Bad moods weren't uncommon but this one was colossal. Floundering with internal fury, sheer frustration and exasperation welled up drawing almost tears from the boy for his idiotic complacency. Having missed his opportunity to sign up for the exams coupled with post-travelling anxiety, Ryota was feeling more than a little unhinged as he strode through the small tourist centre with gritted teeth keeping jaw stern beneath an otherwise calm face. He'd have kicked up dust clouds if not for his inheritance being so kind. This thin veil threatened to blow away in the breeze washing gently across the mountain, the boy ninja's dislike for anything outside of his village pulsing through his mind like so many racing thoughts tearing up the highways in his brain. He felt exposed, vulnerable, as if everyone was looking at him and judging his decisions. Before his breath could quicken much more and his heart burst in his chest, the guilt-ridden teenager ducked into an open cafe. Retreating to one of several ornate wire metal chairs with fixed, neat cushions to sit upon Ryota took head in palms as his nerves collapsed against a will to ease back to some semblance of the calm he was attempting to project for the world to see.

Turning inwards it was time to try and calm himself. Just like his sensei had taught him, breath in through the nose deep down to the bottom of your lungs. One, two, three second. Out through the mouth. Rinse and repeat three times. There, his pulse was slowed. Now it was time to try and deal with his lack of focus. Slipping into his memories the boy clutched at the jigsaw puzzle of idealism he'd made for himself. As the sound of wind fluttering through leaves opened the string of thought the warmth of sunlight perched onto his skin. A taste of sweet cinnamon and icing pastry. It was all a start on easing out those knots of tension in his shoulders and the boulder sized pressure on his mind.

A waitress interrupted, she was polite enough and yet her question of his order still caught him off guard. Eyes finding their way open and hands down to the table, Ryota nodded he was ready to order and spoke in the creak of an unclear throat, "Lemonade, please." His eyes briefly found their way to the waitress, offering the brunette a small smile before she treaded away to fetch his order. Breathing a sigh of relief the thin layer of cold perspiration that had formed on his skin came to bother him, snatching up a napkin to wipes what he could away from exposed skin before tossing the tissue aside. What a pain in the neck this entire trip had become. He'd let down his team and his family. How could he possibly make up for this in the time available? Pondering the question, Ryota drew the cold glass to his lips and sipped soothing cool.

As the thoughts wracked thought trains the first time traveller looked about himself, beginning to realise the surroundings he was in. It was fittingly, a cafe utilising mostly dark wooden colours with deep red walls, sleek and stylishly dark despite the contrast of the light outside. Some unseen air conditioning fitted about the ceiling kept the heat absorbent colours cool along with the patrons, each of the tables as much a stylish fusion of elegantly designed patio furniture focused on aesthetic with the durability of leather tacked cushions for longevity amongst the wire frames. Each glass topped table hosted traditional designs as detailed mosaic, naturally reminiscent of bygone figures of power famous throughout history and their legendary battles to inspire the modern era. The 'wall' facing the street was instead a glass front, more of the same seats and same rounded tables set up outside. The service counter was along the right wall as patrons entered, adorned with a stand of fresh cakes and fitted with a most modern brass coffee maker. Aside from a tip jar, only various syrups and liquers adorned the wall on wooden shelves behind said counter. The door itself, wedged open and close to the same wall left the brass bell hanging limply in the wind. The lights were of course, strips fitted in the ceilings and a pleasantly mellow yellow to take it easy on the eyes of patrons. Even if only a medium sized place, it was nice enough as is. At the far left of the cafe there were three black leather couched booths, featuring more flashy artwork on their larger, rectangular table with the only other feature of worth the varnished floorboards. The name of the cafe itself hung on the lone oak sign, stylised and beautiful, nailed between door and window upon bare brick.

Taking a second glance at the service staff as he tried to process this as tactical data to assimilate he realised the man behind the bar seemed to be clad in a suit, in particular that of black pants, waistcoat with white pinstripe shirt and red tie. The lady having served him earlier worse a similar ordeal, albeit a skirt.

[866]

Ryota missed the bell ringing entirely. He'd been far too preoccupied with his own matters such as scrubbing sweat and being thoroughly self-absorbed. The taste of dust on the wind and the lick of heat across his face were unfavourable and in this somewhat more exposed state Ryota even yielded a scrunching of his nose in a flighty moment of distaste.

A cursory glance told him relatively all he needed to, a girl dressed in peculiar back and white frills with quite an erroneous white bow affixed to her head. Not to mention the hairstyle. Chances were she was simply a local kid, looking to be an individual amongst a sea of regularity.

