[ OOC: Due to this being an open thread, I'd like to keep this thread on a 48 hr limit between posts because there is no way of knowing how many people will join. Meaning, that you'll be skipped by the next person in the posting order should you not post by 48 hrs after the person before you. Please do your best to keep to this but, if you have a reason for a delay, please alert me. <3 ]

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The morning for Ginza went slower than it normally did, with the twenty-four year old actually having time to sleep in and laze about for once. It was one of his rare days off from his work as both a shinobi of Konohagakure and a medic of the Konohagakure hospital. And really, with the Hokage away in Iwagakure no Sato discussing politics with the current Tsuchikage Karumo, he was a little surprised to be let off the hook, so to speak, with his duties. Still, even on his days off Ginza was usually one to make the best of the free time that he had, but he found himself craving a respite on this particular day. So, when the sun finally found its way into his tiny apartment, it found Ginza still in his bed asleep as the sun’s yellow light poked its way through his window and landed itself on his face.

It was a calmer way to wake, with the sun on his face rather than the shrill sound of an alarm, or sitting up heart racing after a nightmare. It was much more pleasant, though it had been such a long time since he had been able to greet the sun while still in bed. Ginza, shifted as he felt the warmth on his face, and the light began to push through his closed eyelids. He almost moved to roll over away from the light, but he didn’t, sighing as he slowly opened his eyes to greet the morning world. The shinobi yawned, pushing himself up, leaning against the wall that his bed was pressed up again for a moment as he observed his apartment. It was just as he’d left it, of course, mostly in order, with only a bit of mess. Enough that people could tell that it had been well lived since Ginza had returned to the village those few years ago after the slaughter at the temple and living at the hands of the group that had did the slaughtering. But,  he was here now, and this was his home, and he was fairly certain that it wasn’t going to change any time soon. He had dedicated his life to the village. Giving another yawn, Ginza found himself stretching before moving to stand up and wandering around the apartment.

The chuunin didn’t particularly have a plan for the day, which was rare, but there were always the normal things that needed to be done on a daily basis no matter how busy or, in this case how idle Ginza’s life was. This consisted of his normal routine in the mornings, some exercise, a shower, tending to his small garden that was situated on his little balcony, and then eating breakfast. And, in the case of this morning, he’d pulled up a simple book to read while he ate his simple breakfast of cereal in milk, with a glass of orange juice and some tea. He would have just had a cup of tea, but sometimes a glass of orange juice was good for one’s health, so every now and then he had a jug of it at his access. The book that he was reading held his attention for quite some time after he finished breakfast, continuing to read it until he came to realize that he had spent more than enough time reading about more taijutsu techniques and disciplines. It was time to move on to something else, so Ginza found himself moving around his apartment gathering the typical items that he usually left his house with before finally heading out into the day, and getting slapped in the face with a moist heat.

After a few days of cool weather, the air felt surprisingly warm and humid as Ginza stepped out from his tiny apartment, and the twenty-four year old gave a soft sigh of slight annoyance. The cooler temperatures had been a nice reprieve when he had been able to spend some time in it when not running around Konoha doing missions, or working in the hospital. However, he wouldn’t have it as bad as some in this humid weather, his hair that was naturally straight would likely stay that way with a minimal amount of frizz, if it frizzed at all with the humidity. Still, walking out into it already had him feeling slightly sticky. But that wasn’t unusual in the temperate climate of the country that he’d grown up in, so he was used to it and it didn’t turn him off from going forth into the world.

In the warm sun of the afternoon, Ginza found himself considering going to the small south forest or even to the rolling hills to gather more herbs again. It could be nice to wander around aimlessly and look around for nothing specific but whatever caught his eye. But, after some consideration he found himself wandering towards the training fields instead. He’d been so busy lately that he hadn’t had a simple day just to spend in the training fields and hone his skills and he didn’t want to risk becoming less than adequate in the fields that he focused in.

