Maybe this whole business with the Chunnin Exams wasn’t so bad after all. At first Ryuusei had dreaded the crowds of tourists that it had brought to swarm the streets just as he had returned home, but even he had to admit that the casino made the whole ordeal quite a bit more enjoyable. Sure, it got crowded, but Ryuusei was a betting man and there was no shortage of bets to be made in the Golden Horn. The tables also served to create their own little world. When he sat down to play at a blackjack table it was like the rest of the people in the casino didn’t exist. All that mattered were the cards.

The nature of the casino also brought out some rather interesting people. Some good experiences, some bad, but mostly bizarre and intriguing. He had heard an interesting description of his time at the casino. Apparently one patron believed Ryuusei was “in bed with lady luck.” It was an entertaining comment and one that seemed appropriate given how lucky Ryuusei tended to be in his everyday life. But to be honest, it wasn’t even like he was winning big at the tables. He was up, but it wasn’t anything worth writing home about. He imagined that it was all about perspective. To the person who fresh off a losing streak, any type of success seems like the cruel twists of fate. To the person who just won big, Ryuusei’s haul would be seen as insignificant.

Perhaps the best thing about steady winning was that it allowed him to play at a table almost indefinitely. As other players came and went, busting and stepping away from the table, he could remain in his seat, ordering drinks and meeting all of the new people that passed through. Of course there was a downside for being set on playing the tables though; the fact that at any given time all of the tables could be occupied and leave him with nothing to do. It was exactly that scenario that had him now wandering the floor in search of an open seat at a blackjack table.

Sure there were other games he could play instead, but there was always something wrong with them in his mind. Roulette was to non-interactive. He didn’t like craps and didn’t like to get his hands dirty when he gambled anyway. He had never played poker outside of casual games with the other students back at the academy. Blackjack was just the right amount of interaction and “hands off” style that he could gamble away his money on for hours on end. Not that he really suffered any significant losses all that often. It was probably just his excuse to not have to move around while he ordered his drinks and socialized. Ryuusei’s mind was set on blackjack unless someone or something more interesting came along. Dressed in a black suit with a white shirt with the top unbuttoned he would wade through the crowd quickly, trying to slide around other gamblers in search of his table.

---

523 ~

Yui was enjoying her time here she had already found several good bars and was well on her way to being drunk as she stepped inside the casino. This place seemed to be a fun place but she had no jewels due to her recent spending spree but that was never a problem. She would simply seduce one of the men here and he would pay for her bets it was a perfect plan and maybe she could find a good looking guy who knew. She began to look around for someone alone as she spotted a man from behind moving up toward him before a familiar scent came into her nose. She moved toward the man grabbing him from behind and dragging him with force toward the restrooms before throwing him through the door and smashing into the stall door and inside of it. Why was he here he was supposed to be hiding yet here he was in this village of all places.

"Are you a god dam idiot you are supposed to be in hiding not waltzing around a place that would surely lead to your death. You are so stupid why the hell would you be in this town, of all places I should kill you myself you MORON..."

She she finished her words still filled with anger as her hands were shaking she looked closer for a moment realizing it was not him but someone that looked practically identical. Now she felt like a fool as she blushed some and sighed as she realized her mistake offering her hand to the man. Before him stood a very strong woman one he had no idea who she was but one thing he likely noticed was she had a temper for sure as people watched the two and walked away assuming it was a lovers quarrel. She waited to see if the man would accept her hand and she knew she had to say sorry but this was going to be hard to explain.

"I am sorry... I thought you were someone else you look and smell a lot like him. I did not mean you any harm the name is Inuzuka Yui and it is my pleasure to meet you."

People nearby heard the name some higher officials knew the name and backed away almost instantly and began to hurry off. The name did seem to make some people afraid and these actions only made the rumors about her even worse.

WC:415

Before he could find a table Ryuusei would find himself being forcefully dragged away from the gambling floor. At first his reaction was one of pure reaction, turning to see what possible threat it was that had moved on him so aggressively. His hand would reflexively move towards his hip, but there was no sword there to be found, as the casino expressly forbid weapons being brought into their establishment. As his eyes desperately shot in the direction he was being pulled, all he would see was the back of a person’s head covered in black hair. Glancing up and down it seemed fairly obvious that the person who was pulling him was a woman (a particularly strong woman at that) judging purely off body shape and mannerisms, but any look at her face was obscured by her back being turned to him as she dragged him hurriedly along with her.

