felt he could at least vaguely recognize it from a book he skimmed over. Thinking nothing else of it, Haruo went back to cloud gazing, knowing he had time before he was required to go home.

---

260 of 3580 Total Words

Training:

Apologies for the extra short length, but wanted to get this out for the required trainings. Also, as you have already left, shouldn't be too much of an issue.