So, once he got to the fields Ginza’s eyes wandered over those who were already there training while he considered where to start. Being a while since he had last trained, there were some new faces in the field that he didn't quite recognize. Some were doing laps, others focusing on sparing with each other, with the wooden figures that were available to them, the targets available for throwing weapons, or any other number of ways to train that were available to those within the Konoha ranks. For Ginza, he'd probably start with the wooden figures to practice his taijutsu moves, and he slowly began to move over to them.

WC: 990

Punching wood could only go so far.

It was usually soothing to Nayoko; he could beat on these things for hours on end, working through combinations and precision, but today it just wasn't working for him. Over and over he beat on the figure. The continual thud as he laid into it that usually brought a smile to his face and sweat to his brow was just...boring. Having finally decided to work harder and become a Chunin, he felt that all of his previous training methods were just not quite good enough. Even so, he wasn't sure what else to do. Most of the other ninja here were either running laps or already had sparring partners. So this would have to do.

Just as he was about to give up for the day, unmotivated and uninterested, a new face walked closer to him. He had seen this ninja around the village before, but didn't know his name. He also knew that this new face was, in fact, a Chunin. The ninja walked slowly toward one of the close wooden figures.

Slowly, a smile began to creep across Nayoko's face. "Hey there, beautiful day to train isn't it?" Nayoko extended his hand to the stranger, smiling. "I don't believe we've met! I'm Nayoko Nozara."

WC: 224

You know what Nishi hated? The sun. The bright bellowing sun forced its rays onto the tired Inuzuka, penetrating into the darkness of their den forcing them to awake. Why on earth was there a sun so early in the morning? Cloudly skies and darkness was much better and far less lethal to the pale skinned boy. Because in darkness nobody would bother them, nobody would hound them to do work. Nobody would hurt them with their words. But alas the damn sun was up and that meant everyone in the household was up. Nishi could already hear the family dogs bark, waking everyone up. The sisters could be heard running down the hall, trying to get to the bathroom first. Their mother would be screaming at the girls to calm down and to stop running. Their brother would be already up, and heading out the door with a piece of toast in his mouth and their breakfast and lunch sealed into a scroll, going to their squad meet up where he was going to be out of the house for a few days for a mission, departing later that day once debriefing and supplying is done. Their father would too be awake, inside the kitchen sipping his coffee and reading reports of latest unclassified missions and recent findings supplied from the Konoha Military Police Force, a place he keeps urging Nishi to join and actually do something worthwhile with his life.

Ugh....Asano Nishi is a people pleaser in heart but they cannot deal with their family. Hence why they love sleep no matter how little they get. It was something they could do to run away and hide from their family, to hide from their harsh words and disappointed looks full of contempt. Yet they knew in their heart there was no running away from it. The furball who was rubbing their cheek knew it too. Kura bite Nishi's hair and pulled on it gently, making them grown to which the Ninken responded "Nishi...Nishi wake up. Come on, wake up. Time to start the day."

Kura kept pulling on their friend's white hair a little harder than before. They hoped despite their smaller stature, that they would have the strength to pull the larger human male off the bed and onto the floor, with the shock of pain forcing them awake. However the ninken made two mistakes. The first was overestimating themselves and their strength because Asano was just not budging and was remaining sturdy like an iron fortress. Second, they underestimated Asano's resilience and unwillingness to get out of bed and face the day. Nishi whimpered and turned over in their bed, mindful of Kura's presence but trying to ignore it as much as possible. He mumbled under his breath, trying to hide away and sink into the fluffy bed sheets. They hoped that if they pretended Kura was not there and sunlight was not violating their body, lighting up the whole fucking room.

Dangit Nishi!Kura knew they had to do something, anything, to get their friend up. And whilst they plotted, their ears suddenly perked up and their eyes widened when they heard who was coming. Nishi however had not and completely knocked out, falling back into peaceful abyss. A peace that would be interrupted by the fire breathing beast that was their mother. The result of the meeting was Nishi supporting a horrible headache and an injurued pride. In an attempt to make their friend feel better, Kura dragged their friend to training fields so they could get rid of some stress by pulverizing a dummy or two but when the Inuzuka saw that the flied had actual living people inside it, they attempted to make a dashing escape from human interaction! Dogs were fine but humans? Noooo thank you.

