Hira was still a little bruised from his chunin match but he had complete contorl over his body again and as he sat on the hill side looking up at the setting sun he wondered about life and what it was that made things tick. "Humans are such feeble creature... and destiny is our captor keeping us locked up in its cage of fate. It took kiri's destruction and the death of Hikou for me to realize that the only thing that follows all humans, is death. Something no one can escape, no matter how hard you run, no matter how good you hide. He muttered to himself. Hedrew a kunai from his pouch and as a single tear fell off his cheek he stabbed his right hand. Although he won his match in the exams there was nothing to be happy about. "Why? Why did this have to happen..... Its... oh its just... not... right. I wish i could have been there, i wish i would have died an honorable death along side Hikou or protecting my village, i just wish that i was there to help." He muttered

Nothing like a calm walk to clear his head, right? The damage from his last fight lingered, though he was ignorant to said fact. His chest was stitched and bandaged and yet he didn't care that much about it. He'd stopped at the foot of a hill. He saw somebody sitting on the side, though they were faced in the opposite direction. He'd overheard some muttering from a voice that sounded rather familiar, incredibly familiar actually. Then he stabbed himself in the hand. That was a bit odd, to say the least.
"That's some pretty interesting insight." he said. Takao sat next to Hiragana with one leg up, his right arm resting on his elevated knee. "Doesn't sound like you're too happy about winning your fight, but I can't say I'd be different if I was in the same position." he said while glancing over to Hiragana from the few meters away that he sat.

"The death of the Mizukage is hitting you pretty hard, isn't it?" he said in a much more dull and monotone voice.

Hira didnt turn his eyes away from his bleeding hand and just clenched his fist allowing the crimson blood to fall onto the green grass below. He looked up at the sky and inhalead a deep breathe turning to Takao for a few moments. "The death of the mizukage did hit me pretty hard but something worse has happened... you havent heard have you." He looked at the ground then at his bloddy hand again before saying "Kiriagakure... has been completly destroyed..." Even as he said it he failed to believe it, i mean how could someone wipe out an entire country just for the hell of it. That has to be the most sellfish thing ever, but it didnt matter why they did it because understanding why they did it wouldnt change a damn thing so there was no point.

Takao glanced from Hiragana down to his bleeding hand, then his gaze was diverted over to the scenery of the hill. Kirigakure had been destroyed, huh? Wasn't exactly news to Takao, as even with a village as large as Konohagakure, rumors and words still spread like a wildfire. He nodded along to Hiragana as he spoke, but kept his gaze on the scenery. "Can't say it's news. It would make sense to assume that anybody strong enough to defeat the Mizukage would be strong enough to destroy the village as well." Takao said, shrugging his shoulders afterwards.

"So, you think that it would've been better to fight and die beside your Mizukage? Who'd be left to rebuild?" he said in response. His head turned to face Hiragana, and then off behind them. He narrowed his eyes and turned back to Hiragana. "Doesn't sound like anybody benefits from that mindset."

He didnt even glance at Takao as he listened to his words, his words.... made sense but at the same time they didnt. With his eyes closed and his head slightly tilted down he spoke "I know... but if i had died back there, at least i would have died the way a true shinobi could and then atleast i wouldnt have to carry the burden."

He looked over at Takao finally and crossed his arms around both knees before speaking again "It hurts especially for me because i was born alone and found all that along the way, then to just have it taken from me. Im not sure what to feel." It was true as Hira was born alone he never had anything to be taken but now that he acually had something taken from him this was an all new thing for him.

Takao exhaled heavily and closed his eyes. He stayed silent while listening to Hiragana and nodded along. "Everybody has something that makes them strong. It shouldn't discourage you from moving on, it should motivate you." he said. Takao chuckled a bit afterwords as his thoughts wandered into how he was becoming some kind of voice of reason. He never thought he'd see the day.
"Besides, if you weren't prepared to carry burdens and deal with death, why did you become a ninja?" Takao said. He stood himself up slowly and dug his hands into his pockets, then stared off in the same direction he had been.

"It sounds to me like you're much better off alive so that you can help rebuild your village. Don't be so down about what happened, it never turns out well in the end. Besides, I'd like to have a rematch some day."

