Fuyuko had just finished her first trial and was walking back through the tunnel she first walked through to get to the trial. "That was easier than I had anticipated. I had expected the trials to be more difficult than that. But perhaps I was just fortunate to get a trial that favors me, because of the jutsu I'm capable of using. Oh well what is done is done. I should be careful though not to get over confident, perhaps the next two trials won't suite me as well and I'll have a more difficult time." Fuyuko was talking out loud to herself until she had reached the ending of the tunnel after which she became silent again and just went on her way. She wondered what she would do until the next trial would start tomorrow. "I should definitely get my hand patched up, even if it's a small cut, I don't want it to get infected." She thought to herself.

When she arrived at the infirmary she was immediately treated by one of the nurses. It was just a simple cleaning of the wound and receiving a little bit of healing chakra. The nurse stated it was a little bit odd that the amount of healing she put into it should've been enough to heal the wound fully. But there was still a little bit of scabbing left on it. She stated that her body could potentially be more resistant to receiving healing chakra and would require an extra amount of healing to get the same effect as normal people. She offered to heal more, but Fuyuko rejected and told her it was enough and she had places to go. With her hand in a better state and probably fully healed by the time she would start her next trial Fuyuko headed into the city.

She said she had places to be, but quite frankly she just wanted to get out of the hospital. It was rather ironic, Fuyuko loves helping out in the hospital, but the moment she's on the receiving end she can't get out fast enough. She roamed the streets wondering what she should do until her stomach started making noises, signaling it desperately wanted some food. With nothing better to do she quickly headed for the first food shop she could find. It was a small ramen shop with only a few bar stools and hopped onto one. "I'd like one miso soup and a ramen noodle soup please." she said to the owner. "One miso soup and a ramen noodle soup coming right up!" the owner replied.


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Syekren's form moved through the village hidden in the clouds. He had chosen quite the time to join the ninja of the village, what with the exams happening currently and all. So many of the bright faces he'd seen in his travels were now in his new home. Either as spectators or hopeful entrants to the exams that would decide who was good enough to move up in the ranks and who would need more time training before they had such an honor.  Syekren's mind was on Izumi, how things had gone for them when they met up again and what she'd said.  She would be representing Kirigakure in the exams, and would likely be going there now that the village hidden in the sand was destroyed. From what he'd heard of her, the Mizukage was a wonderful leader and a strong military mind, they would surely be great mentors to his young student, but she would be so far away. Syekren, in truth, had joined Kumogakure no Sato not just to wipe his slate clean, but to help a declining village prosper as his own couldn't. The raikage now was a strong and militaristic man, but seemed honorable enough. If there was anyone Syekren would pledge his blade to, it would definitely be one that could control black lightning in such a way that had been shown during the rally before the exams started.

The man stood in the street, in his black tee shirt, black pants and sneaker, with his hitai-ate upon his forehead. He wore his tanto, Kagayaki-Ha in the normal place on the back left of his belt, and his sleeves were short enough to make out an ANBU tattoo on the left shoulder (albeit just the bottom), and an Uchiha tattoo on the right. Below the Uchiha tattoo was scarred tissue upon his arm of the Sunagakure no Sato gourd with a bar over it, burned forever into his skin. He stood there for a while, contemplating what his next move would be before he turned to see a familiar looking young woman dash into the nearby ramen shop. He was sure his eyes were deceiving him, but she looked almost exactly like the young girl he'd met during the Namahage festival. Rubbing his chin, the beard upon which being scratched with his fingers, the Uchiha thought for a moment before he began to walk towards the small shop. His contemplating wouldn't solve anything, and he would likely just need to introduce himself just to make sure he was seeing who he was.

When he entered, he noticed her sitting in one of the empty bar stools, which he noted and took the one beside her, waiting until she finished her order. When the owner looked to him, the Uchiha gave a cheery smile and spoke, without his usual slurred accent. "I'll have a bit of sweet dango and Naruto Ramen, if that's alright." With a happy nod, the shop owner began to prepare their orders, Syekren playing with the chopsticks that were on the counter in front of him. His eyes slowly drifted over to the young girl on his side and he sighed inwardly. So it was her. She looked no different than when they'd met what felt like many years ago, but he was sure she'd grown a bit since then. He coughed slightly before he spoke, speaking gingerly. "Long way from the festival, eh? Don't suppose you're here to compete in the chuunin exams then?" Only a few words, a modicum of a sentence, but it was enough to get the proverbial ball rolling. It was now in her court.