Unfortunately for them, Kura pulled on the hell of their pants and tripped them up, sending them crashing into a log post face first. Tears sprung up at the corners of their golden eyes as a slight purplish bruise was starting to form on their nose. Hopefully no one had saw that....

693~

Having spent way more time at the hospital than she had expected Yuna went home for some rest. Rest did not come easy as nightmares of her family plagued her thoughts. Eventually from sheer exhaustion she could close her eyes and get some semblance of sleep. It wasn’t long before the chirping of the birds woke her from her slumber.

She slowly rose from her bed dawning her simple robe and went to feed the birds that had woken her. They sat on her window sill, like they did every morning, awaiting the promise of seeds that Yuna kindly provided to them.

After the birds had had their fill she went out to tend her garden. Yuna had a love for tea that was almost unhealthy, if not for the fact that tea was so good for you. She spent much of her time looking for the finest strains of tea leaves to grow in her garden. She had grown up learning to heal the body, but she believed the key to healing the mind depended on finding the right tea. She had found tea that calmed the mind for deep meditation, tea that focused the mind for training, and at this point almost a tea for anything. She hoped to someday add special healing properties to her tea blends, but with much reading still could not figure it out. While pondering this in her garden her stomach rumbled.    

She headed back inside to have a light breakfast. She didn’t eat meat as any type of killing terrified her, thus she had a simple breakfast of berries, mixed nuts and a lovely cup of tea. She had finally gotten home from the hospital that night after a few days of non-stop work, which had meant to be a short bout of volunteer work. The hospital had seemed to have settled down, so she had the day off. Now that she had some time she thought she might try to improve her healing skills, so that she could be of more use at the hospital for more serious injuries and to the travellers that stopped by her home for more simple injuries. That would be a good use of her time she thought. Off to the training fields she would go, but first she had to pack.

Yuna never left home without a good supply of tea and tea leaves. She also typically would make a pot of rice to feed to her less fortunate ‘friends’ that lived on the streets of Konoha. When she was finally ready she set off into town. It was a lengthy walk, but she enjoyed the country side, but also the hustle and bustle of the village. She thought back to her days growing up with her sister in the heart of Konoha, running around the shops and playing with all the local children. Unfortunately, the fond memory turn sour as she was hit with pangs of grief, now thinking of how much she missed her sister.

She was startled when the man named Henry that she fed every time she can into town called to her, “Hey Yuna, I’ve missed you. Where have you been these past few days?” Yuna replied, “I have been volunteering non-stop for the past few days at the Hospital.” Henry exclaimed, “you are too generous Yuna, I don’t know how you manage it.” Yuna handed Henry a bowl of rice and told him that she must be going as she wanted to get some training in today. He wished her farewell and Yuna headed on her way.
She finally arrived at the training fields and saw a man from the hospital. She couldn’t remember her name and felt bad as she had spent much of her time the past few days in his presence. Another man called out to him and his gaze came across her. She became nervous at the thought of interacting with him as she could not remember his name. Lost in her thoughts she accidentally tripped over a rock and her pot of tea went flying from her hand.

WC: 691

Shippo smiled as he finished his chores that morning ahead of schedule. He was excited for the new day, but there wasn’t much reason for him to be so excited. He wasn’t going to do anything at all just go about training, practicing, and doing relatively nothing special. At his side, as always was Tsume who trotted along behind him back into his home to gather the things that he would need to have on him as a ninja of Konoha. It didn’t take him very long, and no sooner had he gotten down from his room than breakfast was on the table for him and the family.

Being who he was Shippo sat down at the table starting to gobble down his food, sharing with Tsume as he always did. When they were done, they rushed from the house and began to bounce around the village once more. It wasn’t until they were halfway to the forest that Shippo decided to turn around and head to the training fields. With him not having a mission, a team, or anything to devote his time to he was on his own. Upon arriving at the Training fields, he looked around to see that there were many people around the training field on this day, but who he would interact with he didn’t know. As he looked around he was drawn to one person over all the others in the field.

