Kejido stood on the roof of the hotel as the streets began to empty out from the celebrations only a little while ago. His silver eyes watching as the markets from traveling merchants closed and the masses packed up to join caravans for safety. What a world they lived in where children fighting could garner such attention. They were free men and women but slaves to their own need to be entertained. His eyes shifted off to the large building in the distance. The office of the Kazekage. How much had been gained in profit for this village for that? What would it fund? One of the blissfully minded would assume it would just go to the general infrastructure of the village. However Kejido couldn't help but feel uneasy about something. Where was Iwa standing in all this? The upper echelon had kept it quiet as best they could but it seemed that they were missing their Kage. So many whispers of such without any proof to the contrary. People were afraid and he couldn't blame them. This Hastur was rumored to be a powerful man with an eagerness to spread his domain. A pressure residing in the air from the mans dominance over the land. Kejido could even sense unease from the people of the nation. Like the girl from the club. She had thought herself a shining beacon of hope for his brutish nature. A diplomat and yet forced to give away those spikes that summoned lightning. A show of power no doubt.

He lifted his own hand up and clenched and unclenched his fist. What good was he in his current state? If someone came to challenge him would he be able to stand up to it? Or even escape it? His silver eyes shifted from his fist back to the crowd below as he leaned against the railing. Damn this unease. He was a prodigy. Given time he would rise to be the best. The issue was being given that time. Was he afraid of the world or just the leadership in it? He wasn't entirely sure. He would be leaving in the next couple of days himself. He was waiting to make some last minute income from this. His home was on the opposite side of the continent from this place so he could take any guard jobs other than heading to Kiri and make some profit on the way home. He doubted that anyone was going to attack people heading from the chunnin exams in case they risked hitting returning shinobi but people were afraid of the ever present bandits. He wasn't so much taking advantage of that as filling a needed position he could manage. Still from what he had seen of the exams what the other villages had to offer was manageable. Something he could handle if they turned just their own ranks on him. He almost scoffed at the idea. What invading force would bother sending genin after genin? A single jounin could likely wipe out every genin in Iwa. How had the other man put it? If they wanted to show their strength they would send jounin and people would die.

Still for now he would shake off what the Kumo Anbu had suggested. The presence of the man still weighing on his mind even now. He would take a deep breath and adjust himself. Straightening his black uniform and his high collar. Red lines stitched into the shoulders and around the neck and cuffs. Making sure each of his bronze buttons were facing forward. His white belt with the bronze buckle were lined up with the center of his uniform as was the ceremonial kunai tucked into his left waist. Sheathed there. Dark slacks were pressed and creased as they were tucked over polished boots. Over his left breast was a single white line with a second line under it showing a white, green and red bar. His headband was stitched into his right shoulder to mark him as a member of Iwagakure's forces. Lastly his white gloves were without stain. The scroll under the sleeve of his right arm was well hidden and connected to his armory chest should he need it. He doubted anyone was after his head just yet though. He was a nobody at this point after all. Still he felt a sense of unease as he looked up at the sound of thunder. The infamous storm clouds had begun to gather as if only held back to the exams themselves. It would begin to rain soon.

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Fuyuko woke up once again in Kumogakure with a decent amount of pain going through her body. The first incident that caused her to wake up and go through the day with a moderate amount of pain was from one of the trials. It had put 2nd degrees burns over a pretty big part of her body, making her very sensitive to the slightest touch. This time it was not quite the same, but the pain was no less. The right side of her torso and arm sustaining once again 2nd degree burns but now it was accompanied by a broken left collar bone. Which made moving all together pretty painful. While her burns had already considerably healed since from when she had received them during the semi-finals. They were mainly itching at this point, signifying the healing process it was going through. Her collarbone wasn’t as far in its healing process. It would still send shivers through her body at the lightest pressure shift; it was bearable, but still painful. The wounds all together made sleeping quite a hassle so when the clock struck 7 and the sun rose above the horizon it was immediately time to get out of bed.