“Wait,” he shouted as he allowed himself to be pulled, as to not be forced over, “Do I know you?” But there was no immediate response. In his mind he began scrolling through everything that had happened leading up to this point, trying to identify exactly where he had mistakenly angered this person, but he could not recall interacting with anyone that even matched her bodily appearance that evening. It must have gone back further than that. Sure, he could think of a girl or two that weren’t too fond of him, but none had any reason to be in Kumogakure and none of them could drag him around like this. His immediate thought was that there must have been some kind of mix up.

Before he knew it he found himself being pushed into the women’s restroom and slammed into one of the stalls violently. The force at which he was thrown caused his shoulder to slam down into the porcelain construct. As he raised himself up into a seated position he shrugged his right shoulder that felt like she damn near broke it. After the verbal attack on him he listened to her attempt to explain herself. “She thought I was someone else?” he thought to himself, annoyed at the whole situation, “Are you fucking kidding me? How would you not ask before you randomly start assaulting someone in the middle of a casino?”

“The pleasure is all yours, unfortunately,” he answered as he raised himself up on his own, rolling his shoulder once more as he stood up, “Sorry, but until I get a better idea of what the hell just happened I don’t think I’ll be taking your hand. Your name… it’s not one that’s unfamiliar to me. And from our introduction so far, it seems that your nicknames are well-earned. You said that you thought I was someone else. That I looked and… smelled just like them? You also made note about being in Kumogakure in particular. Care to explain yourself?”

Ryuusei would step out of the stall and noticed that people had begun streaming towards the door to see for themselves what had transpired. “Tch, figures,” he said before turning to her once more, “I still want an explanation, but maybe it’s best if we get out of here before we draw a crowd.”

---

550 | 1073~

She listened to him question what the hell was going on and by all means he had every right to be upset. He mentioned her nick name as she glared at him fiercely she hated the nicknames she had as it was a stain on her life and made her remember a very dark day in Suna's history one she would like to forget ever happened. As for who it was she did not want to talk about it here with so many people around. She would move close to make sure he could only hear her words.

"I can explain things but not here these are sensitive subjects and some people are still looking for who I thought you were. If you want to hear more of the story follow me and I will also take care of the injuries I may have caused you."

She would begin to walk through the door as she hoped the man would follow as the pair would move toward the exit as she would move toward a quiet area. Around here they should have some ability to talk as she sighed she really over did it this time stupid Bokuden why did he leave such a impact on her mind.

"If you do not mind remove your shirt I am certain you have wounds to your shoulder from my throw do not worry I am a medical shinobi and seeing a man shirtless isn't something unusual to me."

She would wait to see if he would remove his shirt so she could treat his wounds if he did her hands would glow green before the man would feel the wounds start to feel better after a couple of minutes she would stop as she was done repairing the damage. He would feel some stiffness but everything else would be fine.

"The man who I mistook you for... his name is Bokuden and he was a very important person in my life. Without him I would have continued down a bad path but he changed everything. However to stay at my side he defied your kages orders and was listed as a wanted man. He could not stay with me because it could have lead to a war with your nation. So he chose to ride off into the desert to never see me again... I just thought it was him with a death wish being back here... So I am sorry I hit you or hurt you... I just...I.."

Tears would begin to flow down her cheeks as she spoke of him, she still missed him so much even now. Her love had not faded but they could never see each other ever again, it tore at her chest as she held her shirt tightly as the tears continued to stream down her face. It was clear this man was a very important person to her and she knew he was not the man but she could not stop the tears from flowing as her hands began to shake.

"I.. really.. really... loved him... he was... maybe the one for me... but I cannot change it now... we can never be together as long as I am a Suna shinobi and he is wanted by your country."