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Quickly after having ordered herself a man to her left ordered some sweet dango and Naruto ramen. She looked over at him whilst he was ordering his meal. He was not much taller than herself with hair that was almost as dark as the night. Which for some reason felt rather suiting for her. However she felt like the accompanied black clothing might have been a little too much, at least he wasn't wearing a long sleeved shirt, that would've totally been overkill. Further he seemed at least a couple of years older than herself, so were he to speak to her it should be at least okay company. Having checked out the person in a quick glance she went back to looking ahead, observing the chef making her food. It had always been intriguing to her the effort people put into making food for other every minute of the day. She wouldn't be able to do it, she'd end up getting too hungry and eat the meal instead of serving it.

Her trail of thought got interrupted as the man next to her coughed and started to talk again, but this time at her. He mentioned that it was a long way from the festival and while that was true, it had another implication. The statement he made implied that the two had met before, but she wasn't so sure about that. Observing his face she wasn't able to place it anywhere, she did meet a whole bunch of people during the festival so it was certainly possible she had forgotten. However she would find that hard to believe, she had always been able to remember faces after having only seen them once. Even if it was only a quick glance in the streets, with him implying they had met before she was sure she should remember it. While gazing in his eyes, searching for the answer, something did feel rather familiar. She just wasn't able to place it. That was until she noticed him playing with the chopsticks, although it gave her an idea and she wasn't certain of it, it was worth a shot. She slightly hesitated as she asked "Are you from that time we ate at the shop? You had a young companion at the time. I can't quite recall your name however if that was you, my apologies."

With having given at least answer to one of his questions she continued on inspecting the man better. She noticed he was wearing a headband just like her, however his showed the symbol of the village they were currently in. The symbol of the village hidden in the clouds. If he was the man that she thought of he definitely didn't wear one at the time, because she would've remembered that part. However that would explain the thing that happened with the chopsticks at that time, it was a rather unusual feet he had accomplished back then that she just ended up playing off as sheer luck. But him being an actual shinobi would certainly explain the feat he had accomplished at the time. Looking down at his arm however she found something rather contradicting. On it was the mark of Sunagakure burned into his skin, it implied that he was originally from there. Was he exiled from that place? Or is he a criminal who ran away? For the time being it was better to keep those thoughts to herself until she was able to better gauge the type of person he was. Above the mark of Sunagakure was another mark, but it was covered mostly by the t-shirt so she payed it little attention. Having inspected the man further she still wasn't sure if he was the man she thought he was, but his reply would clear that up.

Having stalled a little bit on replying to the mans second question she hastily replied to that as well. "Ah uh... Yes, I am in fact competing in the exams. I've just finished my first trail." She said with a smile. "I had to take out 4 clones made by the proctor in the arena and take them out without harming the proctor himself. Harming him would've meant disqualification. It was a rather simple trial if you ask me or well, at least for it was rather simple." she said rather prideful. The trial had been a rather great success and a good step forward in proving how much she had grown as a genin. "So, what are you doing here, if I may ask? Here to see the exams or are you doing other things?"



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Syekren was playing with the chopsticks he held still, looking about as he did so. The ramen shop they were in was quite small, and as such for its size didn't really seat that many individuals at the time.  His focus wasn't really on the food being cooked in front of them, nor his companion for the time being, but rather it was divided among the patrons and the street outside, watching for any signs of trouble. He was a veteran ninja at this point, and he always found it hard to just relax when he was out and about. Eventually his eyes wandered back to the young girl who seemed to be looking him up and down with a bit of scrutiny in her gaze, as though she was trying to discern what species of mammal he was. He could tell then that she didn't exactly remember him all that well. When he went to speak up, it seemed that a thought occurred to her and something clicked, because she spoke at that point in sudden but hesitant realization.  She seemed to at least recall they'd been at a shop together during the festival, one not unlike the shop they currently sat in. She didn't remember his name and apologized if it was him she'd forgotten. He only chuckled and waved it away.