While laying bed was okay and made sure he body wasn’t really in much pain, it meant she wasn’t doing anything at all. It would give her mind too much time to wonder about things. In particular what had been weighing on her mind was the short but very intense talk she had with Nova and Izumi in the café before the fighting rounds started. She was able to distract herself from thinking about it while the rounds where ongoing, but with the exams over there wasn’t too much that prevented her from thinking about it. How she had said too much and asked too much without thinking of its potential weight. The possible horrible answer that she had gotten from the pair was definitely not something that would’ve come across her own mind. It showed her really how naïve she was. While sure she realized that the world wasn’t perfect, there were bad things ongoing all the time. But Fuyuko would’ve never thought that they would be ongoing at this magnitude. It showed her really how much she had to grow if she really wanted to continue walking down the path she was heading down. If she wanted to continue walking it she needed to be more like Izumi. However the thought scared her as well. Would she be able to stay herself? Could she prevent herself from losing herself as she tried to rid herself of her ‘short comings’ as a shinobi.

Fuyuko shook her head only to let out of grunt of pain. She had gotten too used to shaking her head when she wanted to snap out of a trail of thought. So much so that it had gotten to the point that it had become second nature to her to do so. It was time to get herself dressed and head outside and stroll about and learn something new. She got herself dressed slowly with her right arm and the help of nurse. Jean shorts with stockings, a deep blue t-shirt and her forehead protector firmly tight around her head. As a finishing touch she would wear her newly acquired flak jacket as well, wearing it proudly despite her rather heavy lose to Izumi in the semi-finals. When she had finished dressing herself she put her left arm in her arm sling again preventing her from using her left arm too much. With the final touches done it was time to set foot outside.

The moment she set foot outside of the hospital the rumbling sound of thunder could be heard in the distance. Fuyuko looked up to the sky searching for the dark clouds to maybe get a little bit closer to them and let herself be consumed by nature. It was at this point that she saw someone standing on top of one of the buildings. He seemed dressed in a rather unusual way and it piqued her interest. While she could chase the clouds that were of in the distance, this was far closer and something new. So she went ahead and got herself over in the persons direction, channeling some chakra underneath the soles of her feet and walking up the side of the building. When she reached the top she would almost immediately introduce herself with a soft gentle voice and smile on her face. “Hey there, what are you doing up here all by yourself? I’m Fuyuko and you are?”. She hoped it was enough to get the ball rolling for a conversation. If silence would fall after the short introduction she’d follow up with one more question. “So what are you doing in Kumo anyway? Not just in this moment.”


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Kejido would sigh and glance down at his shinobi cards. He felt like he hadn't learned much from his time within Kumo. Those he had met or observed in the events had their own cards now but beyond that he hadn't discovered much outside of a mountain exploding the day before. That itself was troubling. It was rumored that each of the villages Kage had been invited to a summit that day. Likely someone was attempting to show their considerable power. What concerned him was the rumors that it had been done with something called black raiton. Something only Kumo was capable of. If rumors were to be believed than Hastur had a temper and the power needed to wipe villages off the face of the earth. Honestly the future seemed so bleak with things like this happening. He wondered if it could just hold on long enough for him to save at least his own home. He knew right now Iwa couldn't stop a power like that. Given time though he would be that power. He would surpass everyone and be able to stand against forces like that. This Hastur was a violent man destroying mountains to show his own power like any bully might. Hopefully it wasn't a declaration of war. How much fear did these people live with under the mad king? That foreigners would be packing up to leave already.

He noticed an oddity though. His eyes drawn to movement were typically movement was uncommon. It appeared there was a fairly injured girl making her way up the side of the building. A sheer drop beneath her to the streets. Perhaps it seemed a little foolish. Even he intended to take the elevator down when he was ready to go. However no one batted an eye to this which he surmised was just common as any other sight around. People walking up multiple stories and all. His silver eyes took her in a moment before glancing down at one of the ninja cards in his hand. She had made it fairly far for the exams after all. If his card was correct she was a practicing genin or rather chunnin now of ninjutsu. As well as dabbling in sealing. Her elemental affinities so far were Raiton and Suiton and to top it off her stats were well rounded. She was built for mid ranged combat. For now he would shuffle the card back into the deck and slide it into his pocket. After all some might take offense to you holding onto information about them. Prudent planning or no he would likely find the situation turning hostile. Still even injured she seemed to scale the wall with some ease even if it did take her a moment to reach the top and hop over. Now closer to him he could tell she was in no condition to be picking a fight as it was. Least of all with himself. Still she would speak as he turned to her.