WC:546

The glare that Yui gave Ryuusei when he made mention of her epithet was not lost on him, and he made sure to be on guard even more so than before when she began to close the gap between them. He braced himself slightly as she stepped closer, only for her to speak to him regarding leaving this place just as he had previously suggested. Now, there were probably a million things wrong with the idea of blindly following the person who had just assaulted you and their word at face value, but all of the secrecy and mystery surrounding the situation only made him more curious. So, perhaps against his better judgement, he would follow her out of the restroom, towards one of the side exits, and off to an unoccupied area away from view of the gambling floor.

What immediately followed from her lips was not what Ryuusei was expecting. She had mentioned checking to see if he had sustained any injuries previously, but he didn’t think he was serious. More so, he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of letting the person who caused any injuries to lay their hands on him again mere minutes after the incident. “No thanks,” he answered, shaking his head slightly to reaffirm his answer, “I’ll take care of it myself. I don’t think I need to explain why I’m hesitant to let you do anything to me after what happened. You have yet to even give me a proper explanation. I’ll wait to hear that before we do anything else. That’s what I followed you for.” His words and mannerisms were still standoffish, and understandably so. His only interaction with this woman up to this point had been an assault and she wasn’t even an ally from the Lightning Country. He had every reason not to simply trust her.

What happened next Ryuusei did not anticipate at all, especially by the way their initial encounter went. As Yui spoke, her previously strong and aggressive demeanor melted away as she was overcome with emotion and broke down. At that moment his anger and weariness of her subsided as he instinctively began pondering how he could possibly comfort the crying woman before him. Nothing came to mind though, leaving him to improvise and do the only thing he could think of that might help. “I’m sorry,” he said softly with a comforting smile as he gently placed his right hand atop her head, “You offered to heal me, but in the end you are the one who was in pain.” With his free hand he would pull out the folded handkerchief from his jacket pocket and bring it up close to her face as an offering. “I don’t think I’m capable of offering you the same though. I’m not the man you’re looking for, as much as I wish I could be. But I’d really prefer it if you didn’t cry, so if there’s anything I can do? You can vent if you want. I don’t know much about the man you thought I was, but I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener.”

---

540 | 1613~

Yui's eye were filled with sadness as she continued to cry she tried to use her sleeve to wipe the tears away but to no avail as it was quite ineffective. The man had offered her a cloth as she took it and began to wipe some of the tears away as she would begin to take deep breaths to calm herself down. She had closed her eyes before opening them and regaining her composure. The tale of the two who never should have been. It was a tale of great love but a love that would never be allowed to last. To save both countries from losing many lives they chose to throw their heart and soul away as Bokuden would disappear from the pages of history never to be seen again.

"I will tell you a little tale about the love that was great but the love that nearly sent two nations to war. The love of two people that simply was not allowed to be... the love that was the greatest love for either in their lives. I loved Bokuden when we first met I was a terrible person I had no goals or emotions just drinking and wasting my life away. I ran into him and even accused him of being a spy when we first met but after some time we got closer. We came to love each other and at first it was the best thing to happen in my life however it was a short lived peace and happiness. Soon... it was made clear if he was not handed over we would be invaded and crushed, I refused at first but Bokuden shook his head he would not allow harm to me or my nation."

She began to cry a little again thinking about how much he had to give up for their love, six months and he had to give up everything even his life as a shinobi. He could never be safe anywhere again he would always be wanted and hunted for the rest of his life. He had to sacrifice everything for her and he did and she gave her all but she simply could not sacrifice her country.

"I tried to plead with him to find a way to make it work but the talks were clear they would not accept any other deals. So he made the choice and I had to agree if he stayed my country would be destroyed. Both countries would have lost many lives pointlessly so in the end he chose to leave and walk into the desert letting his story fade from history. He was a great and wonderful man and wont be matched in my eyes but anyone ever again... I will not let our sacrifice of our hearts go to waste I made a promise that day I wold become strong and become so bright I could be two stars in one in the great galaxy known as the shinobi world. I will become so strong I will be a big enough story for both of us and even if he isn't in the history books he will be there in spirit guiding me and holding my hands in his."