"It's no problem, lass. You probably don't remember my name because I never told you.  It's Syekren, pleasure to meet you. I don't really remember your name either. And yea that was me, I'm a bit more cleaned up and well dressed than the last time. I'm not piss-drunk either. Not yet anyway!" He chuckled again, a hearty laugh that carried through the small shop into the streets outside. His hues looked about for a moment, the food was taking a while. He looked back to meet the young girl's gaze. She seemed to be looking him over more now, checking the markings upon his body and the headband upon his forehead, as though she were studying a new breed of animal. Not with the fascination one would normally have for such a discover, but likely checking to see exactly how dangerous such a thing could be. Syekren ignored it for the most part, tilting his head as he watched her eyes move about his form. When she was done it seemed that  she had finished her time of stalling and hesitating, hastily replying to Syekren's other question he'd asked. Syekren sighed a bit, chalking it up to nervousness about the exams.

"It's good that you're doing so well in the exams! I like to see the young genin succeed and compete, making it to the final rounds so we know who the best of them is. As for what I'm here for, I guess the first answer is that I live here now. The second would be that when my student and I left Sunagakure, I told her I'd get her to the exams so she could compete. Now she's competing and she finished her first trial as well. I can't tell ya how proud that makes me." The man trailed off quietly, looking towards the man behind the counter as he prepared their food. Without too much more of a wait he placed the dishes in front of the two and Syekren procured a generous pouch of clinking ryo, tossing it to him. "Keep the change, it'll more than pay for myself and this young woman." The owner bowed to Syekren and went away to count and deposit the money he was thrown. With that out of the way, the Uchiha set down his chopsticks and grabbed the stick of one of his three dango, sliding the green tea it was served with over to his left side.

The ninja quietly took a bite, eating the first round dumpling, chewing it for a few moments and then swallowing, taking a slow sip of his tea. He continued this ritual for the three dango sticks, until all nine dumplings were eaten, along with his tea which was exhausted after the last dumpling was eaten. When he finished his dango, he picked his chopsticks back up and split them apart, holding them quietly above the bowl. His head turn to look at the young girl for a moment, speaking again. "Do you think you'll hang around Kumogakure for a while after the exams are over? I can't give you any knowledge during the exams, but I have been known to take on students and help them improve.  I haven't been assigned my own squad yet you see, so I'd like to take the time I have and use it to help others. Or at least fill my day with something other than patrols. If you'd be willing to learn something new, I can teach you." He smiled to the young girl and went back to his Naruto ramen, eating very carefully and meticulously, being more than polite the entire time he sat eating. It wasn't that he didn't want to offend Fuyuko, it was that he wanted to enjoy the food and so he ate silently throughout.

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Fuyuko felt the tension roll off of her shoulders as Syekren mentioned that he didn’t mind that she had forgotten about him. Despite that she still felt a little bad since the man did seem to remember her. He had a somewhat unusual name, but she liked it nonetheless. Now that she looked at him in his more cleaned up state, she couldn’t help but at least think that he was relatively handsome. He also carried a warm laugh that would resonate deep inside of her chest, triggering her face to slightly flare up a bit. “I don’t know if you remember my name, or if I gave it to you at all. So let me introduce myself again once more. I’m Fuyuko, it’s a pleasure to meet you again.” She said before she would continue on inspecting the man, a little afraid he would catch on to her blush if she’d keep gazing at him. After finishing her inspection she would realize there was still a second part he had asked for and so she answered that as well somewhat haphazardly. She would quickly follow up her answer with a question to divert the attention away from her.

The reply that the man would give next was somewhat of a surprise to her and definitely not one that she had expected from Syekren. Not the part of him living here, although that was still strange in his own way, it was not what caught her slightly off-guard. It was the fact that he had a student competing in the exams himself. It got her blood running. Thinking about any part of the exam really got her excited. With the answer she was given she would wonder who would win the fight if his student was to face her.Was he or she strong? It really made her want to get as far as possible so she had the biggest chance of encountering his student. “Oh, who is your student? Maybe I’ve heard of them before or maybe I will face them in the fighting stages of the exam. Do you think they have it in them to win the whole thing? Now that you mentioned the exams and you having someone participating in it ‘for you’, I’m getting really excited again myself. I’m personally not really in it to become a chuunin. I just want to get as far as possible to see how far I’ve grown over the years.” She said with a lot of enthusiasm.