Disregarding her, the teenager found himself rapping fingertips upon the table in a mildly off tempo, another fine illustration of his shuddering composure. Again turning inwards as the air conditioning breathed coolness back into the air this pale boy had several thoughts occur to him at once. It was like watching a mime for all the good his bloodline did him. Uneasy and unable to properly contain himself he flickered between postures of puzzlement, unable to discover the core reasoning behind a solution. It was entirely feasible for example, to return to how he was raised during the largest part of his life so far in terms of chronology. After all, could a test subject ever really forget how to be a good and disciplined soldier? It wasn't exactly likely. That was a life of pain, dullness and servitude. He didn't want to just do what he was told forever, after all.

The other idea was something along the lines of grasping his own destiny. Like that woman, Gin. She had made a solid impression on him about the consequences there could be for over ambition but that wasn't much of a deterrent, pale skin bore plenty of scars without having earned a single one. If he was going to suffer, he'd do it for what he believed in. Then what was-

Oh. Steps approaching.

As a sinking feel swamped his guts, the ninja's hand came calmly, slowly to his stomach, composing a seal of confrontation. It was better to be prepared to someone ready to pick off a lone ninja outside of the exams than not. As the statement followed, admittedly his breath caught from the anxiety if nothing else. How formal and polite she was! Of course, this was proper etiquette for a stranger but even an assassin-

Ah. Ryota turned and had seen it was simply the girl from earlier. Dropping the seal it became readily apparent she was coming in peace. Looking over her again he noted she was more lean and in fact, more tanned than she would first appear compared to up close. It seemed a first glance wasn't everything. Clearing his throat, the Yuurei boy motioned to the seat opposite himself and offered, "P-please, join me if you have the time to spare." A mental twitch of irritation. He hated words catching in his throat more than being off-guard. Accepting it as a natural consequence of his own paranoia and discomfort, the thought breached the rest that; "It would be the least I could do." In such a situation. "I'm afraid I'm having some personal issues." Came the same tense, estranged tone.

That was that he supposed. The ghost made almost scared now just waited for a response.

[1446]

As she sat Ryota turned to face her as he eased his chair in a little closer under the table, a more personal yet polite distance for conversation just as he was taught. He noted she was very eloquent in her movements, deliberate and composed. That was either rigorous etiquette or refined training. Perhaps both. Glossing over her features she didn't seem to particularly have any symbol of a village anywhere on her person so it was somewhat safer to assume she was a simple civilian with eclectic tastes.

Accepting this face value for now with still a mild air of apprehension, he listened attentively to her advice. Most intriguing. Interjecting into her thinking after the initial statement, "I'm afraid the issue is indeed with myself. I failed to do what I set out to this land to do. This has left me with some sense of misdirection." Even though he had divulged this much, he wasn't about to spill too much. After all, he hadn't even spoken to his captain about it yet.

Hell, there was a point. Nozomi-Sensei would probably be pretty pissed at him for failing to properly support his team mates in the exams. That wouldn't be a fun conversation.

As she reached her second statement, thankfully interrupting his pity-party the ninja perked up a touch. What she had said made a lot of sense. Distractions were always more pleasant than simply dwelling on the bad over the good. It may be human nature to tackle problems emotionally and flailingly but perhaps it was more apt to put things on hold in dire situations of stress such as he believed he was experiencing.

Interrupted by the waitress he was taken aback a little, carrot cake? It seemed this civilian had taste almost as good as he did. This was most delicious of cakes, combining moist with what people often found to be an overbearing sweetness with deliciously consistent icing if baked in the right hands.

The wielder of those blue eyes had to admit he was fiercely fond of sweet things. Looking briefly back to her face from the dessert, he offered a small nod of thanks with a small smile creeping out as he seized the fork delicately in an effort to muster the same politeness he was being shown. Eyeing the bunny-faced cake Ryota pronged the soft edges, doing his best not to mar the decoration. After all, a sugar toothed ninja like himself would of course want to try the two separately and never dare to presume a fellow connoisseur would want a stranger to take the first sample. Being socially inept the teen thought nothing of it as he worked the treat over in his mouth. Mulling it over he pondered how different the result was. With his home lands being relatively low altitudes and quite cool temperature wise, a warmed climate and higher altitude made the cake mix come out a much softer, airier result. It was definitely a contrast to his own home where much more moist, thicker cakes were common. Yielding a nod of approval the boy cleared his throat again, sipping lemonade before uttering, "Thank you. My name is Ryota, by the way. I commend your choice of carrot cake." There was more certainty in there. Apparently sweets certainly were an affinity to calm and erring soul.

