The Village Hidden in the Clouds…

The young Yuki never would have expected to ever set foot in the Land of Lightning as a whole, let alone the great shinobi village that was within it. If it had been up to his mother, Hito never would have set foot outside of his home village until he was strong enough to rival the Mizukage herself. He would have stayed in the family compound and trained day and night, locked away from other people and places, being formed into a weapon of great power in order to make her proud; all the while wishing for death to take him. But it wasn’t up to his mother anymore. It had not been for years in fact. He had been surprised when nobody had trailed him from the village, though he suspected that since he had dropped out of the academy officially before he left, his mother probably had no grounds to get the village ANBU after him.

Regardless of the reason, Hito had managed to escape the iron fist of his obsessed mother, and that had led him to a new country that he knew nothing about. The young Yuki was only sure of one thing, and that was that he desperately needed ryo, a roof over his head, and food in his stomach. It amazed him how long he could last without such things when he had first abandoned his home all those years ago, but ever since he had gotten a taste of the finer things in life, he had been pretty hard to please with anything but at least the basic necessities. He had been able to charm and bribe his way into more than one establishment over the course of his time on the road, but eventually the ryo ran out, and that left him in a situation that he was not used to.

And thus, his pursuit of a place to call a temporary home and a consistent source of ryo had left on the front steps on the Kumogakure no Sato Administration Building. He had not performed an official mission for anyone in his time in the Land of Water, but on his way across the land he had done a few odd jobs to keep his ryo supply up. With his few skills that he retained from his time in the academy of the Village Hidden in the Mists, he figured that he could convince the people here that he was a wandering ninja in search of work. With the recent change in Raikage, he knew that Ronin were far more welcome in the village than they once were, which meant that work here could keep him comfortable for the next little while at least.

With a sigh, Hito stepped though the doors and glanced around at the crowd of ninja that he was greeted with, each and every one of them wearing the forehead protectors that bore the symbol of the Village Hidden in the Clouds. It was uncomfortable for a moment, to say the least. But Hito did not let that discomfort stop him from striding into the room with an air of confidence about him, a smirk nearly ever present on his face. He was wearing his usual attire; a white button down with the top three buttons undone tucked into his black pants and covered by his black collared jacket. He looked far better off than he was, but he did not mind at all. In Hito's experience, the richer people thought you were, the better you were treated.

As he stepped toward a counter that seemed to be a place for him to sign in, to took a moment to run his hand through his hair before looking down at the woman manning the desk behind the counter. He exchanged pleasantries with her and explained why he was there, registering as a wandering ninja. Cheerfully, the woman obliged in beginning to sign him up, but notified him that it would take some time. “Not a worry,” Hito said smoothly as he turned his back to her and leaned against the counter top and scanned the room. He glanced around at the central hub of his temporary home, hoping to pick a face out of this crowd that might be on his level. Maybe even someone who was a foreigner like himself. In truth he didn’t know what he was looking for, but even so, he kept scanning the faces in the crowd…

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Eyes heavy with weight, change, and simple weariness, the Uchiha girl entered through the gateways of Kumogakure no Sato alongside the caravan of which she had come with. Her bags on her back, she took a look around, gazing at the grey architecture and high spires. It reminded her of home in a way, which was why she had chosen such a place as her first destination. Less of a culture shock, to ease in to the world of a wanderer. As she looked up to the high mountain spires, Maki felt herself reminded of the village of rain, with tall, towering structures, monotonous palettes, and even the clouding over above the sky, with intermittent rays of sun beaming down from the air.

Still, no rest for the weary, as the saying goes.

Leather bag upon her back, she began to step along the cobbled path, eyes downwards. As if watching her own steps as they unfold, the girl walked north and upwards, towards the building that held the symbol of Kumogakure no Sato: the sign of what was the administration building. She’d done her looking up on it. She had no intention on becoming a shinobi of the land, with no particular love or care for the nation either way, yet also no malice for it. It was just another place to her. Instead, her goals here were more… Material. Specifically, money, currency. A double edged reward, for her home, and to further fund her exploration. She had intentions on staying at whatever hotel she could find, but first, as was customary, it was important of her to sign herself in, register up, and get proper permissions for taking missions.

After a steep climb upwards to the place the building was held, Maki pushed open the doors, stepping inside and glancing around the room with all the weight of her journey behind her. A bunch of people and shinobi, each seated and standing in various parts of the room. Those of the land of lightning stood out in particular, the white flak jackets being almost akin to a symbol of status. Still, that mattered little. A quick second look gave her a rough idea of where the expected location for sign in was, and so that was her priority – and it seemed someone else was there. Another wanderer? Or perhaps a new genin to this village? Who he was wasn’t something that was important right now. Maki just wanted to take some jobs so that she could get paid, and then move on to the next place for more lines of work.