Before she had realized the order for the pair had been finished. The owner placing her two bowls in front of her, one filled with miso soup and the other with ramen soup. But just as she was about to reach for her purse to pay the own Syekren has already tossed a pouch with enough money to pay for the both of them. It was just like last time around where he paid for their meals, at least this time around he looks dressed enough to be able to afford effortlessly. Still she couldn’t refrain from making a comment about it, albeit more to poke a bit of fun. “You think I can’t pay for my meals myself?” A small smile and chuckle accompanying the words. She grabbed her chopstick and pulled them apart, rubbing them against each other a couple of times to make sure there were no splinters on it. Grabbing her miso soup in her right hand she started to slowly eat it. Her facial expression filled with joy from the food. Syekren was again mostly quiet during the meal, much like the last time they had eaten together.

The silence would not last until the pair had finished eating their meal together this time around. No with both of them having finished about half of their meal Syekren would break the silence with a proposal. If she stuck around after the exams if she would like to get trained by him. Seeing as he had a student he had to be at least of spec. jounin rank. Maybe even higher ranked. It would be a shame to have to decline such an offer. However as much as she would’ve liked to stick around, she had to go back home to Kirigakure, at least for a little bit. “Thank you for the kind offer, but unfortunately I’m going to have to decline. It’s not that I don’t want to get trained by you, but I have some unfinished business left to attend back in Kirigakure. However after having cleaned up my unfinished business I don’t see why I wouldn’t be able to come back and accept the offer than. That is of course if the offer is still standing when I come by again.” She politely replied with a smile of her own before continuing with her food just like he was.

As much as she was careful earlier she was being careless now. Unaware of it herself, but she had scootched over, as much as she could, on her chair towards the man. Was it the fact that the man was slightly dangerous and the excitement that would bring that got her closer? Or was she just simply physically attracted towards him. For the time being Fuyuko would be unaware of what her body seemed to be doing, but she did notice she felt more at ease as the conversation moved forwards. She couldn’t help but pause her eating about halfway through with her second soup to go ahead and tease him a little bit. “So, how are things going for you? Shouldn’t you be with some gorgeous woman eating instead of eating with an almost stranger?” She asked with a playful smile. She would eat some more of her soup while keeping a watchful eye in his direction trying to catch any of his facial reactions.


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Syekren listened to the young woman as she spoke, his head tilting. Fuyuko, was it? Interesting name she had, he'd never met anyone with that sort of name before and he likely never would again. It was a unique name, if nothing else. His eyes wandered her face as he listened to her, noticing a bit of rednessi n her cheeks reminiscent of Izumi in a way. They both blushed at times when Syekren was unaware of what he said to cause such a thing. Though, he supposed, Izumi did blush quite a bit more in the presence of the older Uchiha than Fuyuko did, or perhaps that was simply because he was around the young Karisuma more. In any case, the man looked on at the young woman in a bit of surprise, as she started to get more excited from something he had mentioned. She seemed to be getting this excitement from the knowledge that the ninja had his own student who was competing in the exams currently, possibly winning her matches at this very moment. Or not, he hadn't had much time to spend with her since the exams had started.

Still, the Uchiha would listen to her questions and speech on the knowledge of the man having a student in the exams and would wait until she seemed to be finished to articulate his answers. "Her name is Izumi Karisuma, she's from the village hidden in the sand like myself. Originally we were going to represent home in our stay here, but there was a tragedy in the sand that caused that to become impossible. So now I represent Kumogakure no Sato in all things I do, and she represents the village hidden in the mist to my understanding. As far as if she'll win everything, I've no doubts in my mind she's been prepared well enough to get to the finals and to possibly win the whole thing herself." Syekren watched Fuyuko quietly as she positively radiated her excitement about the exams. She wanted to see how far she'd grown in the years and it was respectable, because who didn't want to know how strong they gotten and how far they'd gone? It was the essence of being a ninja, training and improving to become the best you can. At least, he saw it such a way. "Hold on to that excitement, it will take you places. I once had the same excitement in me for my exams, fifteen years ago. From there I'd become a chuunin and then rank up again! Training hard and improving will always pay off."