This person was not standing out by himself, in fact it was Tsume who had drawn the attention to this person. Rather the more correct term it was that Tsume was drawn to the appearance of a Ninken. This Ninken was trying to hold back their ninja partner and so caused a small incident which made the shinobi slam their face against a wooden post. Both Shippo and Tsume rushed forward towards the pair of them. When they arrived closer to see that the shinobi under his hood and such was another boy, and his partner. Shippo looked the youth over and found that he was an Inuzuka from the marks on his cheeks. This was wonderful to him and he smiled at the youth in front of him “Are you okay cousin?” he asked appearing very friendly and kind hearted with that smile that had fangs poking out of his toothy smile as well.

Tsume in turn was introducing himself to the other Ninken with a wag of his tail and inspecting him to see if he was okay.


WC: 419

Ginza’s golden eyes had been on one of the wooden sparing dummies, entirely planning on just spending some alone time training with his hands pounding into the wood. So, he found himself surprised when one of the shinobi that he had been observing working with the wooden figures before deciding what to do first intercepted his goal. Usually, unless one was in a squad or planned meeting there was a tendency to keep to one’s own; Or at least, that had been the case in Ginza’s experience, so the blond found himself studying him. The man looked perhaps a little younger than he himself was, but Ginza couldn’t be entirely certain about the other’s age when appearances varied so easily, there was a lot to consider when he met new people, but when dark-haired man began to introduce himself as Nayoko Nozara, Ginza gave a polite nod of his head and took the other's hand, giving it a firm shake in greeting.

It was refreshing to be around someone who was only about five inches shorter than he was, so he found himself doing the polite thing, introducing himself as well. “No, I don’t believe we have, Nayoko. My name’s Ginza Kaigara.” His voice was a kind polite tone, but his naturally impassive look didn’t move from his face just yet, as reserved as he was. It would take some warming up to show some emotion to this new person who had a last name that didn’t denote specifically what his abilities were, like the Inuzuka, Uchiha, Uzumaki, or many of the other clans of the village. This man was like himself in that manner, and that made him curious. Did he keep his clan secret purposely, like he did, in a method to keep his abilities somewhat a surprise when they met enemies?

But, Ginza’s curiosity was turned away for a moment, as a sharp movement caught the corner of his eye, and he turned his head just in time to see a white haired boy misstep due to their tiny white ninken tugging at their pants and fall face first into one of the sparring posts. Ouch.  This Inuzuka seemed to have a more curious appearance than the others of their clan, with more than just the normal feral features. Ears and a tail?  That was certainly different in a clan that wasn’t entirely a hybrid clan typically like  the Ninneko clan. What was this Inuzuka’s story? If he even was a Inuzuka with those black markings on his cheeks rather than red? Ginza found himself drawn to the character, staring at those teary golden eyes that were somewhat like his own, if only in color.

Soon enough though, another Inuzuka, this one with auburn hair, trailed by a gray blue ninken bounded over to the aide of the white haired teen and into Ginza's gaze, wanting to insure that his 'cousin' was alright. Definitely an Inuzuka then? It was good to see clan members proctecting and caring for other clan members. And personally, as a dedicated medical shinobi of the village - even if he wasn't currently wearing his medic's arm band - Ginza would have stepped in himself had the black fang marked Inuzuka seemed injured or had he seen blood. But seeing as there wasn’t any blood, and it was the pride of the boy that seemed more injured than anything else, Ginza began to turn his face away from the pair of Inuzuka with their Ninken. There was no need to add insult to injury by inserting himself into a situation that he wasn’t needed in.

However, while he had been about to turn his attention back to Nayoko, another he saw another person start fall. But this person he recognized, it was not some stranger that had had tripped and about nearly hurt themselves. This was Yuna Masamoto, one of the kind volunteers that had started working with him at the hospital during his shifts. Names were a strong suit of Ginza’s, as he found names important information as the sensory and information gatherer that he was, and he remembered hers precisely. It was something that he was dedicated to remembering in addition to faces, so seeing the woman that he had worked with at the hospital start to fall, he immediately moved into action. There wasn't time to excuse himself from Nayoko, and they could continue their interaction once he was done helping the poor white haired girl, if Nayoko was interested in continuing. Right now, he was going to focus on helping the woman.

