With the two of them exiting the administration building and heading into the busy street of people that passed by, small nods and recognitions to Karumo and his student with him. Seeing the Tsuchikage walk around the streets in the middle of the day was unique for some, and for such a large village it usually caught the curious eye and the thankful wave or comment here and there. It usually ended up being nothing too serious but Karumo had and was growing more accustomed to it, and found the best ways to keep out of the eye was to stay off the street as much as possible.

The path to find food was set in front of them but with the whole village opened up before them, there were a lot of options and an apathetic Karumo was mostly wanting to leave the office rather than fueling some hunger or craving of this own. He would reach to his jacket pocket and pull out the same silver flip-open lighter he always had, with the demon face of his clan painted onto it he struck the flint and began to burn away at the end of his cigar as he eyes the nearest rooftop. The red label of the cigar rolled around in his hand as he twisted it so that he could light it evenly. His feet would pause just past the steps of the admin building as he would do so, the cigar catching on fire lightly as he would wait for Taeru to pause and then he would release a puff of smoke into the air, the smell of the cigar and its smoke would begin to fill the area around them. With a quick puff he would blow out the end of the cigar and see tiny flakes of the tobacco fly away from it and to the ground.

His head would lean back briefly for a moment and take in the ambience of the partially cloudy sky and the cloud of smoke he released into the atmosphere before falling back down and his attention on his student as long as she didn't walk off without him and didn't stray too he would speak up, "So where did you have in mind to go?" he would end rather quickly, leaving the ambient noise of the village to fill the silence between them as he would wait on an answer. Karumo himself was entirely indifferent, so the decision was on her, all he would do is make sure to lead them off the beaten path so that less wandering eyes would follow him and less interruptions from the villagers while they traveled.


[448 words]

The loose strands of white hair would flitter off over her shoulders and behind her form, bouncing in the light breeze as she descended the steps of the administration building following after the Tsuchikage. With the last few steps a ripple would seem to pass over her form reverting the white of her hair back to a pale pastel lilac as the shift in the hue of her eyes also returned to normal from the black and green she had portrayed to their usual bloody red and striking yellow. The atmosphere now didn’t seem so silent in comparison to her approach to the administration building, yet now a hum of noise and movement as they passed others by. Weather it was simply for having company or who her company was, it mattered not, she was simply happy to have filled the emptying silence that had stalked her until this point.

Her steps would come to a halt on the last step enough to draw her height almost level with that of the Tsuchikage as he stopped. Her miss matched hues would first shift from the path before them to the Tsuchikage himself, only to flicker to the lighter and cigar. Searching the symbol atop the lighter would draw forth a light hint of a smile as her right hand absentmindedly rose to cup over the symbol of her own family, and but for a moment her gaze clouded drawing her from the present time and place. A simply sight, hazed yet easily saw, a babe in the lap of a man supporting a kimono whilst the outline of a women trained beside and with a youngster. Such tranquillity, so deadly a sight that threatened to steal her mind and focus disrupted at the sound of the Tsuchikages voice. ‘where did you have in mind to go?’ a repeat of the question within her own mind highlighted easily that she hadn’t actually had any place in mind. Her gaze would focus on the Tsuchikage, resting on his lips as she watched him puff at his cigar before returning her hand to her side as she spoke, “I hadn’t really had anywhere in mine Tsuchikage Sama, though I suppose anywhere that will do rice, I am happy with. Truth be told I’m not overly picky.”

Her sharp gaze would shift back towards the foot path of the village before them, her mind stepping out with ease as she had taken the time to know each and every twist and turn of the village she had been taken in by. Her mind would flit along the shops before pausing at a small tea shop. Her head would tilt just a touch to the right before turning to look up at the Tsuchikage once again, though as per usual not meeting his gaze, “there’s a small tea shop just off from the main market area, a shop that faces it is usually rather quiet but the food is good non the less.” Her hands would dip into her pockets allowing her fingers to thread through their contents as she continued, “it’s usually quite pleasant there.” Her right foot would shift forwards drawing her form from the step with a final bounce drawing her half a step in front of the Tsuchikage though she would pause again, turning her body partly to look back at him as she waited.


(Word count:570.)

Karumo would watch as her gaze would shift to him from his question, seemingly breaking a short train or distracting thought in doing so. Not necessarily his intention but it was well the same as he'd probably have done it anyways at some point after with his question or without. She returned with a rather obvious, or is it expected; answer to his question with no place in particular in mind. It wasn't even that it was her, a severe majority of everyone would offer the same but also at the same time make the same complaint that Karumo would make. Even he would probably have offered the same answer if he were in her shoes but that didn't stop the predicament of the burden being placed on him now to decide. At least partially placed on him.

She would begin to walk away and Karumo would place the cigar through his lips and inhale as he would step forward to follow after her, holding it there for a moment and when she paused, he would reach and grab the stick of tobacco and hold it for a moment, rolling the taste of it along his tongue as he listened in. As she finished with her recommendation, Karumo would lean his head back and release the smoke straight up with a small smirk, "It's fine with me, hopefully they don't mind my smoking..." his smirk would fade and his head fall to look back down on his student as he began to think about having to rid of his, minor, addiction upon arrival. It didn't severely matter, but it would be nice if he could escape that reality, wondering if it would be an abuse of his title to try and leverage his position into permission to smoke.

He quickly threw the thought from his mind and nodded along as she waited for him, "Sounds fine with me, lead the way." he would hold the cigar back between his lips and motion forward with his hand as he would follow her to wherever they were going. He'd follow along and keep mostly quiet, waiting until a few steps of the tea house he'd ask a rather pointed and heavy question just before they entered, "So Taeru. What do you think of the squad, speaking honestly, do you wish that you weren't on the Tsuchikage's squad?" he would leave off and turn away to focus on their arrival. Hoping that their arrival and seating would force her to delay her answer for a moment as they would take their seats and all else.

For Karumo, he expected an honest answer but hoped to gleam a lot from her, wondering if the pressures that being on his squad would be traded for a quieter existence or not and if she felt that the rest of the squad would be up and ready to travel and focus on such a high leveled mission to Sunagakure. Still, he'd wait to hear her answer and offer nothing but an ordinary smile and keep going about himself as he could, wondering if the shopkeepers would let him keep his cigar and wondering how Taeru would answer his question.


[543 words, 991 words total]