"Well this bites" Oberon sighed as he sat up in his bed, he had been lying there in the dark for the last two hours trying to get some sleep. No matter how hard he tried to fall asleep, sleep just would not come. Perhaps it was the fact that he was excited about his first mission tomorrow, or maybe it was because he had his mother's funeral earlier that day. Whatever it was he was not sure, but one thing was clear he was not going to get any sleep tonight. He stood up stretching slightly causing his back to pop a couple of times before heading to the bathroom. When he emerged from the bathroom he grabbed his pants off the back of the chair throwing them on before grabbing his shirt and getting it on. He opened his bedroom door and headed down stairs to the kitchen. The past couple of weeks had been really hard on him, with his father dying while away on a mission and then his mother dying just a few weeks later. The fact remained their house was now his, it was not a large home, however now that he was the only one living in it to him it now seemed as though it was a mansion. He walked into the kitchen and for a brief fleeting moment he thought his mother was sitting at the kitchen table, he quickly shook his head bring himself back to reality. "Maybe I should look into finding a new home" he said aloud to himself before dismissing the thought. No that was never going to happen, his family had lived in this house for generations, given to his family by the former Mizukage for the services of his great great grandfather. He would never part from this, despite all the bad that had happened recently he had far too many good memories here more than enough to out weigh the bad. After grabbing a quick bite to eat he headed out the door and began his slow walk down the streets of Kiri.

The moon was full and the sky was clear, something that did not happen a lot in the village hidden in the mist, Oberon could even see the stars. Something that he had not seen within the city walls for very many years, "just my luck, when my mind is at its darkest the world around me seems so beautiful." He sighed as he bent down and picked up a small pebble before tossing it and watching it as it skipped across the top of the water. All the shops were closed and the streets were empty save for the few shinobi that patrolled the city to keep it safe. Oberon smiled to himself he enjoyed this, nobody bothering him, the streets not packed with people just him and the rarely clear night sky. "I might have to start being up at night instead of the day," he chuckled to himself although he knew that would never really work considering he was at the service of the village. He knew he would have to answer the call no matter what time it was if he was given orders, still it would be great to not have to deal with all the people during the day time, he thought to himself as he sat down on a nearby bench and looked up into the sky marveling at the beauty of the moon and stars.

---

583

Kahou dressed up in her usual green to brown body with her forehead protector wrapped around her waist was walking slowly down the street headed to her dormitory room. The day at the hospital was long and busy and she felt tired but also content for the work she had done today was plenty. She usually managed to sneak out of the hospital before midnight but unfortunately this time she had not a moment to herself as people came as soon as others left. The night was calm and the loudest sounds were the crickets's songs. There were other shinobi of the mist that patrolled the streets and their steps echoed in between the silent buildings reminding the still awake that the city was not dead yet. A distant meow coursed through the air, followed by a second more prolonged one. With a hissing a cat brawl had erupted somewhere in the near alleys, a fight for territory or a female. A dog's bark triggered a dozen more and even though the city was in a way pretty noisy, it was just for the common night sounds and the citizens were still sleeping.

Kahou's pace had changed as she realized that the night was extraordinary for the first time in the past few weeks. The clear sky had embraced the city showing its full beauty - the bright yellow stars and the huge white moon. The Karisuma stopped for a moment and gazed upon the wonder behind the clouds. This was the reason she despised the rain... because it was hiding a more beautiful sight that she yearned for. A little smile spread on her face - a feeling of gratitude for the long day for she would have been sleeping now if it was not for all the patients. "Maybe I could stay a little longer" the blonde thought to herself slowly ambling about the city until she reached one of the best places in the city. A range of benches across the bridge line that was overlooking the river with half the city on the left side and the other on the right.

The blonde's smile had shrunk a little when she saw that there was someone else on the spot this late at night but she noticed the reflection of light caused by the forehead protector on his head. "He is probably on duty and decided to take a small break." she concluded as she approached the bench nearest to her. While Kahou was almost on the far most left bench on the bridge's "coast", the red-haired boy was on the farthest to the right one and the distance between both was about thirty meters. Kahou sat on the wooden furniture and put her back against the backrest and her left hand on the armrest. She crossed her legs and took a long deep breath calming her senses and letting the ambient tranquility possess her.

---

WC: 492

A beautiful night like this reminded oberon of his seventh birthday when his father had taken him out into the middle of the woods that surrounded the Kirigakure border. He remembered the smell of blood in the air, seen the bones and weapons scattered around the dense wooded area. He remembered how scared he had felt as he followed his father around for hours wondering what they were doing out there, until his father stopped and explained that they were standing on the very spot where his brothers were brought down for their betrayal of the hidden mist village. The area was a small clearing that was surrounded by the dense woods on all sides, and right in front of where his father stood were three swords that had been driven into the ground. Oberon assumed they had come out to pay respect to them or something, but when he had bowed to the graves his father hit him in the back of the head. His father explained that they were not there to pay respect, his brothers had lost their honor when they betrayed the hidden mist and there was no respect for those that have no honor. They spent hours out there training while his father instilled in Oberon the importance of his service to the mist and how he must never let his pride come before the village. The moon was full and high in the sky giving off ample light in the clearing, Oberon remembered sitting down to rest when his father stood in front of him and stated that if he was to be a true warrior of the mist village then he had to find his way home and then disappeared. Oberon shouted for his father until his voice hurt, he was alone in the woods a mere boy alone and scared. He remembered trying to find his way through the woods, trying to remember the way they had came so that he could return to the village. The problem was he had not been paying much attention as he was just following his father and assumed that his father was going to be leading the way back. Adding to that he had gotten turned around during their training and did not know which direction the village was, considering all the trees looked exactly the same and it was almost impossible to see through them to find a path.