WC:547

Yui wouldn’t stop crying immediately, but at she would eventually calm down a bit, accepting the handkerchief from Ryuusei (one that he now probably had to throw away depending on the condition he would get it back in). The reprieve would be short lived however, as she also accepted his offer to listen to her story, which took her on another apparent emotional rollercoaster and sent tears flowing down her cheeks once more. As much as he wanted his attempts to console her to stop her from crying, that simply didn’t happen. In fact, his words might have ended up causing the exact opposite indirectly. He wouldn’t make a comment or a face however, instead staying true to his word and being there to listen and try to understand her situation.

Ryuusei couldn’t exactly say that he wasn’t at least a bit confused by how dramatic her manner of speech became when she spoke of this man, nor could he claim to have any real understanding of how she felt. People always said that love changed people – made them do strange things. He wouldn’t know first-hand, never having been in love himself, but the anecdotal evidence seemed to confirm the stories he heard. Yui sitting here crying in front of him was living proof. This man, Bokuden, she felt so strongly for that the thought of him putting himself in danger pushed her to drag me into a bathroom and threaten my life just because I looked like him. She was so angry, but now all she could do was weep and lament over the loneliness she felt in his absence. This was a far cry from what he expected from a woman with her reputation. But in the end it seems that even the Sand’s Blood Fang still felt love and pain the same as any other woman.

Her story did leave Ryuusei in a bit of a predicament as to how he should reply, however. Because he had never felt what she had felt, he could not sit there and tell her he understood. He had no intention of insulting or downplaying her feelings by pretending they were something so easily emulated. “I’m sure he’d be proud to hear that,” he said, “But perhaps it’s possible that he wouldn’t want you to feel obligated to shed tears or push yourself so hard for his sake. He loved you just fine as you were, didn’t he? I don’t think you’re such a horrible person and I don’t believe he would have loved you if you were as bad as you claim you were. I’m sorry by the way… about before. What I said about living up to your name. I spoke out of anger, but now that I’ve listened to you I’ve seen the mistake I’ve made. Perhaps there was once a time that the old nicknames would have suited you, but I don’t see a trace of Suna’s Blood Fang in front of me now. So I apologize. Who would have thought that being attacked in the middle of the casino would have ended up being a good thing?”

---

543 | 2156~

She heard his words as she shook her head no he had changed her and he was glad he did. She was such a mess when they met living day by day just drinking and fighting and now she had a desire and a purpose. She had lost all her will after she had ended the rebellion the cries and screams for mercy still echoed through her ears, so many died that day by her hands and orders. She heard him mention there was no sign of the blood fang before him as she scoffed a bit at his remarks. Sure she didn't fit the exact image but she still was more than capable of fighting she had just calmed over the years.

"I may not be the vicious killer I am rumored to be but I can still fight. As for him not wanting me to change he did want me to change, I changed because of his guidance and my promise was to make Suna a power house when he left. I will not forget my promise and I will turn it great once more."

She rubbed her head when he mentioned the attack making her scratch the back of her head a bit. It was true she had attacked him but at the same time he got to learn about one of his countries great unknown heroes. She knew the goal she had to do and she would make sure it happened. She took a deep breath as she was still resolute she was happy she had this talk it let her get her frustrations out about not seeing Bokuden.

"I am quite sorry for hitting you however I did not mean any harm and now that I have calmed down how about I pay for dinner for you. It is the least I can do for you considering what just happened."

She would wait for his response as she looked around the village was so busy with so many scents mixed together from various nations. She loved seeing this village like this and could only hope someday her own nation would once again host the exams.

WC:361

So that didn’t work out.

Ryuusei had tried to be kind and understanding of her situation, even going back to apologize for a comment he had made earlier which he knew she had a bit of a negative reaction to. Unfortunately for him, Yui was not as receptive to the intentions of others as he was and had apparently taken offense to his words that were meant to be complimentary. “Easy,” he commented, raising his arms up slightly and showing her his palms as if to broker peace between them, “My intention was not to insinuate that you appear weak or are incapable. You’ve already demonstrated adequately your ability to inflict damage, as evidenced by my shoulder. I simply noticed earlier that you weren’t particularly fond of the old names given to you. I simply wanted to revise what I said earlier. I didn’t mean to undermine your own abilities if that is how it came across.”