[2013]

It struck him as odd when the girl in front of time went silent to stare at him. A less trained man might buckle under the tension swiftly gathering in his chest as nerves built up. In his experience, very few people stared so intently. His small smile persisted in politeness, his relatively blank expression holding as a gentle dusted pink surfaced across his cheeks.

Faintly aware of this burning sensation across his face Ryota came to wonder if he had fallen sick. Being so socially maladjusted it was unusual for close contact with anyone, even his dear mother. All noise seemed to stop about them as focus shifted to shut out the outside world. In an attempt to distract himself, Ryota attempted to delicate shuffle his fork into place on the plate.

Only the lingering flutter of the breeze and the lingering taste of cake seemed to link him back to reality. Behind his eyes first thoughts pondered a form of killing intent. No, this lacked that kind of tension and as far as he was aware no jutsu was cast nor any weapon drawn. This was something altogether more pleasant yet at the same time pressuring. Perhaps the truth was he wasn't adjusted yet. His designated social worker did say something about taking time to get used to what other people consider normal, regular interactions. Yes, it must be that. And yet, what she would divulge next was not something he would have expected from someone he had dared to split cake with. He barely had time to mimic her delicate dabbing of the mouth before the statement came.

A ninja? Had this been a deception all along? Royta fought the impulse to grimace as escape routes calculated sprung to mind. A dash for the door, breaking the window, over the counter to take a hostage if need be. Blushing certainly paled in the face of what felt like treachery. Perhaps it was simply part of his own fear of foreigners taking surface yet maybe this girl truly was a hunter of the inexperienced. His hands retreating to his knees, knuckles turned white as a mild irritation surfaced. Had he miscalculated? Why would she be here and not at the exams? Rushing through the possible reasons a moment of dumbfoundedness occurred to the foolish boy.

It was perfectly logical he wasn't the only one to mess up his entry to the exams. Considering her physique the boy further reasoned to himself it was a foolish mistake to presume anything. Smile returning with a more bashful colour brushing along his features he commented, "I suppose you forgot to sign for the exams also, no?" With a slightly nervous laugh forged from his own guilt. As a thought flitted through, Ryota supposed it would be strange not to return the same politeness he had been shown throughout the interaction. "Please, it's really no trouble. I hail from Kirigakure as I'm sure you noticed. My clan is also scattered in a fashion but I'm afraid I don't like to talk very much about that since I was adopted into another family. My given name is Suzuki, Miss Mari." Miss? Where had that come from? Doubting his own mental soundness, Ryota shook off the internal misnomer.

"Did it take long to reach here, Mari?" Came the enquiry, trying to draw attention away from his odd manner of speech and irregular formality, interlacing his own fingers upon the table once more with the crumpled napkin obscured upon his lap.

[2605]

The expression the girl before him presented at it being suggested they shared a similar blunder caught dear Ryota off guard. The musing thought that she interpreted him as some kind of psychic certainly tickled his sense of humour. Naturally, a normal person wouldn't have simply jumped to that conclusion but a combination of logic and a lateral willing to take a chance on coincidence composed a lot of the pale-skinned one's personality.

Yet, when she laughed it was again a disarming notion, easing this paranoid ninja further into a sense of security. Well, as much security as somebody with a phobia of travelling and a distinctly developed distaste for foreigners out of past trauma was able to experience in a cafe stunted miles from home halfway up a mountain. In terms of the statement shortly following it regarding their similarity, it seemed a mysterious one even to this socially maladjusted fool. Indeed, perhaps this was why it seemed so peculiar. A flame of curiosity flickered within the lulling dark in his mind, perhaps it was a suggestion of future co-operation? She was certainly a very visually striking individual, the memories that would persist were very mutual. As the flame abated he wondered if one day he would be hired to murder her, considering that his future was headed in such a way it could be very much so a sullen day when their paths crossed again.

Mirroring his own motions, it was charming yet somewhat only served to deepen his disheartening at the thought of having to eliminate this target. The result of this all hadn't done anything to dissuade the emotional turmoil taking it's moment to resurface. The smile fixed like decoration eased down a touch, like some mayor decided the banner on the town hall was a touch too big.