As Hira listened to Takao's words he began to see that Takao was right he looked at his right hand and clenched it into a fist before speaking to Takao "Your... Your damn right i have to keep moving forward. I became a ninja because i wanted to show the world i had it in me i wanted to prove to them i could rise to the top and thats exactly what im gonna do, and your rematch offer... i accept." It was amazing how fast his mood had changed it was something Takao had said, something just clicked. He was right after all, all clouds have a silver lining. The village would need Hira anyways, he was one of the strongest of the Kiri ninja left alive and at this point they needed all the help they could get. He looked over at Takao saying with a chuckle "I never imagined you to be such a smoothe speaker."

[Hope it's okay]

Karo walked through the busy streets of Konoha, the sun out as usual and the flower she received from Hira while she was in the infirmary, it's petals still full of life as it sat on her ear, pulling the hair back at the left side of her head. She liked the kind gesture and the flower alone was so pretty, she actually couldn't help but continually stare at it, getting looks from villagers and also getting compliments on it, hell, she was even asked if she was willing to sell it for a high price due to it's rarity. She hadn't known that it was rare, she figured it was one of Kiri's flowers.

She came across two genin, one of them being hira and the other...slightly odd looking. Why would he wear a coat like that in this weather? He must be boiling in it. She decided to walk up to the two but froze as she remembered that it was Hira that was there...her shyness kicked in and she froze on the spot...she felt like she was going to flail and just break off into pieces, floating off with the wind. Her stomach was doing cartwheels.

Takao stretched out his right arm towards the sky as he listened to Hiragana. He had never thought of himself as a smooth talker, but people learn new things about themselves every day, right?
"Smooth Talker? Never thought of myself as one either. Guess that makes two of us." Takao said, chuckling slightly afterwards. "I look forward to the rematch. Maybe after the exams are done and your village is back on it's feet, yeah?" he said as he glanced back off into the distance.

The slight sound of somebody approaching from behind had caught Takao's attention. He turned his head slightly and looked at the approaching woman and narrowed his eyes slightly. She looked a bit familiar, but not like she was part of the village. Maybe visiting for the exams or something? He turned his head to Hiragana and pointed to their rear using his thumb.
"You know her?" he asked.

Hira smiled and chuckled along with Takao's words and then laid back on the grass for a moment when a slight breeze blew along, he spoke to Takao "Yea... im not sure if i want to fight you again though. Ill get burned again and i hate getting burned." Hira said laughing.

Hira sat up when Takao pointed to someone that was behind them and ask "you know her?". Hira looked over at the familiar orange haired girl. This was the medic that had healed him, the one he had given the flower to. He stood up and walked over to her slowly and said softly "Hey your that medic that healed me... thanks the burns are healing great. How do you like the flower i gave you? I never did catch your name?"

Karo felt her face turn slightly more red as the sharkboy continued to walk up to her, a small smile on his face as he lent in towards her, a soft voice emanating from his lips.
"Uhm...that's good. I'm glad I managed to do something about it, I'm not that skilled though. Sorry I didn't do better." She said to him, bowing slightly in an apologetic manner before looking back up to him.
"I'm Karoshi Zetsumei of the Kumogakure village. I'm only here to support my friend... and your flower? I've watered it everyday and not went out before placing it into my hair. See?" She said as she pointed at the flower...

She tilted her head, noticing another genin but...for some reason he seemed...I dunno, like they'd met before...but she hadn't...she blinked before giving off a wave to the boy.
"Hello." She said over to him in a slightly confused tone.

Hira hadnt noticed the flower in the girls hair but when he did he smiled at it, it was his clan flower, being used as a hairpeice. He never figured that it would end up being a hairpeice but it made sense given its rarity. He spoke to Karo "It does seem to be quite alive, then again they are tough flowers just as tough as kisame clan members themselves.

Hira rubbed his shoulder and his side not even wincing at the slight pain he felt, before returning his gaze to Karo "No you did well healing me, better then i ever could when i tried to heal myself after past fights, guess thats why im no medic ninja. He said in a joking tone. "I kinda always just let it... heal itself i guess. Kinda figured if i didnt mess with the injury it would take care of itself."

