The night life in Kumo was a lot more active than in Konoha, though Mitsuo didn't like it quite as much as Kiri. He had also found some interesting places during his travels outside of the shinobi world that were even more impressive, places where they really focused on the glitz and glamour of what a nightlife can be. He had found clubs where there were dancers who pertained to every kind of person, including Mitsuo's personal tastes, which he took the chance to enjoy on a couple of occasions. It wasn't very often that Mitsuo was able to come across a place that pertained to males that enjoyed the company of other males, but he came across a few in his travels and they were lovely. While he was back in this area, however, he decided that he would find a night club in Kumo, and since he was trying to see the sites of Kumo before he had to leave, he figured that the Sky Bar would be a good place to go. He situated himself in the side wing of the Sky Bar, which was a little bit more private, and spoke to one of the servers, ordering himself a London Fog. She gave him an odd look when he ordered the latte, apparently not used to being asked for such things in this establishment, but walked away and assured him that he could have it.

He could see a handful of shinobi sitting around the bar, some of whom he recognized from different points in his travels, such as around the village otherwise or even a few whom he had fought with in the Kiri war. The ones he recognized from there he decided it would be good to try to ignore eye contact with, they seemed to be likely to get him in trouble potentially, and he simply didn't want that. He was trying his best to avoid any run ins with anyone who would recognize him as a member of the Aoi Bara, or perhaps even as a former Sannin of the Hidden Leaf village, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't have much issue with that. The girl that he was meeting was an apprentice of his sister from the Aoi Bara whom he was told showed some prowess, and therefore he wanted to get a chance to talk to her. He had received a letter from her, which had a small chibi version of herself holding a peace sign at the bottom of it, telling him to meet the girl here and to please not injure her too much. He decided that he should not test his chain whip on her, as it would likely be a bad idea. The server brought him his latte and he happily sipped it, keeping an eye peeled for the girl who he was waiting on.

(485)

Lin had talked with Gin about meeting someone interesting. Apparently he was known as the "sword saint" or some other ridiculous title of Konoha. She walked into the sky bar, holding up a hand to shield her eyes from the garish lights that even now pulsed and shot around the common room. The bartender nodded at her and started to make her drink before she even said anything. Walking up to the counter she yelled over to him, "No, not that this morning, a green tea please. The drink that I had last night should hold me off till tonight at least." It was true that she had been here almost every night as of late and had ordered at least one drink for herself, not to mention all of the other drinks that she had procured from other patrons. Usually they were drunk or old enough to be her father though, so it didn't lead anywhere. The free drinks were all appreciated though, and she would at least dance with them in order to assuage the wound of leaving the skybar alone night after night.

Walking over to where she knew that Mitsuo was waiting, she saw a man with a distinguished look about him. He was definitely older than her and had seen his fair share of battles, she could see though he carried almost no visible sign that he had been a part of any battle. Her thoughts were interrupted by a drunk stumbling towards the bar that attempted to grab her butt along the way. A quick stab with her senbon that she had brought just in case made the point that she wasn't interested. By the time that he had realized that he had been stabbed, she swayed, her skirt flowing behind her and the senbon neatly tucked back into the pouch that hung on her belt. She had worn a dress-like outfit that was actually a skirt with a top that matched perfectly.

She had gone out with Mifune to pick out this outfit and thought that it was cute and semi-formal. It had a red top and a checkered grey skirt that hugged her midriff, showing off her flat stomach. She had been working on her physique with her friend Toshi and Gin for a while now, so she was quite proud to show it off. Some of the confidence came from her being with Dameon though, and she knew it but wasn't really thinking about it right now.

Approaching the man she placed her hands on her legs and gave a formal half-bow, making sure to remain decent in her skirt. "Gin sent me. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Lin!" She looked up with a bright smile and tilted her head slightly to show that she was pleased to meet him, even if he did have a ridiculous title.