Oberon's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps causing him to look around him, on the far end of the bridge he could not make out who it was but he saw them sit on one of the other benches at the opposite end. It was unusual however not unheard of for a villager to be out this late, and it caused Oberon to wonder if they were a shinobi however he was not ready to get up yet nor did he have any interest in investigating the person. They had as much right to be here as he had as long as they did not cause problems then he would not bother them. For all he knew they were marveling in the beauty of the clear sky just as he was, he looked back up to the moon and let out a sigh before looking out over the river. The clear sky made it so that the river reflected the moonlight and it was a site to see, the reflection of the moonlight caused the bridge to be a lot more lit up than the usual from the street lights. After a couple of more minutes of staring out at the river, Oberon decided he would head out and started walking across the bridge to continue his stroll. As he approached the person who had sat on the other end of the bridge he saw that it was a woman with blonde hair, and as he got closer still he saw that she wore her headband around her waist, so she is a shinobi he thought to himself. As he walked by he thought of not saying anything to the girl however decided that it might be considered rude if he did not say something to his fellow shinobi unless she was on duty in which case he might be bothering her. Still he decided he would say hello and stopped about six meters from the girl. "Hello there, my name is Oberon, quite a lovely night tonight" he said to her with a smile and a wave. He hoped that he was not bothering the girl but at the same time his small talk was truly nonexistent as he did not talk to very many people. If the woman wished to be left alone than he would do so without question, but on the off chance that she felt chatty then maybe he could work on his people skills and get to know the girl that was also walking around in the middle of the night.

---

1418

Kahou felt her body relax and her muscles relieve from the long-day-strain as she was spending time on the semi-comfortable bench. The weak midnight wind was cooling her heated body and soothing her buzzing mind and she closed her eyes and resting her head backwards giving in to the unnatural tranquility of this Kirigakure's night. *Step,step,step* she noticed the approaching echo and without turning, she peeped with her right eye. In sight was the red haired shinobi that was sitting on the far-end of the bridge.

"Why is he closing in? Does he want something? Oh, damn... I read about this in the books... all men have fantasies about nurses!" she kind of panicked on the inside. Why couldn't it be easier? No one bothers her and she does not have to be rude or overthink, or suspect or whatever she was doing for she was doing it all at once. Kahou began thinking of ways to... discourage the approaching gentleman... if he is on duty it is not a good time to chit-chat. "Yes, I will suggest he attends to his mission and hope he gets the hint!" she concluded as he was nearing in.

His greetings came a little unexpected for Kahou - from afar. She straighten up her head, opened her eyes and stared for a second at the red-haired adolescent. Her hair following the swing of the head, charmingly dropped infront of her bust. She did not know how to react, most men usually tried to get as closer as possible and usually ended up being hurt, so this was kind of a new approach. She could not figure out his intentions but there were no way they can be not ill-minded, she thought to herself.

"Indeed, one of the few like this." the words came out of her mouth and even she could not comprehend why. This did not sound like her... she was not amongst those that liked small talk, yet it was not really unpleasant to... communicate. "But we shinobi must attend to our duties first." she finally forced herself to hint the red-haired boy that it was time for him to return to his patrolling responsibilities. Or so she thought.

---

WC: 379
TWC: 492 + 379 = 871

A long silence had gripped the moment, creating the feeling of an everlasting eternity. No answer came back from the red-haired juvenile but for his long stare in the distance, enjoying the beautiful night.

"Okay... this guy definitely breaks the creep-o-meter..." she thought to herself. "Maybe I could just..." she started moving slowly on the bench to see if he would acknowledge her movement and react but it seemed as if he had lost any interest in further communication with her.


"I suppose reminding him of his duties was a little bit too much..." Kahou evaluated as she was leaving the bridge. She was able to slip away from the bridge whilst the male mist shinobi pondered the meaning of life with an absent gaze in the distance. Despite being able to escape the awkward situation, the blonde felt an unease for leaving a fellow shinobi like that. Her gut was telling her that there was something wrong and boy-oh-boy her gut had never been wrong.

"Damn it!" Kahou sighed to herself as she turned back to check up on the fellow shinobi. "Nani?!" her senses sharpened as she was trying to gather as much information as possible.

The bridge was empty and there was no trace of the red-haired boy. Only the pale moonlight's reflection in the calm water, the calm breeze and the distant dog's bark. No steps. He had vanished as if he had never been there in the first place. Was she dreaming? Was she hallucinating? She slowly took out a kunai from her ninja bag and slowly started moving towards her home.

"Not taking any chances..." she reminded herself as the sound of her steps filled the silence. It felt as if a lifetime passed on this bridge and Kahou was more than happy to close her dormitory's door behind her, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in her own castle. "Never will I ever take a late-night walk again" she told herself, without realizing that this was nothing more than a lie.

---

[Exit]
Exit Reason

WC: 350
TWC: 871+350 = 1221

Jutsu Training: 1221/1000 (used HERE)

PS: As far as I know I can "save" the WC for later use as long as I don't become a chuunin. If this is not true, please PM me! :)