Syekren smiled at the young woman and her comment about whether or not she could pay for her meals herself. He had no doubts in his mind she could, he was just used to being polite and paying when he could. "It's nothing like that, dear. I just feel as though you being a genin, I could pay for you as a treat to say: 'Welcome to Kumogakure, we hope you do well in the exams!' If you like, I can take the money back though." The man winked at her and chuckled loudly, a cacophony of warm sounds that hit a genuine note, not being faked in the slightest. He was truly enjoying himself at this point in life. He waved his hand as she apologized and rejected his offer of training her. Everyone had their own plans and he would hate to hold her up from her own devices. "Feel no shame in rejecting my offer, it will stand for as long as you believe you need any help in getting better. You may even be able to teach me something if you come back after you've grown a bit." He laughed again and softly nudged her in a playful manner.

Once he'd finished speaking, he went about finishing his ramen, enjoying the flavors that would meld with each other on his tongue. He truly enjoyed the time he could spend eating his favorite foods. Having someone to spend time with while he ate wasn't bad either. His mismatched hues went to inspecting the young woman who had apparently moved closer to him without his noticing. It wasn't that he minded her moving closer, it was just that he was surprised he didn't notice beforehand. Still, he wouldn't speak on it until she spoke up with a teasing manner in her voice, inquiring on whether he should be enjoying lunch with a gorgeous woman instead of an almost stranger. The Uchiha was mostly oblivious to flirting, but he could tell after spending time with Izumi that this woman was basically doing such a thing. His lips curled into a smile, his hand coming up to scratch his beard nonchalantly. "I suppose with you, there isn't much of a difference then is there?" His eyes met hers for a moment, the different coloured azure hues splitting into crimson for a fraction of a second before returning to normal. The man quietly set his chopsticks in his bowl, handing it to the cook as a sign he was done, speaking a word of quiet thanks.

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Fuyuko was glad that Syekren was willing to share information about his travelling companion and student. The new information would initially only excite her more and more about the exams. Izumi Karisuma. A name, just like Syekren, she had never heard of before this conversation. It was a name she would be sure to remember just for the off-chance she might end up facing her in the fighting rounds of the chuunin exams. What was told afterwards was slightly puzzling to her. Fuyuko was not able to wrap her head around the matter. Why wouldn’t they be able to represent the village they come from? While it explained her question she had earlier in her mind, of why Syekren had the Sunagakure no Sato symbol tattooed on his arm and was wearing a Kumogakure headband. But with that door now closed a new one had opened up. A door that would only lead to more confusion and curiosity. First of all, why would they align themselves with different villages? If they are teacher and student, it made very little sense to her for them to not align themselves with the same village. But what was probably more mysterious was the reason for them aligning with a different village. What was the reason for them to be unable to stay aligned to the sand? She would try to contain her curiosity though, but she wasn’t certain how long she would be able to hold it under control.

Syekren continuing to talk about the exams itself was certainly helping however. “Well I’ll try my best to stay excited about the things I’m doing. But for now I hope I’ll be able to face your student at some point in the tournament. I’m wondering how good or bad I’ll be able to handle myself against her, seeing as you think she could make it all the way to the final. I’m not sure I’ll be able to get that far. However I will try my best at every fight. If I lose, I lose. But at least I’ll have given it my all and I’ll have no regrets, that’s what’s important right?” She looked over at Syekren, wondering if he would give of signs of agreement with her statement. While she was fairly certain that her statement was a good one, getting confirmation was always a nice feeling.

Her face turned a little pouty though when Syekren would reply in a somewhat serious manner to her playful jest. She had hoped that he would catch on, to the obvious joke that she was trying to make, and play along with it. Keep the mood of the conversation they were having light hearted and enjoyable. But alas, one isn’t able to get everything they want. So she would reply in a somewhat similar more polite manner. “Well, thank you for offering, I will gladly accept it. Just like last time.” The words accompanied with a small gentle smile, her eyes would still betray the slight disappointment she felt for him not playing along with her. But she couldn’t help but let go of that feeling rather quickly. That warm laugh he held was just heart melting, one you just can’t stay mad at. Luckily he wasn’t mad or disappointed in her either for rejecting his offer. She was happy to hear that the offer would stand regardless of how much time would have seemed to pass. However the last words he spoke would leave for another opportunity. But she wasn’t going to be so subtle or kind as the first time around. No, this time she wanted fire some shots. Especially since he seemed to be playful at the moment through the nudge he gave her. “Well, if it ever gets to that point. Wouldn’t you say it was better you packed your bags?” Nudging him a little back and biting her lower lip gently before turning back to her food again.