WC: 493

The Sword Saint of Konoha sipped on his tea as it was brought over to him, keeping an eye out for the girl that he was told to meet here. The tea latte was nearly perfect, the foam on top being light enough that it wasn't too little tea, and the strength and warmth of the tea warming Mitsuo to his core. He was etremely happy with the delicious blend of tea, milk and sugar and couldn't imagine a better drink. He wasn't a fan of alcohol, as he had always seen it as a mask for deeper issues, but he certainly didn't want to look as though he was masking his deeper set issues. Just because Mitsuo often wished that he was dead didn't mean that he was also trying to escape from reality, and places like this always reminded him of why he hated alcohol. There, of course, was an advantage of coming to coming to a bar instead of going to a cafe, and that advantage was that he could smoke here.

He pulled the package of cigarettes out from one of the pouches on his coat, his zippo lighter in his other hand. As he took a smoke from the pack he held it to his lips, using one hand to shield the flame from the wind as he struck the lighter with the thumb of the other hand, inhaling deeply and keeping the smoke in his lungs for a few seconds before exhaling the smoke out of his nose. Ah how he loved the light headed feeling he gained off of that first deep drag and keeping the smoke trapped. Longer gave better results and it gave Mitsuo just the release he needed to take the edge off of his stressful life if only for the five minutes it would take him to finish his cigarette. He knew it was a bad habit but with medical jutsu as advanced as they were he would never have to suffer the ill effects of smoking and was free to enjoy each cigarette as much as he wanted too. He took another drag and smiled softly, holding the smoke a little bit longer as he flicked the ash into a trey on top of the table that he was sitting at before exhaling the smoke through his nose once more, seeing the girl approach him.

She introduced herself and confirmed that she was the one who he was supposed to be meeting, Mitsuo's half smile forming on his face as he pointed towards a seat for her to sit at. "Hello Lin, I am Mitsuo, a good friend of Gin's. The pleasure is all mine." He would wait for about ten seconds for her to take the seat, and weather she did or not he would then begin to speak again. "I've been told that you are a fantastic student, and I wanted to pick your brain about my old friend. I have fought her several times as an ally, though I have never trained with her. We are both known for our...dangerous training methods, but I'm curious to meet someone who has actually trained with her." He took another drag of the cigarette, blowing the smoke consciously away from the girl as he knew that not everyone liked it, and listened to what she had to say.

1055

Lin would take the seat proffered to her by mitsuo and rearrange her skirt, making sure that everything was in place. Silly title or no, this man was dangerous even when he was smoking and drinking his tea.

"Gin's training was... hard to say the least. The first training session we went through I was blindfolded and she threw kunai at me for more than a half-hour. More than one stuck into my limbs and I had to fight through the pain as she kept telling me which way she would be throwing the kunai. Then she switched it up, making sure that she was saying the wrong way one third of the time, and then half the time. Once I started ignoring her voice, she threw the kunai in a different way, able to make her body move like she was throwing left when she threw right and that got me hit a couple times. It was almost as if she was trying to throw me off, but then I realized that I could just listen to the wind going through the eye of the kunai if I concentrated really hard. It wasn't really something that I wanted to do, but something that I had to do. Once I got that down, she said that we could stop and I pulled out the kunai.

If it weren't for my medical ninjutsu I would have probably been in worse condition than I am right now. To be honest, her throwing ability is nothing but flawless, and if she had been aiming for my vitals I would be all but dead right now. The lesson was one: don't listen to your opponent in battle, just focus on what's going to hit you. and two: don't play by the rules set up by your opponent if you can help it. The reason that I got so hurt was because I agreed to be blindfolded. It wasn't something that she wanted me to contest her on right now, but in the future I am supposed to think for myself i suppose, not be a dummy and just go along with whatever everyone else says."