Sweeping away those peculiarly shaded cobwebs to hide back in their corner for the time being blue eyes remained fixed through strands of black, being as attentive as he could manage. The tale of her travelling alone struck pangs of sympathy. It conjured thoughts of times so hazy and far back in memory he scarcely remembered them. The cold streets laden with snow, begging for scraps. What a world it had been, living a life similar to her own. Feelings more than anything else surfaced from the smog, the recordings of reactions stronger than the hazy recollections themselves. It was nice to hear that at least she family to help and of course, he could sympathise with the hints of being unprepared for travelling out of her homeland. It even went so far as to restore his smile as peculiar as it might seem following a comment regarding missing parents.

Her pause in the statements brought a further estranged stare at her. What was going through her mind? He supposed it must have been some piece of melancholy or another to distract her mid-statement, not that he wasn't guilty of such things now he contemplated it. Sipping the cool lemonade below it's halfway point to pass the time Ryota supposed the flavour of the drink wasn't much to be thought of. That was the problem with a lot of carbonated drinks, all sweeteners and fizz without much flavour left behind. Scrunching up his mouth in brief distaste now he was finally paying attention to the drink the hope was that the ice would soon melt and overwhelm it.


Her next statement was something very sagely for such a low ranked ninja. She showed great awareness, Ryota could appreciate that even from the practically pretentious view of a teenager. "I very much so agree", commented the boy before setting down the glass. The final comment dragged him through a pure sense of being abashed to bow his head in thanks for a moment, grinning unrestrainedly at the comment. "I appreciate the praise and would say the same of you, Mari-san." Returning the suffix was presumably fine at this point. "I'd point out there are many greater and far more interesting than I about. I'm simply a humble Genin like yourself, trying to find out what it is I want to do with my life." Briefly tilting his head to the side the boy admitted more openly, "I must admit, that's the problem I'm having. I let down my time by falling behind and now I have no idea how to compensate for that." The earnesty in his voice was clear and true. It was a change to be sure and perhaps something of a distraction from divulging any further information regarding his own past.

Chewing his lower lip as he was wanton to do thought crossed the troubled one's mind. As the tension and worry bubbled to the surface again, Ryota considered talking to this stranger about matters never normally in their scope of knowledge. It was reckless, foolhardy and stupid from any sound mindset he'd ever have but this place and person sat before the lolita-clad kunoichi were far from the mist breathing boy sitting amongst lagoons and cool shores back home. Well, there was little that could be lost. Letting his heart beat over into honest request travelling it's way up to his mouth like nervous fire from some child dragon's snout, it came forth smooth as nerves could handle.

"Perhaps I could ask you what you think I could be best doing, Mari-san?" It was internal turmoil for the ninja. Trusting a foreigner?! He must be insane. It must be the heat, the wind, the altitude! He sat waiting, entirely unsure what could come next with innocently terrified eyes looking on.

[3562]

(I apologise for the long gap in my posting. I'm afraid I utterly flaked out and went through a weird mini-confidence crisis in my posting quality.)

As the smile arose from his conversational partner, Ryota found himself quite pleased, if not amused at receiving the expression. Despite this, Mari averting her eyes did prompt curiosity. What was this? Had he said something out of sorts again? Reaching for his glass once more the flciker of his eyes downwards into it at the rim neared his lips showed nothing but ice left in the cylinder. What a pain. Swirling the ice about the glass with a clinking of the glistening rocks. Social construction was hard. Glancing this way and that as he failed to discern anything from her face, Ryota's paranoia prodded him. Nope, still no sign of a malicious bad guy waiting to spring from the shadows and carve them both up.

With a mental shrug the teenager knocked back a cube, crunching away in strange mime-like silence as the girl in front of him reeled off her presentation about her purpose, her own direction in life. Only briefly raised eyebrows betrayed any surprise at her suddenly divulging all of this information. Was this regular social conduct? Was it supposed to help people grow closer or some such? How strange people were.

Yet, as he listened the boy found himself propping up his elbows on the table and leaning his lips against the glass in though, hands interlaced about the warming surface as the smile drifted away. Her admission of inexperience was interesting. So, she was about as fresh as he was in terms of time labelled a functional ninja at least. Well, at least that wiped away some misconceptions. It also made her more feasible to take on in combat if it came to that. Judging by the easy identification of her own weaknesses it was almost like she was wilfully admonishing herself for some reason. Part of him said she doubted herself, another calling out an opportunity as habitual mental check noted the quickest way to gain an advantage if things turned foul.