Her final question she had given to Syekren would receive an answer she was not prepared for. She had expected him to brush it off to the sides or give a more serious answer to it like he had done before. No instead he would turn it around completely. It was now her being put on the spot instead of him and because of that she just couldn’t help but flare up. She hadn’t received many compliments in her life and especially not on how she looked. Sure she had gotten them from her parents, but those were her parents. Not someone that wasn’t family or a stranger at that. Despite in the moment of their eyes being locked onto each other, she caught a glimpse of his changing. But the unknown feeling that was taking over made it impossible for her to properly register what happened. She would quickly turn to her bowl and finish up the last few bites remaining. When she was finished she would hand both of the bowls over to the cook as well and give a small bow as a thank you.

Having had a few moments to gather her thoughts and set her feelings straight again, as far as that was possible. Her face was still radiating by the comment he had made. She would try to look at him but would find hard to meet his eyes. “Care to go on a little walk with me to a place more quiet? Something has been on my mind, but I’m not sure if talking about it here is the best choice. If you have other things to do that’s fine as well of course.” She would patiently wait for his reply. Holding her hands behind her back, turning her body left and right ever so slightly. Her right foot resting on the tip of her shoe and her eyes randomly snapping to his only to feel flustered again and break contact. If Syekren were to refuse her invitation she would look slightly disappointed, but bow and thank him for the lovely meal they spend together and that she’d be looking forward to meeting him again.

However were he to accept her offer she would tell him to follow her. On one of her strolls she had found a rather nice view. On top of that it was in a somewhat weird location so it was pretty deserted. It was on top of a roof from one of the many buildings in the village. This one was however somewhat higher up against the cliffside of a mountain with a, in her opinion, gorgeous view over the village. She would remain silent all the way until they had arrived to the location. “Isn’t it a gorgeous view?” she said staring over the village which was covered by the scattered sun rays which managed to break through the cloud bed.

Fuyuko would seat herself on the edge of the building, one of her legs would dangle over the edge while the other would be tucked in close. Her arms wrapped around it and her chin leaning on her knee. She wouldn’t look at Syekren for a second when she spoke her next words. Instead she’d keep her gaze straight ahead and look over the beauty of nature. “You seem to be a man of experience Syekren. There are two topics I would like to talk about with you, if you don’t mind of course. One of them is more of a personal thing, while the other is something that popped into my head because of something you had mentioned. The thing that’s more related to you is about your home village Sunagakure, is it okay if I ask about it? It’s somewhat hard to hold my curiosity back.” She chuckled a little bit as she said that. She never wanted to pry into other peoples affairs, she found it rude and intrusive. But in the end she could never could contain her own curiosity. “If you don’t want to talk about that, I’ll understand. We can just talk about the other topic then, of course we could always talk about a subject of your choosing.” Fuyuko would only now glance over to Syekren when her final words were spoken.


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Syekren smiled at the thought that he'd just given the young woman a run for her money and turned things around so that she was the one embarrassed and unsure of how to proceed. He didn't usually like being the one on the defensive when it came to social interactions or battles and seeing someone else flare up at what he said other than Izumi, was quite the good feeling. She'd hurriedly turn back to finish her food and hand over her bowls after he was done and sit there quietly, allowing the Uchiha to gather his thoughts. He had a long way to go with what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. And he still had so much to learn before he could face his parents one final time. There was also the business he had left in Konoha, rebuilding the Uchiha hideout and making it into something more than it was. There was always so much to do in life and he never seemed to have enough time for all of them. He was a man of thirty and had not really done much with the time he'd been given. That would have to change, very soon it would have to be remedied.