She stopped her monologue and looked up at Mitsuo, he was a handsome man, and quite distinguished like Gin had said. Lin could feel herself reddening as she shook her head, "How do you usually train your students, or do you have any students anymore? Perhaps I could learn a thing or two from you sometime? I am not averse to learning something new from someone new." Lin's smile attempted to be radiant. She knew that if she was to become a strong medical ninja, that she would have to train with multiple masters, multiple ways, and in multiple different scenarios in order to be varied and decisive in her actions. This was the perfect opportunity to pick the brains of someone who was hailed as a "sword saint" Perhaps she could even have him teach her how to use a whip. Her eyes were drawn to it and snapped back. "Sorry, it's just that I want to become the strongest medical Ninja, and to become that, i have to learn some other things besides, otherwise I won't grow and will become stagnant like my cousin."

It was true that her cousin was stuck. He was a chuunin and had been for the last 10 years. Her cousin was child to her older uncle and aunt who lived on the outskirts of Kumogakure. His parents were not ninjas nor did they have any desire to be caught up in the ninja business. It was perhaps because of this that Lin's contact with him had been sparse, and he had eben unwilling to teach her anything about the ninja world. he had taken the chuunin exam and passed, but really hadn't done anything ninja-related after that. He now ran a shop that sold cray-fish and crabs. it was almost a disappointment to her that she was almost as skilled as him and she had been working on her ninja skills for far less time.

His name wouldn't be written in the histories of Kumogakure, whereas she would go down as the topmost medical ninja in the village, and perhaps would become the next raikage. She liked the sound of that, and would be a diplomat that would bring peace between the villages. Perhaps... perhaps this was what she needed, another tutor. Another perspective, and more outside influence to keep the people happy. If her foreign policy was better than the current Raikage's then perhaps she would be considered when he stepped down for Raikage. That was a long time off though, she knew, and she didn't want to jump the gun. For now, she was aiming for best Medical ninja in the village.

WC: 1323

Mitsuo listened to what the girl had to say, drinking his tea latte and imagining the Queen of Blades hurling a torrent of kunai at a blindfolded student. He wasn’t overly surprised of course, as it seemed like something that she would do, having known her the way that he had since they had met originally during their Aoi Bara days. She always seemed like she would be a terrifying teacher, but that was something that Mitsuo had just kind of assumed about her. The confirmation of her unique training styles was something that made Mitsuo chuckle, and he enjoyed every second of the young girl telling him the story of her unique experience with Gin. “Yeah that sounds about right. You know when I was a genin she was running a nation. I remember being in Sunagakure for the chuunin exams and looking out into the crowd and seeing her there in her Kage’s hat and coat; it was an intimidating sight. Now though, to known all that she has gone through since those days, I believe that she is far more terrifying, for what is scarier than a woman who has had everything she loves taken from her? One who is also a goddess with the blade.”


When the question turned towards his own training style, Mitsuo brought the cigarette back towards his lips, inhaling deeply once more. He had been considered a tough sensei for years, and even to a point where he hadn’t been allowed to take students for a long time in Konoha after a certain incident had happened. He could still remember the day that he was training the three boys like it was yesterday. One of them would even go on to become a member of Konoha’s ANBU Black Ops under Mitsuo himself, which he was always quite proud of. Every once in a while you had a student who truly shined, and Mitsuo was lucky enough to have had Aiza. The second was someone who stopped being a ninja shortly after his time training with Mitsuo, which was to be expected. Not everyone that Mitsuo trained continued being a shinobi after their time with him, as he was someone who did all he could to show them the real hardships and pain that came with being a shinobi, and he never was one to let anyone simply coast on by on their training, as it could lead to them being killed.


The third student was the one that Mitsuo could never forget. He remembered Matsu, a member of the Uzumaki clan, as being brash and foolhardy, and it was quite often that he would remember the training session between the three members of his squad, as it would be the only time that the three of them would ever be together. Young Matsu was an idiot, and Mitsuo still to this day felt bad about what he had done to the boy. When he had charged in a foolish way, deciding not to substitute away from the Sword Saint of Konoha and instead walk right into an attack from him, he had made an extremely grave error, one that normally in training wouldn’t have had such dire consequences. Mitsuo, however, was not one to let something like that slide. He had smashed the pommel of his weapon into the boy’s skull, fracturing it and putting him in the hospital after knocking him unconscious. He never made it out of that situation, and unfortunately for Mitsuo it wasn’t the last time that he would be put into a similar situation.