She walked next to him, footsteps light across the tiled flooring, and silently stood there at the desk beside the stranger, addressing one of the other receptionists. “I’ve come to sign in as a wandering shinobi. Uchiha, Maki. My papers are here.” At that, she moved a hand back to her leather bag, fumbling for a moment as she leaned her hand back before brandishing the formalities that were important, handing them over to the receptionist who simply nodded. “It’ll be a moment, please, feel free to grab a seat.”

Not even bothering to pause or address the one next to her, she shrugged, turning on a heel before walking over to the corner of the room, leaning against the wall and going back to scanning the room, as if trying to determine what sort of individuals existed here. The shinobi of Kumogakure? The civilians coming to pose missions? And those akin to herself. Given where he was, she could take a guess that the guy next to her was a foreign shinobi as well, although no insignia was present upon him. Not that it mattered what his situation was. Still, she had heard rumours from the rain village that certain missions were only assigned to squads under normal circumstances, and that finding work individually was a lot harder without renown. Shaking her head, she sighed beneath her breath, resigning herself. If the stranger proved to be a nuisance, she’d ditch him and work as an individual once more. Pushing off the wall, she walked back to where she was, not caring about the odd looks she got for not standing there long as she stared up at him for a moment, almost seeming without emotion in her eyes. Voice barely above a whisper, she spoke. “You.”

730

He had not been waiting and watching for very long when an interesting individual stepped though the front doors as he had only moments ago. She was clad in reds and blacks, and she appeared to be around Hito’s age. Her long black hair went along with her outfit, and the passive, almost apathetic look wrapped her in mystery. As the Yuki looked at her he tried to figure out if she was a ninja as well, though since she bore no identifying gear, as would have to wait and see where she headed to. Not wanting to attract her attention in any way, Hito allowed his gaze to simply pass over her before moving on to an uninteresting crowd of people on the far side of the room, though he kept watch of her in his peripherals. Much to his surprise, the young woman made her way toward the same counter that he had, though she talked to a different receptionist behind the desk. Her voice was calm and concise, but the words she spoke made Hito raise an eyebrow.

“I’ve come to sign in as a wandering shinobi. Uchiha, Maki. My papers are here.” Had he heard her correctly? An Uchiha? And a wandering one at that? That criteria alone screamed opportunity to Hito. He did not know a great deal about the Uchiha, but he was aware of some incredible facts thanks to his studies back in the Land of Water. The Uchiha were legendary for their dojutsu, the Sharingan. If Hito was honest, he knew next to nothing about what these mystical eyes could do, but if their reputation was any indication, having this wanderer to work alongside him would be a boon that he could not pass up on. Even so Hito’s general dislike of others began to well up inside of him as he turned to see the girl walk away and lean up against the wall, her own scanning of the room beginning.

It was not long before he noticed that her eyes had fallen on him once again, and though she did not seem interested in talking to Hito, he could tell that she was probably thinking something similar to him. There were few opportunities for a lone ninja to take on missions, especially if that ninja was a wanderer. The great shinobi villages where not fond of handing out missions to foreigners when they could easily mess them up, and so the options were limited. But being one half of a pair of shinobi would mean that more missions could open up for Hito, and that meant more ryo, which meant a better roof over his head. Almost as soon as she had arrived at the wall, the Uchiha stood up from hit, shaking her head and stepping over to Hito. As she approached Hito turned so that he was leaning with one arm on the counter and a practiced smirk on his face. She stopped and stared up at the Yuki for a moment before uttering a single, quiet whisper. “You.”

Once again, Hito could not help but raise an eyebrow. Despite that, his grin remained as he addressed the young woman. “You,” he chuckled quietly. “Something tells me you had the same idea that I did.” He extended his hand in greeting. Whether or not she shook the Yuki’s hand, he would continue. “I heard you signing in as a wandering ninja. I happen to be one myself. I’m Yuki, Hito and I am happy to make your acquaintance.” He would give the girl a moment to introduce herself, but after that, he would continue. “It seems to me that we could help each other out. We’re both ninja from foreign lands that are here to, presumably, make some money and hone our skills. As you probably know, a lot of missions can be picked up by two or more ninja a lot easier than just one on their own. Not only that, but when it comes to work, two is usually better than one.”

He would finally stand up from his leaning position and run his left hand through his hair, letting out a quiet sigh as he did so. In his time on the road, Hito had learned about to get people to agree with them, even if it wasn’t in their best interests. He had talked down lodging prices, sold useless items, and even convinced some people that he was a ninja from one of the great shinobi villages just to gain the trust of others. But despite being pretty good at it, Hito hated having to get close to people in order to make them like him. It took time, and time was something that he would rather not waste on people that he figured would probably end up hurting him. Even so, he pressed on with his smooth words, hoping that he was changing the Uchiha’s mind in the slightest. Unfortunately for him, her cold, nearly emotionless eyes made it very difficult to tell. “So, what do you think?”

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