Syekren looked up, listening to the young girl as she spoke after having collected her thoughts.  She wanted to go somewhere more quiet as there were things on her mind she wanted to discuss, and the place they were currently seated in was much too open. Syekren shrugged and acknowledged that what she was saying was probably for the best, and when she stood, he followed her suit, waving to the owner as they made their way out of the small ramen shack. They walked for some time, taking a route Syekren would likely have taken if he had been on patrols in the village at any point, and noticed that they would be going to a roof top. This building had a gorgeous view at the top and was slightly off the cliffside of a mountain. The Uchiha stretched as they ascended the stairs, stopping in the middle of the rooftop, looking about the place. It was deserted for sure and would prove fruitful to those that did not want to worry about eavesdroppers. When he was asked if it wasn't a gorgeous view he nodded in agreement.

"Quite a view it is, lass."

Syekren tilted his head as the young woman began to speak again, his azure hues of different shades narrowing as she spoke. She had curiosity about when he'd mentioned his old home village, Sunagakure. He chastised himself mentally for letting such a crucial bit of information slip past his lips. While he hadn't actually given anything away, nor his involvement, it still brought questions to bear that he would rather not answer if he could help it. In this situation, all he could do would be to give himself plausible deniability and be incredibly vague or ambiguous. At her chuckle, the Uchiha had let his eyes retreat from their narrowed state, just realizing he had absentmindedly reached back to tap the hilt of his tanto. Letting out a small sigh, the man moved towards the woman and sat next to her on the edge of the building, looking out over the village hidden in the clouds. It truly was a beautiful sight to behold and he couldn't imagine what it would look like if it met the same fate as his old home. His head would tilt to allow him to meet her eyes, thinking for a moment before he decided to speak again.

"My home is now Kumogakure. I'm a ninja of the cloud for the simple fact that Sunagakure no longer exists. It was burned to nothing, wiped off the face of the map by three people who wanted to cleanse corruption in their own way. Many died and many more were left destitute and homeless as a result. I can't imagine it happening to another village after seeing it first hand. It was horrible. Children, elderly, civilians, ninja, it didn't matter who was there. If you got in the way you were killed and left to rot or destroyed completely. It was a massacre and there's nothing that can really be said about it that would really do what happened justice. It was after the fact I decided on settling here to rebuild and try to get my life back on track." He sighed again and stared back out at the village. He wasn't really looking at anything, and he was looking at everything. His mind was in a different place at the moment and he wasn't sure if that place was good or bad. Still, there was much that he left unsaid for the protection of himself and this young woman, that he couldn't allow anyone to know. His involvement in the burning and the names of the other two who took part. You never knew who was listening or watching, waiting for such information.

After a while the Uchiha would take a deep breath and let it out, thinking of what else to say. "You said you had something else you wanted to talk about? Or was that the main course?  As for what I could choose to talk about: what do you plan to do after this is over and you return to Kirigakure? I have been meaning to visit the land of water and I'm unsure of what exactly I could do there. The last time I was there, I was stopped on the border by a woman who by all accounts was mentally disturbed. She took one of my eyes and it took me years to find a replacement. I haven't really gone back since. Saw the inside of a hospital and that's the most I knew of Kirigakure." He chuckled to himself for having not taken the time to really explore  a new village when he had the chance. He made a mental note to do so when he had a chance again, so he could map out every major village in his head and know where he could go if he ever had to take refuge in such a place. It just killed him inside to know the years spent mapping Sunagakure were all wasted now. It was partly his fault, but he just couldn't let any of it go. He sighed inwardly this time, not allowing it to pass through his lips to the ears of the woman beside him. So much time wasted. When he did visit Kirigakure, he wouldn't be able to stay long as he still had business in the village hidden in the leaves. He would likely talk to the Hokage about his plans so that he would not have to worry about some ninja snooping around while he committed himself to his work or something. Then again,  the Hokage would likely have half a mind to send spies to check up on him, but if Syekren's contact came through, it would matter little in the long run. It never hurt to be safe though.

1,215|3,612

Fuyuko’s face was somewhat bubbly before Syekren had started his reply, happy that he accompanied her and came down to sit next to her. On their way to the place she had a little bit of time to think about how she was feeling, she had determined that she was at the very least attracted to the man and that the feeling might have been mutual. However she was inexperienced with romantic relationships and he could merely just be polite to her. So when their eyes met when Syekren would talk they looked at him somewhat longingly. But that look would soon disappear, the words that Syekren spoke would drown out any happy or romantic feelings she was having at that point in time. Instead her eyes would shine disbelief. She wasn’t quite capable of comprehending the depth of the words that were spoken. But she was capable of understanding how horrible the actions were that got described.  Unbeknownst to her tears would form in her eyes. Only realizing they were there went they started to roll down her cheeks.