“Hey there, what are you doing up here all by yourself? I’m Fuyuko and you are?”.She seemed to be hoping that he would consider this normal and yet after a breif moment of silence continued just in case. “So what are you doing in Kumo anyway? Not just in this moment.”

Three questions fired at him in rapid succession. What was he doing up here by himself? Well it was leaving day so it was only common to go get one more good view. Not everyone always needed to be near someone else. If she took time to notice she was by herself until just now as well. Still he wouldn't choose to be rude right off the bat even if she was a little eccentric with her rapid questions. He would raise himself so his shoulders were high and his heels clicked together before he gave a charming smile met only with his silver eyes scanning over her form. Oh and what a luscious form it was. "Corporal Heishi Kejido from Iwa. As with everyone else I came to watch the exams and now it is simply time to be on the way home. Can't vacation about all the time."

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After asking her questions Fuyuko took her time to analyze the man that was standing before him. His choice for clothing was pretty unique and not something she had expected to see here in the city. However with that thought in her mind she wasn’t actually sure where she would expect such an attire. This didn’t mean that she didn’t like it, it actually had some charm to it in it’s own way. The way the uniform seemed to be in perfect condition almost made it look like it wasn’t being worn at all, as if it was just hanging on a clothes hanger. His general appearance came over as a man with a lot of pride and confidence in himself and she couldn’t help but feel a certain degree of respect for that. It wasn’t often that you found someone that was capable of carrying themselves in the same way the man in front of her was able to.

When her quick study of him would’ve finished he seemed ready to give his answer to her questions as well. Changing his posture to be even more formal as he gave them. It made Fuyuko blink once or twice as she was caught a little bit off guard with the amount of formality the man was showing. While on one hand she expected it at the same time it also caught her off guard a little bit. It was hardly the occasion for the amount of formality he was showing, but also this she could still respect. The first answer he gave to her, the one about his name, didn’t come as too much of surprise. With what he was wearing it only seemed logical that he would be carrying a military name with it, however how high his rank may be would be lost upon her.

As for the answer about what he was doing here in the village hidden in clouds didn’t come as much of surprise either. Most of the foreign people that were currently present in the village were probably here for the exact same reason as him. Fuyuko turned her gaze up into the sky for a little bit as the sounds of thunder rolled through the sky again. The exams huh? Fuyuko could clearly remember just arriving at the exams and being all excited to participate in them. Looking back at it now it would appear that they had flown by in a split second. The trials weren’t all too difficult although she did sustain a decent amount of damage in the last of the three trials. But she had the most fun during the battle rounds. Her first fight was one she didn’t really want to remember, just thinking back about made her fist clench in a small rage. Her opponent treated her like a joke and then quit the match before she was able to wipe the smile of her opponents face. The second match was a lot more entertaining, only being able to barely clench the victory at the last second she felt like. It was hard fought and felt satisfying in the end, it was probably, no definitely her best fight in the tournament. It secured her place in the semi-finals in which she got defeated quite easily. The match lasted probably not even a minute total in which she suffered the crushing defeat by the hands of Izumi. She wondered if they would ever have another match against each other and if she would be able to defeat Izumi when that time would come.

She shook her head a little bit letting out a small grunt of pain because it. Once again forgetting that it would send shocks of pain throughout her body because of the broken collar bone she’s suffering from. She returned her gaze back at Kejido. It was somewhat rude to ignore your company like that. “Ah sorry about gazing off into the distance like that, your answer made me think back about the exams. What did you think of the exams, was there anything in particular you enjoyed? Was there someone that caught your eye? I’ll tell my experience first so you got a little bit more time to think of an answer.” She said with a small chuckle followed up with another grunt of pain. It was going to be hard for her to get adjusted to not being able to use her body the way she normally would for a while. “I personally really enjoyed participating in them. The trials themselves all had their own challenges, but comparing them to the battle rounds they weren’t all too difficult. Especially my quarterfinals and semifinal matches were difficult. The latter even more so than the former. I think I did pretty well, but I can’t say that crushing defeat in the semifinals didn’t hurt my ego a little bit.” She said while scratching the back of her head with her right hand and letting an awkward smile follow suite.