(ok... lets see... the posting order kinda got messed up... but its no biggy)

posting order:

Takao turned back to looking at the distance while Hiragana stood and approached the girl. Eventually he turned around as well after releasing a yawn. It had only just occurred to him that he'd yet to take a completely undeserved well deserved mid-noon nap. He walked a bit closer to Hiragana and Karoshi as they spoke to each other and reached out to pat Hiragana's shoulder as he walked past. He nodded his head to Karoshi to return the greeting.
"I'll see you around. Good luck with the rest of the exams." he said as he walked past. The two seemed to have some kind of existing chemistry already, so he wouldn't want to interrupt them with his presence. He waved goodbye to Hiragana as he departed and headed back on his way.

OOC:|| Sorry for late reply ||

Karo watched as the strangely familiar looking boy which she didn't know the name of...unfortunate cause now it was beginning to bug her. She turned back to Hira and smiled at him. There was a strange aura around him for some reason which made her feel as though she could trust him...then again she did want to find out more about his lineage of the Kisame clan. The fact that he had shark characteristics alone made him interesting but having a larger chakra pool? Oh god yes! This is just what she wanted but first...
"What was that boys name?" She asked, pointing at the small speck of a dot that was Takao.

She walked over to a nearby rock and sat upon it, her long orange hair flowing down her chest, parting around her breasts as she pulled the flower from her hair and began to smell it. Sweet with a hint of innocence and security. Something she craved for in life which she didn't have. Her parents were no ninja so counting on them to protect her was unlikely...she wasn't dependent on others but every once in a while, a girl just wants to feel safe and warm.

Hira stood there with his arms crossed, not really in a bad mood but not in a good one either. He just peered up at the sky missing Karoshi's question at first but when he got back to reality he answered "Oh that was Takao he was my oppenent in the exams. He sat down in the grass where he was standing and just kinda dazed off for a few moments excaping again into the dream world of universal solitude. He noticed Karoshi studying him, this wasnt unusual because its not everyday you see a land shark or whatever hira was. He looked up at Karoshi and asked her a somewhat intrusive question "You seem interested in me, or my clan. Would you like a biography or some info on the kisame clan?"

He caused those burns on Hira's body? Wow, he must be pretty skilled with his Katon element. Nothing really came out as striking about the fellow but still, for him to cause those burns to that severity; he must've used some high level jutsu.
Karo shook her head and smiled in reply to Hira's answer, that was until he had asked her if she had wanted to get to know more about the kisame clan, freely giving up information for her to read up on...she wasn't going to let this opportunity to pass her. She quickly got to her feet and ran over to him, hugging him as a thanks, her sweet scented perfume wafting in the air and her tropical scented hair aswell before getting to her feet and bouncing up and down for a moment on the spot, over joyed wasn't even the word to be used here.
"Please please! That would mean so much to me if you did!" She near enough squeaked in excitement.

Hira laughed for a few moments "Yea me and takao had a good run, and i came out on top but still it was a good match. He is pretty good with fire but in the end water beats fire ya know?" Hethen caught himself gazing at the stars for a moment, this was something he often did because well, when your alone as much as he was as a child the stars and the sky seemed like a close friend so bright and protective. However he was snapped back to reality by Karoshi hugging him and the scent of her perfume. It smelled... nice almost as good as the smell of a water-wisp, but to a kisame nothing could match the smell of their clan flower.
He pushed Karoshi away after the hug but when he pushed her away in was in a nice playful manner not a rude one. "Alright alright... let me breath so i can think about where to begin. Uhm.... well... fish like appearence for starters, pretty obvious acually. We have complete mastery over the water element, as well as a substantially larger chakra pool which comes in handy a lot. We come from the village hidden in the mist, descended from the legendayr swordsmen and akatsuki member kisame Hoshigake. Though unlike most clans we took on his first name instead of his last one. Even i cant tell you why however. After he said this long paragraph he began to scratch his head, what else was their to tell? At this point he hoped she would have questions of some sort so he would be able to get out of this mind blank he was having.