So, with a burst of his thirteen meters per second speed Ginza moved to catch the pot of tea that had gone flying from the girl’s hands in his own. It would be a shame to have such a nice tea pot shatter on the ground that it had been moving towards. “Yuna, I believe you dropped this...” The blond murmured, offering one hand for the girl to right herself, while the other offered her tea pot back to her. Some of the liquid had of course fallen from it while in the air, but from what he could feel from the weight of the pot, there was probably still a decent amount still inside of it.

WC: 990 + 900 = 1890

Oh dear…

There was an immediate pang of regret and nervousness as the blond man slowly turned to face Nayoko. Now that he was this close, Nayoko could see how tall this shinobi really was, and it was intimidating. His face looked over Nayoko, impassive and contemplative, and the twenty-two year old wondered if he had just made a horrible mistake. Nayoko had never been the best at making friends or even acquaintances. Sure, people liked his jokes and laughed along with him most of the time, but they would usually move on right after that, and Nayoko rarely introduced himself to people formally like he did just now. Why did I say Nozara? Nayoko would have sufficed. I should just go by Nayoko Hattori and make life easier for everyone. Now he knew why the man was looking him over so intently. He was gauging his prowess, trying to determine if he was even worth the clearly superior ninja’s time.

Nayoko was about to pull his hand away and apologize when he noticed the man nod. It was all Nayoko could do to not jump back with surprise as the tall, blond shinobi clasped Nayoko’s hand in greeting. Nayoko almost let out a sigh of relief as the man introduced himself. “No, I don’t believe we have Nayoko. My name’s Ginza Kaigara.” Ginza had spoken politely enough, but the impassive and almost uninterested tone kept Nayoko wound a little tighter than he would like to be. Even so, Nayoko couldn’t help but smile as he usually did when he met someone new, if only to seem disarming after such a sudden introduction. Ginza didn’t seem much older than himself, if he was even older at all, and seeing that inspired Nayoko. Perhaps it wouldn’t take as long as he thought to advance to the next rank after all!

Nayoko was so caught up in these thoughts that he completely missed the tumble of the Inuzuka behind his new acquaintance. The only thing that brought him out of the almost his own thought process was Ginza turning his head to look at what had transpired. Of course, the only thing that the entire scene brought to Nayoko’s mind was the fact that now there were more possible sparring partners around.

He smiled as another of the Inuzuka clan approached the fallen ninja to assist him. The show of comradery between the ninja brought him a brief thought of his own family; the only members of his clan that he really knew. His father, his sister, his mother. He had taken the last name of his family, rather than the clan because of how important they were to him. It caused more confusion than anything when he met people, but as he took a moment to reflect on how important his family was to him, he remembered why he had changed his last name, and why it was worth all of the awkward questions that were asked due to the lack of an identifying clan.

Continuing to smile he turned his gaze back to Ginza when *whoosh* in a blur of speed the ninja had moved. Once again, Nayoko’s mind which was preoccupied with the idea of training turned to what a disadvantage he was at. Oh man, he’s fast. Maybe I’m getting in a little over my head at this point. Sparring with this guy would not only be more of a painful beat down than a spar, it would definitely not help me in the slightest. Better start off slow Nayoko. No need to rush into this.

This thought spun through his mind as he turned his view to see where the blond has run off to. Upon seeing him, he found quite a sight. Ginza was standing, leaned over slightly, with one hand outstretched to a person on the ground, and in the other, holding a fairly nice looking teapot. To Nayoko, whose mind had been elsewhere, the only explanation was that he must have summon the teapot in order to offer some to this now fallen person. Nayoko’s eyes fell to the individual, and his eyes widened ever so slightly. The girl on the ground looked younger the himself, though not by very much. She was short and slender, but even on the ground held herself in such a way that denoted a certain grace. Her hair wasn’t the neatest that Nayoko had ever seen, but she had just taken a fall, so the slightly messy state of the stark white hair was understandable. Ginza seemed to say something her, and has she turned to face him, for the briefest of moments, Nayoko met her gaze, and even if she didn’t notice, he had. Her blue eyes were beautiful. Absolutely beautiful, and in an instant, all of the clutter in Nayoko’s mind seemed to temporarily settle.