This woman was difficult to read though. One moment attacking him, the next moment crying to him. One moment scoffing at his words, but inviting him to dinner the next. Ryuusei was always wary of people who were difficult to read, but he didn’t particularly believe she had malicious intentions. “Hmmm, dinner, huh?” he replied, not necessarily in a rush to give an answer, “Dinner sounds nice, but I’m not necessarily sure how I feel about letting you pay my way. Maybe it’s old fashioned, but I usually insist on paying anytime I’m out with a woman.”

Their conversation would be temporarily disrupted however, as a ruckus coming from the direction of the casino exit caught Ryuusei’s attention. His ears would perk up as he listened intently for details regarding the approaching noise. From what he could pick up it seemed as though he and Yui’s little dust up in the Casino restroom had not only caught the attention of the gamblers, but the casino staff as well who had notified authorities, mentioning Yui by name. He wasn’t sure if she had heard it all as well, if she was still speaking, but as far as he was concerned they needed to move.

“Sorry, it looks like it’s my turn to drag you along with me,” Ryuusei said with a smirk as he took her left hand in his, “Let me borrow this.”

Using her hand as the second needed to complete the necessary hand seals, Ryuusei would perform the Body flicker technique and move them further away from their location and onto a rooftop a few building down, taking Yui along with him.

“That’s something we’ll have to clear up later,” he said, letting go of her hand and looking over his shoulder back in the direction of the hotel, “It would be a bit of a hassle for you if the local authorities were looking for you to investigate an assault on a local. Well, I’m sure we’ll come up with something to tell them later. This should at least give us some time. For now though, could I bother you to take a look at my shoulder? I know I was hesitant before, but I guess the Body Flicker technique’s movement put a bit of strain on it. It’s getting pretty hard to move now.”

---

563 | 2719~

She listened to his words and it seemed she had misunderstood him but before she could apologize she heard the noise from the casino. She did cause a lot of damage and the last thing she wanted was to start a big issue of her attacking buildings in Kumo. He grabbed her hand and body flickered as he did she could feel the pull in his shoulder she was right he was injured as they started to move toward a hotel. She was not sure if this was his hotel he was staying at but he asked her to help with his shoulder. She sighed as she would motion for him to follow her into a alley.

"I told you the shoulder needed to be healed... next time listen to me now it will be rather. Now hold still so I can heal it we wont have time to do it properly mun til we get into some place out of site it will take about ten minutes. You have a shoulder separation and some minor tendon damage."

She would continue to try to fix it as best as she could but she could hear more foot steps heading their way, the really needed to get indoors fast and hide from these people. She had no clue where to go but she hoped he had a plan as she finished the patch work healing, he could properly use his arm but any strain would cause injury again so fighting was out of the question.

"Do you have some place we can head, if you do I can fix this and we should be in the clear. We can also talk a lot easier if we had a place to relax and talk so this day isn't so crazy for you."

WC:300

“Running and hiding in hopes that this will simply blow over probably isn’t the best idea,” Ryuusei replied, listening for the sounds of approaching guards, “You’re too high profile a suspect for that. You made your identity publicly known enough back at the casino that they are now looking for you by name. The longer we put off dealing with it the more suspicious it will look. It’s probably best you just patch me up as best you can and then we go and handle the situation before it gets out of hand. I’m assuming your intention here wasn’t to come and make headlines for assaulting a man in a rival village. It wouldn’t exactly be a good way to bolster inter-village relations.”

Fortunately, for the moment at least, their pursuers seemed to have lost their trail, turning in the direction opposite of the alley to continue their sweep of the area. That should at least give them enough time for Ryuusei’s shoulder to be returned to a manageable state. If their goal was to convince the authorities that there was no issue in need of investigation, showing up unable to move his arm would likely not have been the most reassuring sign that they could have given. The most prudent course of action would likely to be simply to have her heal his shoulder right there and then go looking for their pursuers, under the guise of wanting to “clear up any misunderstandings” about what had happened.