The next time it would happen would be when he was a Jounin and he came across two boys wandering through the forest. They were an Aburame and a Nara whom he had come across wandering about for whatever reason, he wasn’t exactly sure why. They seemed to be out looking for a fight or something, and Mitsuo was happy to attempt to train them, so long as they followed his rules. He had told them specifically that they were to attack him without delay, or else he wouldn’t give them an opportunity to defend themselves and he would simply rush them. They had stood in one place for far too long before Mitsuo lost his patience and rushed them. The Aburame ran away terrified, and the Nara took his beating at the hands of Mitsuo. When he came back to the village to become the Seventeenth Hokage, he had found out that the Aburame who had fled had actually defected from the village and was in their bingo book, and the Nara seemed to have stopped being a shinobi at some point as well.


The last case was when a young boy named Julius from his squad when he was the Hokage had decided that instead of listening to Mitsuo, it would be a great idea to attack him while he was speaking to the members of his new squad. Mitsuo watched as the boy had scooped up a handful of rocks and was preparing to throw that at him, using his superior speed and training to get up to him before he had a chance while pulling Retribution from its scabbard and smashing him in the face with the pommel, breaking his nose and knocking the boy unconscious. He had never heard from Julius after that, or from Koonta for that matter, the only of those three students who was still around being a shinobi to his knowledge was Kaia-Mai, his daughter.


“I have been told in the past I am a bit tough on my students. I am not one who appreciates when people don’t listen to me. If I tell a student to do one thing and they seem not to listen I will punish them for stepping out of line. This has caused many young genin to give up their chosen path as shinobi, and even cost one boy his life, something that still bothers me to this day.” He sat there, his cigarette finished as he pushed the ash down into the tray that was on his table in order to snuff it out and took another sip of his tea latte. “I currently only have one student, but he is not a genin, and I likely will not train genin anymore. I have had bad luck with them in the past…” His voice would trail off as he looked towards his cup. “Mmm it seems my latte is empty, and unfortunately that signifies that I do not have much time left. I am to attend a meeting tonight with Gin and a few other associates that I simply cannot miss. I hope you will understand dear girl. I apologize for cutting this so short. It truly was a pleasure to meet you, I have heard only good things and look forward to meeting you again in the future.” He would wait to hear if she had said anything to him in return, before he would turn towards the door, leaving some money on the table for the server, pulling his hood up over his head, and heading out to meet with Tsuyo Hyuga and the rest of the Aoi Bara for the first time in many years, which was a meeting that he was certainly looking forward to and had no intention of being late for, as he knew that the people who would be involved were not known for their patience...

{Exit Thread}

2327

Reaction Time - B - B2 1500 words
Perception B - B1 700 words
127 left

Lin listened to Mitsuo while drinking her green tea. It was made very well this time, and she enjoyed the aromatic quality to the tea and the warmth in her hands. It sent shivers down her spine, not from the room being cold, but there was something pleasing about gripping a warm cup of tea, even if it was 100 degrees outside, which rarely happened in Kumogakure. While she listened to him, she watched the people below the sky-bar, so very small because they were so far up in the air. It was a masterful job that a masterly glassmaker did, and was probably chakra-infused. She didn't know how they did it, but she was glad for it. It didn't scuff, it didn't get dirty, it was just completely transparent. And now it was giving her vertigo. Looking up, a bit green behind the gills, she smiled to Mitsuo. He seemed to be enjoying reminiscing about his students. It would be nice to have a student of her own someday, but she knew that day was far off into the future, if it ever happened.