He blinked hard and shook his head. It wasn’t that he was physically attracted to her, though she was pretty. There was something more about her that had thrown Nayoko off. He blinked hard again. Who is this girl? With that thought he began to walk over to the two of them, casually so a to not seem to eager to continue his conversation from before. Seeing Ginza handing the teapot to the girl finally let Nayoko make sense of the situation, and as he approached he called out, “Yikes, are you alright? Also, nice catch Ginza!” He smiled a big, toothy smile as he stretched a hand behind his head and began to chuckle as he stepped in line with the other shinobi.

WC: 224+966=1190

You know that feeling of anxiety you get from meeting someone new? A stranger who does not matter to you or your life at all and would not have any sort of affect on it suddenly impacts it like a meteor. You have no reason to care what they think or say to you but for some odd reason you do? Well double that when you are meeting family. Family you never see but you are actually related too. They are like strangers but worse because you have reason to care no matter how small and you feel the need not to be a little shit and embarass yourself? Well Nishi already fucked up hard on that point by now. As much as they wanted this to be a good day, to ignore the sun's scorching gaze and have a peaceful time with their ninken Kura, they already had things going south for them. First a sneak attack from a giant orb of light with no off switch. Then their ninken Kura trying to get them out of bed. Oh and do not forget their fucking family who already had to start something so early in the day. And when they thought by getting out of that toxic environment they could possibly, oh I don't know, relax? The world sticks up its middle finger and gives them a big screw you.

And oohohoh did they feel it. They suddenly tripped from Kura's tugging and crashed face first into a training post with a loud thwack. Tears sprung from the corners of their eyes, not from the pain however. The fact purple blue bruises were already forming on their face was not of their concern. No it was they desperately hoped nobody saw their screw up. It would be so shameful they might as well save themselves the trouble and off themselves. Never had they felt their self confidence drop so fast and so hard. Ah but that was a lie wasn't it Nishi? A sassy voice taunted them...a sassy...voice taunted them. Oh god were they that pathetic and knock themselves so hard that they were hearings voices? Well goodbye future, it was nice knowing you no matter how bleak you seem. At this rate I will be carted off to the loony bin, either for the mental issues I have plenty of or for my own safety since I cannot keep myself safe from myself. Such a pitiful thing. How sad my fate is. Perhaps if I just curl up into a ball here and pretend I am dead it will actually come true?

Yes that sounded pretty good right now doesn't it? We just lie here, ignore the rude talking dog, and maybe, just maybe nobody will see us. We can just stay here, ignoring the world and rot. Maybe a stray kunai or fireball will hit us and end out suffering even quicker. Because holy hell it is cold outside. Like fucking hell why did we leave the house in our hoodie and tights. It is freezing. I mean my ass looks fucking juicy as hell in these pants but that won't matter much if I freeze to death. Tch, seriously you would think being an inuzuka you would be able to handle the cold better than your average folk but nope! Still dying. My tail is going to shrivel up and fall off. And I will probably die of phuemia before any wayward jutsu will. Why does my life suck?

Nishi during this time was ready to wither away whilst shivering in front of a wooden post. Kura was watching this and was biting on Nishi's hoodie trying to snap them out of it. It was really warm out today, not cold like it usually was so the fact Nishi's body was shaking like they were in the middle of a blizzard was really worrying. So when someone came to talk to Nishi, it would hopefully snap them out of it. And look! It's an inuzuka. One who probably did not recognize them aside from the fang marks! Thank goodness.

No no, don't go thanking anybody yet. Do you not see the social suicide Nishi was committing? No, then let us show you....A boy appeared! Great someone saw! And guess what, he is an inuzuka! Kami I know you and I never got along but did you have to do this? Nishi is a good boy, they don't deserve this! So why. The white hair wolf ear tail wagging Inuzuka's face bloomed into a scarlet red seeing his clansman and their soul appeared to leave them. Well not really, more like their ability to speak. Their throat closed up along with their chances at being normal. Nishi's eyes just widened in alarm and shook their head, as if to say everything was fine and got up, but tripped on Kura and fell back on their arse.