“You said I needed my shirt off in order to treat it properly, right?” Ryuusei continued as he slid off his jacket, careful not to undo whatever level of base treatment she had given his shoulder to allow him enough range of motion to move his arm once more (albeit still very limited), “The best move is probably to have you just do the treatment right here and we’ll deal with them once the evidence of any assault is gone. I can probably get you off scot-free since they’re just local authorities. Just let me do the talking and play along. With any luck they’ll just let it go and all you’ll have to do is smile and I’ll get you off.”

Ryuusei then began going down the center of his white shirt and undoing the buttons, which was a bit slower than it normally would be as he was obviously favoring one shoulder over the other. With his jacket slung over his shoulder he would step over to what appeared to be an air conditioning unit for the building and lay it down there to free up his hands. He would also lean back onto the metal box, using it as a seat while he pulled off his dress shirt. Carefully he would lay the white shirt over the black jacket, in hopes of not dirtying it with anything around and then pull up the right sleeve of his white undershirt over his bicep and pin it to his shoulder, revealing his entire arm. “Will this do?”

---

520 | 3239~

She sighed hearing his words, it was true she was super famous so trying to hide would be pointless and she did feel bad and needed to treat his injuries. he began to remove his shirt so she could treat the injury as she would begin to feel the shoulder using her green chakra from her hands to tell exactly what was wrong as she sighed. It was a separated shoulder with some minor tears to the muscle surrounding it she could heal it but he would need to take it easy for a couple of days.

"I can heal you but I wont get to completely fix it... listen you will need to take it easy for several days. As for the other issues yes I think we should meet with the authorities but... not sure how to pay for the damages I caused."

He said to play along as she healed him for several minutes before hearing the sound of pursuers again, she did what she could with the time she had as she sighed. She helped him get clothed again but she did wonder how they would play off the assault, he must have had some sort of crazy plan she could only hope it worked.

WC:209

“Wait, what do you mean you don’t know how you’re going to pay for the damages?” Ryuusei replied, the irritation clear in his voice, “How is it even possible that someone of your stature within a major shinobi village doesn’t have the means to pay for such minimal damage?”

“Never mind, I’m sure that whatever explanation you have wouldn’t help solve the situation,” he continued as he brought his thumb and middle finger to his face and rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Alright, it looks like I’ll need a new plan then. There is zero chance that the casino just lets any debts its owed slide. Me trying to game them was kind of contingent on you actually being able to pay for whatever damage you did to the bathroom. Give me a moment to think.”

Ryuusei would take a moment to mull over his options as he said, but everything he could come up with kept running into the issue that even if they let the disturbance with Yui’s assault on him slide, there was no way that the casino was just going to let them go without getting their money back. He still found it unbelievable that someone of her rank wouldn’t have ample ryo in reserve just from mission payouts, but it isn’t like griping about it would change the outcome. He would just have to work around the fact that this famous and high ranking shinobi was seemingly broke. Why was he even going so far out of his way to help her anyway? It wasn’t like HE was the one who was being searched for as a potential criminal. Sure she had helped patch up his arm a bit, but he wouldn’t have needed medical attention if she hadn’t slammed him down randomly in the first place. Ah, whatever. He was pretty much stuck with her now anyway.

“Alright, let’s go,” Ryuusei announced as he raised himself up from his seat, beginning to walk before even explaining himself, “Let’s go find the men that are searching for us. I can’t imagine they’ll be too hard to find, right?” He pointed to his nose as he looked back at Yui, giving her the clue as to how she could help them locate their targets more quickly.

---

397 | 3636~

"Actually, here is the phone number at which you can contact me," Ryuusei said as he pulled out an old cash out receipt from the casino and hastily write down his contact number, "I'm going to go directly to the hotel. It's probably best that you don't come at first so that there isn't any immediate hostility, since they likely consider you a violent threat at this point. Give me a few hours to go and resolve this, then call me and I'll let you know of any updates or complications. I'll be off now."

-Exit-

1500/1500 Raiton: D > C
1500/1500 Suiton: D > C

625/625 Str E-3 > D-1

-Exit Thread Total word count 2,378-
Training Reaction from C-1 to B Total words 2,000 Ryo 450