She was still frail, she was innocent, and she knew it. She had been told it by Gin, Mifune, Dameon... Well, she would become the top medical ninja no matter what. It was not only a personal goal, but it was a goal that she wanted to achieve because she wanted to make her parents proud. Especially her father. Just thinking about him made her blood boil. She didn't know why, she loved her father, but he was never proud of her. He pointed to kids that were her age and were already Jonin level. It made her embarrassed to be a ninja, but perhaps, since she had Gin she wouldn't need to be embarrassed anymore. She would be stronger. Gin had told her about someone named Tsuyo that would help her get stronger as a medical ninja. She had given her his coordinates and everything. Now she just needed to pluck up the courage to go out there and meet him. Gin hadn't said much about him, just that he was a dangerous medical ninja.

Perhaps she could become a "dangerous medical ninja" too with time? Perhaps, perhaps not. She shrugged to her inner dialogue and continued to listen to him until he finally said, "I currently only have one student, but he is not a genin, and I likely will not train genin anymore. I have had bad luck with them in the past… Mmm it seems my latte is empty, and unfortunately that signifies that I do not have much time left. I am to attend a meeting tonight with Gin and a few other associates that I simply cannot miss. I hope you will understand dear girl. I apologize for cutting this so short. It truly was a pleasure to meet you, I have heard only good things and look forward to meeting you again in the future.”

"It is quite fine, thank you for having me for tea. It was a pleasure to meet you and I hope that you have a good time with your meeting." She blushed when he said that he had only heard good things about her and she smiled to him, "Thank you for saying that, it probably shouldn't be said, but I appreciate the kind words all the same. I have a hot temper and need to learn how to control it, so it can't all be good things that you're hearing. Perhaps you should tell the person you have been hearing these things from that they're a liar." She wondered who had been talking about her, she didn't know many people that she thought that he knew, perhaps Gin? If he called Gin a liar, he would be in for some hurt. Chuckling to herself she allowed him to leave and stayed in the booth. It wasn't a problem that he had cut it short, as she needed to meet Tsuyo. She didn't know what to expect.

He was regarded as a medical genius. She had met three of the seven swordsmen, and knew them by name now. It wasn't surprising that she would be rubbing shoulders with higher-ups from now on. She sipped her tea and found it to be luke-warm. Frowning she gulped it down and tried to catch the bartender's eyes. It wasn't hard to do, waving a cup around like a mad-woman had the tendency to get wanted, and unwanted attention. When he approached she gave him the cup "Yes, a refill on the green tea please. It was good, and I would like to stay a bit longer." She didn't know why, but Gin sending her to Tsuyo had the stink of something that was going to take a lot out of her on it. Sighing, she looked down at the people again. They passed without narry a care. Grumbling she placed her head on the table and huffed out a sigh. she didn't know what to do about the meeting with the medical ninja.

Tsuyo had been called many things by Gin, but none of them were actually nice. She had said "powerful" and "Fun" but those words could describe the Kage, if really anyone and she didn't want to risk meeting someone on a kage level. Perhaps if she just pretended that she got sick from the tea? That wouldn't work, she had never been sick from tea, and she knew of no one that had become sick from tea. Scratching the back of her neck she readjusted her hair to hide her scar subconsciously. Lin didn't want to think about what would come next but it was weighing on her. Maybe she should just rip the bandaid off and... Well, perhaps not. The bandaid would have to stay on for a bit longer, as she had waved her cup around like a mad woman. Looking at the table, she picked at one of the scratches on the surface, thinking idly about how to approach him. Perhaps with a "sama?" No no, a Dono? Maybe a "Kun?"

The tea was brought to her, piping hot with a smile from the bartender, "Whatever it is you're worrying about, it can't be all that bad. Everyone likes you for who you are." Said the bartender. She didn't know why but it kind of annoyed her that he and everyone else thought she was a harmless little cute thing. Grumbling a thank you she took the tea from him and watched the people below her. It felt like she was flying above them. Perhaps some day, she would become the best medical ninja in the world. Perhaps some day, she would fly above them in more than a floating sky-bar. Perhaps.

WC: 2500

|Exit Thread|
|Training medical Jutsu: B-A: 1500 words (3000/3000) http://www.narutosaga.com/t20949-alive-and-awake#169771|

Leftover Words: 1000 Training: Medical Jutsu A-S 1000 words (1000/4000)