Please....kill me now...

1532~

Yuna began to fall her tea pot flying from her hand. She held back a scream as to not alert anyone to her clumsiness. Not another tea pot gone… She seemed to have the worst of luck with tea pots lately, thus she started using her least favourite pot in the event that she broke one again. She wasn’t sure how she would train without tea by her side, but none of this really mattered as she hurled towards the ground.

That was until that man from the hospital appeared in front of her seemingly out of nowhere. He caught her arm and her tea pot. Well I didn’t lose my tea pot at least… Now that she was confronted by his presence, she remembered why she has tripped. She had tripped because she was preoccupied with trying to remember who he was. Her mind was racing trying to pinpoint his name. It got worse from there as he said “Yuna, I believe you dropped this...” OH NO! He remembers my name and I have no idea who he is other than I work with him at the Hospital…! Wait it starts with a ‘G’… A ‘G’ right? GINZA… IT’S GINZA!

“Thank you, I am not sure what I would have done if I broke another tea pot. It’s Ginza from the Hospital right?” Yuna replied. That was a close one. I must have his name right as he isn’t looking at me like I am crazy. She noticed that her hand wrap on her left hand had started to come undone when she fell. She quickly wrapped it again afraid that her secret would be exposed. Unknown to anyone Yuna possessed the ability to change genders at will. Whenever she uses this jutsu, chakra envelops her. The seal on her hand glowing either blue when she changes to male, or pink when she changed to female. The chakra acts as a cocoon, changing her into her other form in a matter of seconds.
As she was wrapping her hand she noticed a dark-haired man walking towards them. He was slightly shorter than Ginza, but still taller than her. She noticed that she was starring at her. Do I have something on my face? Did I do something? I realize that I fell, but he is starring at me deeply. He can’t find me attractive, I’m not really all that pretty. I know Saki said he left me because of my ability, but he also told me that I was ugly and no one would ever love me…That I was an abomination…

“ “Yikes, are you alright? Also, nice catch Ginza!” He smiled a big, toothy smile as he stretched a hand behind his head and began to chuckle as he stepped in line with the other shinobi.”
He’s not just starting at me now, he is talking to me. “Yes, I just lost my balance that’s all. Thanks for asking though.”

WC: 691+502=1193

Shippo watched in rather great surprise as the member of his own clan decided that he was shocked by the appearance of someone else from his clan. This was very confusing to him as it was relatively simple to see another of your clan and introduce yourself to them, and to try and see them as an equal, or possibly just as a fellow clan member. He was always over the moon happy when he met the other members of his clans being cousins or their Ninken. He really didn’t understand the actions of some people. There was nothing more that could be said, nothing more that could be done, and so he just watched as the fellow Inuzuka fell onto the ground. Shippo squatted down and extended a hand out towards his fallen clanmate keeping his smile warm, friendly, and inviting “Well I guess I should be more careful I shouldn’t startle people. Please forgive me cousin. Let me help you to your feet.” He offered trying to put on the extra charm and friendship he possibly could into the gesture because he wanted to seem friendly.

Tsume looked at his counterpart with a huff not friendly, but not standoffish either. He wasn’t happy as he had seen the little Ninken grab his ninja partner by the pant leg which cause the tripping and falling face first into the dummy. This was a terrible thing to do in Tsume’s eyes, but of course he didn’t understand the relationship between these two so he wouldn’t do anything about it. So, he simply inspected the other Ninken in order to make sure that he was okay. Tsume may not agree with the way the other Ninken had made his ninja trip, but that didn’t mean he had anything against the pup.  


WC: 419 + 300 = 719

OOC:

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The young woman replied in a way that seemed almost tentative. "Yes, I just lost my balance that’s all. Thanks for asking though.” Nayoko continued to smile at that, once he started he always had a hard time getting his face back to normal. “Well, I’m glad to hear that! It looks like Ginza saved your teapot,” Nayoko said as he clapped the tall ninja on the back. He then turned to the girl, realizing that he had not yet introduced himself to her. He stifled a face palm and extended his hand to the young woman, “I don’t believe we have ever met either. I’m Nayoko, nice to meet you!” He glanced that the girl’s headband. “Are you a Genin too? Here to train on this beautiful afternoon?” Nayoko tried to subtly size her up. He had never seen her before, which meant that she was, like him, a Genin. Maybe she would be a better training partner than Ginza, because Ginza would certainly beat Nayoko to a pulp without much of an effort.