Fuyuko would patiently listen to the answers Kejido would give her in response to her questions. When his reply would be finished she would wait a little bit to see if he would follow up with any questions of his own or if the conversation would fall silent. If it did fall silent she would speak up again to try and keep things rolling. “So what will you be doing when you get back to your village? Any specific plans that you had in mind?”



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. “Ah sorry about gazing off into the distance like that, your answer made me think back about the exams. What did you think of the exams, was there anything in particular you enjoyed? Was there someone that caught your eye? I’ll tell my experience first so you got a little bit more time to think of an answer.” She said with a small chuckle followed up with another grunt of pain. He had hardly noticed that she had spaced off. Perhaps she wasn't focused due to some pain medication. He wouldn't be surprised. The way she was moving with those injuries suggested she might be. Otherwise it would be virtually intolerable. Still she would continue on. Ever the talkative one. “I personally really enjoyed participating in them. The trials themselves all had their own challenges, but comparing them to the battle rounds they weren’t all too difficult. Especially my quarterfinals and semifinal matches were difficult. The latter even more so than the former. I think I did pretty well, but I can’t say that crushing defeat in the semifinals didn’t hurt my ego a little bit.” She said while scratching the back of her head with her right hand and letting an awkward smile follow suite.

What had he enjoyed? His hand drifted to his pocket where the info cards he had collected resided. His generation of genin marked there for those who openly revealed themselves. It wouldn't be of incredible use for long but it held their current stats and rough observations of their abilities as displayed. A marker for each of their potentials. Still her own experience didn't seem to be lacking at all at least. She was waiting on a reply from him though so he turned to glance at her before speaking calmly. "I suppose it was graphic and fast paced. Display of power here and there to enthrall the masses. A nice touch and a brilliant distraction as far as entertainment goes.I myself prefer to simply observe rather than compete. If I must reveal my strength to someone I should be getting paid to do so." He would summarize his reason for not participating with a lack of reason to do so. As if he would need to be paid to fight the lot of them. Still he didn't sound like he lacked the confidence to do so. Still he would listen after a moment of silence to her reply. Eager to keep the conversation going.


. “So what will you be doing when you get back to your village? Any specific plans that you had in mind?” Ah now that was brushing into the personal he supposed. Breaching his comfort zone and so quickly. Almost as if she were investigating him. Still he would run a hand through his hair. Glancing back to the masses packing up to go home. "Likely just paper work. Filling out a report of what I observed here. A nice bath and maybe a brothel. Just to kick back and relax before they promote me. After all its only to be expected." He would grin at that thought. How it was just assumed they would promote him based on his attributes being superior. Or at least that was the case in his mind. He wondered though if he should compare himself strictly on the info cards available. Was he really the strongest? He was willing to bet in a one on one match with any of the participants he would win. However he wouldn't be so cruel as to challenge the injured girl in any way. No reason to.

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The answer that Kejido gave her about the his experience about the exam had left Fuyuko a little cold. It wasn’t quite what she had expected and felt a little shallow. It sounded more like he was trying to hide his true feelings about it. It left Fuyuko a little bit disappointed but there wasn’t too much she could do about it. They had only just met so it wasn’t all that surprising. His answer to her second question would reinforce that feeling. However, part of the answer had rubbed her a bit wrong. What was the lazy full of himself attitude that he showed there. It had left her a little bit baffled. He seemed to be a young man of prestige and work ethic with the way he carried and dressed himself. But the words that came out of his mouth were ones that she would expect from someone who didn’t receive proper parenting. If it wasn’t for the decent amount of pain she was going through she would probably pry more on it and try to get his true feelings out on the matter. If he would continue to show that kind of behavior she would probably challenge him to a duel.

But with her mood souring it would probably be better for the two of them to part ways. This to avoid that she wouldn’t flip at him. “Anyway, I think it’s better if I leave you alone again so you can continue saying farewell to the village.” She said while faking a smile through the pain before making her way down the building again and back to her appartment.


[Exit Thread]

wc 281
twc 2045

2045/575 Strength C > C1 + 100 Ryo
1470/575 Endurance C > C1 + 100 Ryo
895/575 Reaction Time C > C1 + 100 Ryo

Discard 320 wc