There it was. The thing that set them apart. A goal in life. Perhaps that was all he needed to set for himself, an objective. Like a flash of lightning through a meadow, the thought briefly flickered of his previous intention to serve the footsteps of his father before her expansion of her goal swept it away. Interesting. A mission of vengeance. That was her purpose? To serve the bloodline and take care of a struggle she had been told was a universal imbalance of power? As memories of that lady, Gin came to mind her statement on questioning orders came to mind. Inside, something once molten began to steel.

The hesitation made him wonder. Had she reached the same conclusion? The statement that followed was somewhat philosophical, typical of a historian to border on heightened social commentary from his prior reading experience. A small smile ensued. Training, huh? Find the root issue? The last sentence of hers felt incongruous, as if of her past experience. Strange, yet he pressed on after setting down the glass. "Thank you, Mari-san. You have provided me some clarity." The boy offered up a wider smile of appreciation, tension faded and some joy shining through. "Say, Miss Mari. Do you really feel so obliged to follow the path set out by your clan? A lady I briefly worked with delivered the message to question orders sometimes if they don't seem right". Ah, of course he couldn't help himself but put his point across, not even beginning to understand how rude it could be. "Not to say vengeance for your family is an incorrect path but, surely that is an issue for the previous generation to handle having happened so long ago?" It was an honest query at least, dressed in a smile of a foolish boy.

[4206]

The explanation offer by Mari was indeed a very sound one. As she explained carefully and thoroughly to him it became clear that she was not even beginning to doubt the direction of her forbearer's will. It brought a cloud of pondering across his mind. Where did people find these astounding resolutions in their spirits? For it to be compounded into such strength was infinitely amazing to him. Resting chin upon palm and elbow upon table his face fell to a scientist's analytical composure, devoid of any particular expression as his brain ticked over. If only he could isolate this element in everyone and make the business of assassination easier, it'd be infinitely more helpful in extracting and staging deaths. Alas, he was thinking of the future.

The motives put forwards were sound but her childish explanation felt somewhat belittling. Ah, ever was it the mistake of people young and old to grasp onto their own definition of some philosophy inherited from a book or elder. Surely it was the experiences granted by life that helped a person grow wiser alongside these words? In this boy's mind these things were something to nurture and allow to mature. A book to write across the timeline defined as a space between birth and death. Of course, that was he himself adopting a philosophy of his own volition and putting it into as much effect as this young lady.

Regardless of all this pompous deduction of a rookie, Ryota grew to smile with her next statement. The honesty of it was beautiful. A true sample of human expression. Giving her a smile for the trouble of challenging her views Ryota sat upright, his hands folded upon one another rested neatly on the desk. "You're certainly more interesting than I first gave you credit for, Miss Mari. I apologise for my misconceptions about you and hope you can forgive me". Mildly inclining his head in respect thy boy added, "So, what will you do with your time here? I think the moment of clarity you've given has enlightened me to push on and train here. I think it would be the best use of my time, after all." It was a shorter reaction and pondering than his last but in his mind, the most important.

[4593]

Mari's parting comments were sweet and modest, igniting a warmth fizzing like static inside Ryota., pushing his smile onwards. Ah, how could it be that people came to be so conservative of themselves? As his companion made move to leave, the living shadow rose in politeness, offering up a formal bow and cursory thanks as his mind rummaged through machinations. Seating himself once more as she strode by he found himself pondering just what he'd do with her words. They were very kind and very soothing, even shed some light on his life but if he was being honest, lacked to give him an easy answer beyond renewing a sense of resolve. Chuckling to himself at the thought as he toyed with the fork, scraping and dancing the prongs about the plate squeak by squeak, it dawned anything worth time wasn't going to be so trivial to resolve.

Thoughts turned homeward. He couldn't go back empty handed or without some kind of progress to show for his trip. It would be shameful, disgraceful even in his eyes at least. All of these peers were making leaps of progress as he idled through the world with nary a care about anything practical. Well, that roughly settled it. For now this long term goal that eluded him would be made a little less long term. He was going to return to his original plan of self improvement, this time with significantly less panic in the deep corners of his mind screaming for freedom. With a small, resolute nod of affirmation the boy set down the utensil. Having already picked out something of a training regimen, it was suitable to try and salvage it. Yet, as he plucked the notes from his pocket a wave of heat washed over him and his breath grew heavy. This was no mere anxiety. Depositing the plate and settling whatever need be, Ryota quickly strode from this place to seek a refuge elsewhere.

[4923]

[Exit]