Nayoko looked up at the sky. The clouds rolled by and the sun was still shining, though it was moving into the later afternoon. There was still time left in the day and Nayoko was getting excited for a possible sparring session. He had no qualms with hitting a girl. In the Academy he was beat up by a girl during one of their early sparring matches. While some of the other boys had laughed at Nayoko, he found a new respect for women, and he wasn’t afraid of showing any ninja, male or female, that he meant business. He glanced over at the teapot that was still in Ginza’s hand before continuing to talk. “Well you two, the daylight is burning away and I don’t think I’m ready to hit the hot springs just yet, so I’m going to get back to some training. If either of you want to spar, let me know!” He turned around and looked over his shoulder at the two ninja as he walked over to the track, "It was really nice to meet you guys today! Hopefully I’ll see you around.” He walked off, heading toward the track and hoping that one of them would call out to him for a spar or some other kind of team training exercise.

Nayoko truly believed that the only way to get to know his new friends would be to train with them. Who knows, maybe some day they would end up on a mission together, and knowing what they could do would go a long way. But maybe this was all wishful thinking. As he was walking away he noticed that the Inuzukas that he had seen earlier were still in the same position, one on the ground and one leaning over the fallen one. Man, how long does it take to get up? Maybe its an Inuzuka thing…staying close to their companions or something, he thought to himself as he continued to walk off.

WC: 537+1190=1727

Nayoko took up a position at the start of the track. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment, taking a chance to look over his shoulder at the new acquaintances he had made. It did not look like they were coming any closer. Perhaps they were invested in their own thoughts and conversations, but in any case, it looked like Nayoko was out of the loop this time around. He let his breath out and began his run. He ran around the track over and over for the next little while. Every time around the track he looked over at Ginza and the young woman, but it looked like they were talking and drinking some of the woman’s tea. He shrugged and kept up his training until he felt a rumbling in his stomach. He was starved. Wiping the sweat off of his brow he picked up the jacket that he had set down and began heading home.

His walk home was fairly uneventful, the late afternoon sun was shining over the Hidden Leaf Village, but it did not reflect how Nayoko was feeling. He was happy to have met the ninja at the training fields, but he was upset that nothing more had come from the meeting. He sighed, thinking about how the sparring with the training log felt so hollow as of late. It felt like a waste of time in Nayoko’s mind. He was moving forward with his growth, and was ready for bigger challenges. He decided that he would go get some food at home, but then he was going to do a little bit of research. Nayoko decided that he was done with waiting around to learn about his mother’s family, and he wanted to start taking an initiative when it came to learning about his past and preparing for the future. He was a Hattori ninja, and he wanted to prove that he could make his mother proud; it was time for Nayoko to step out of his comfort zone and act rather than react to his surroundings. These thoughts swam through Nayoko’s mind as he walked thorough the door of his home. He called out to his father and sister, dropped his jacket on the floor, and rushed to the kitchen for dinner.


[Exit Thread]

WC: 388+1727=2115

Training:
Taijutsu: C-Rank to B-Rank (2000/2000)
Unused WC: 115

Having received no sign that his cousin wanted any of his help he sighed shaking his head in pity. He wanted to be of help to his kin, and there was much he had to do still. Looking at his kin and then to his Ninken he smiled softly “Well, I am sorry I am not what you’d like. I just got over excited meeting more of my clan. I hope you can forgive me one day. Anyway, me and Tsume have to be going now. I wish you all the best cousin.” He said before he helped his kin to his feet anyway and then turned to bound off with Tsume into the village again hoping for another adventure of some kind, as well as something else of use he could do for his village and his clan.
[Exit Thread]

719+139= 858 Total

Training:
Speed E-D: 750/750
Perception E- E1: 75/75
Training 825/858
WC Remaining: 33