She felt Hira's hand place upon her and push her away jokingly, she laughed slightly as she flicked her hair back, the flower waving along with her hair as she yawned slightly. She was still drained from having being treating all those people by her self.

She listened intently to the words that Hira had to say to her, informing her more about the Kisame clan but then again it wasn't nothing she had heard before. She'd read a fair bit on the clan in several library, information was scattered but she soon put 2 and 2 together.
"Do you know why your clan has a higher chakra pool? It's always something that's confused me. That is, if you know why. No pressure." She asked, sitting down so she can be at the same level as Hira, staring at him intently and pulling out a small journal which she wrote everything in.

Hira continued scratching his head for a few more moments before pondering on about her question. He let out a small sigh followed by the crossing of his arms before he began speaking again. "Im not exactly sure, but i guess it has something to do with our genetic mutation. Most likely it could be the influence that the samaheda sword had on the acual kisame a long time ago, the blade transfers the chakra of its victims into its owner giving them untold amounts of chakra of course at some cost of their own, that could explain it. You have heard about that sword right?"
He had acually wondered himself what causes his larger chakra pool, him being the only one left he had no one to turn to for answers and most of the books he read were vague at best.

She listened as Hira began to talk, scribbling down everything he was saying onto the empty page, her pen stopping at the end of the page as she was asked if she had heard about the Samaheda. No to be exact but she had read about it. The abilities of it were renowned and Karoshi had hoped that maybe one day she too could have a S-Ranked weapon.

"I have indeed heard of such a sword." She replied to him. "I read alot so I know a fair bit about most things." She giggled, the irony being that she found herself asking questions about alot of things also. Then again she really only read up on things that interested her.

Hira had taken a moment to catch his breathe, he wondered why anyone would care so much about his heritage, he couldnt be that much of an excting person could he. He surely didnt think so, but hey if someone was interested in him, who was he to deny them some informative biographies. He just stood there listening to Karoshi's reply. He then collapsed on the grass playfully looking up at the sky just, looking.

Karo watched as Hira fell back on the grass, happiness on his face as he stared up into the clear blue skies. Was he alright? He just suddenly...hit the dirt.
Walking over to him, having push herself up and brushing off any dirt from her clothes, she peered over his, her hair dangling just past her waist line as she blinked twice before tilting her head to the left.

"You alright there?" She asked, confusion just sprawled on her face as she prodded her lips and her eyes slightly blank.

Hira looked up towards karoshi just bringing his head up enough to where he could meet her gaze. He unsjeatjed both of his swords and laid them down next to them, keeping them both in their sheathes would make it uncomfortable. He still looking at karoshi said "Yea im fine... just a little wore out from all this exam stuff and training and what not. Never get any free time to just rest or relax."

He then laid his head back down closing his eyes as if he were asleep, however you could clearly tell he wasnt, he was more like daydreaming than sleeping. He wondered if Karoshi would join him, but he decided against breaking his own peace and asking her.

Karo watched as he removed his swords, her eyes glinting at the blades. Still sitting down, she shuffled on her legs closer to Hira, picking up one of the blades and examining it and removing it from it's sheath, the blade long and shiny. Karo like!
She got up and took a step or two away from Hira, still listening to what he had to say... She raised the blade overhead and began taking slow movements as she swished the sword from left to right, following through with a whirling like motion before stopping, the ends of her hair still moving as she stopped.

"You really should take a break from the ninja life for a day or two. I keep preaching this to you." She said as she turned her head, lowering the blade onto her hand; running along the back of the blade. She walked towards him and placed it back into it's sheath. She then got down and sat next Hira, her legs crossed as her body arched back and her arms supporting her up.

"Konoha sure is pretty." She laughed, the suns light making her eyes look like an orangey flare.

He watcheD AS Karoshi examined his blade and began to swing it around, he usually was a stickler about people messing with his stuff but he didnt mind this once. He just let her go on as she was doing. He then laughed a little at Karoshi's remark. She was right of course a break from the ninja life would do him some good but what would he do, being a ninja was something he was used to. If he wasnt training he was on missions or doing somethingelse ninja related that was his life after all. "I would lobve to take a break from being a ninja but im not sure what i would do.