Fuyuko would continue on staring at Syekren while his gaze returned back to the village. She was unsure how to continue on from here. Once the words had settled in a little bit she would start to feel the sadness that had overcome her, the sadness that had consumed her. It slowly made some space for another feeling however, the feeling that she had made a mistake. The new feeling wouldn’t push away the other instead the would be inside of her together in harmony. One of them was unavoidable, there was no way she could’ve expected the answer she was given to her question. Which ultimately gave her the feeling of sorrow. Actually, that wasn’t completely correct. If she had just contained her curiosity, if she just didn’t put her nose into every business of other people’s lives she wouldn’t have known the reason for Syekren being a Kumogakure ninja. She wouldn’t have known the story of the destruction of Sungakagure. However after thinking about it shortly, that too was not correct. She probably would’ve have heard it from the rumors on the streets eventually, something like that just couldn’t be hidden from the public. And so the anger towards herself calmed down a little again, but she still felt bad for prodding into someone else’s business.

A silence followed as the two of them were now both staring over the villages vast size. Fuyuko now and then wiping the tears away as they were still slowly forming as she thought about the innocent people from the village. Syekren had mentioned that a group had wiped the village away because it was corrupt, but that didn’t mean the entire village would have to be removed right? Just taking care of the corrupt people should’ve been enough right? Were Fuyuko not so sad about the whole ordeal she would probably have been at least angry about it. Potentially up to fuming if you caught her on a bad day. She wanted to know more about the whole situation, things like who would or could have done such a thing. Why didn’t the group that caused it take a more civil approach about it. But she decided it was better to let it slide. She didn’t want to pry further into the life of a man who recently has lost his home. A man that looked somewhat broken now that she had gotten this information about him. She wondered if they would now just remain seated here until either of them got tired of the situation or if Syekren would speak up again. Because she wouldn’t, she felt too bad about making him remember something so horrible.

Luckily Syekren would break the silence with a sigh before he would speak up again. Reminding her that there were two things she wanted to talk about. He would again tell a somewhat somber story, but it was somewhat puzzling to her. Why would someone take an eye from someone randomly? It would however explain his mismatched eyes. “Well luckily the thing you want to know and the other course kind of intertwine, so I can answer both questions at the same time. But first, why would someone want to take someone else’s eyes? Isn’t that normally only done when one possesses a dojutsu?” Right as she said it, something clicked in her head. Did that mean that he possessed a dojutsu?. “Anyway, when I get back to Kirigakure  I’m going to have to train up more. I need to become stronger. A lot stronger!” She proclaimed as she made a fist in front of her making it look like she was grabbing something.

“You see, I need to be able to rival the strength of the strongest if I want to be able to accomplish my goals, rival the strength of the Mizukage. I love my village and country but I think the way things are done isn’t just quite right. I’m not sure if you know or not, but the hidden mist village doesn’t have prisons. So people are punished equal to the crime they committed. While I think that’s fair, I also think that the people that commit crimes need a chance to redeem themselves, find their way back onto the righteous path with some guidance. But how is that possible, if a good part of the people that commit the crimes are killed.” She sighed a little bit as she remembered the mission she did with Nozomi, how she basically gave the bandits a second chance, but without guidance. While Nozomi would probably not have cared if they had died there for their wrong doings. “Basically my question to you is, how do you think criminals should be punished? What is a fair treatment for all parties involved? As you may have been able to deduct, I’m somewhat against straight up killing wrongdoers. They’ve simply just lost the right path and need a little bit of guidance to get back on it. But the more I think about it, the less I know the right answer to it. It’s pretty complicated….”

Fuyuko would go a little silent again. She felt like she was losing herself already, despite only having been around in this world for a relative short time. That feeling combined with the general sadness she was already feeling made tears roll down her cheek once more. Fuyuko could feel that she was losing herself in the tug of war she was constantly battling inside of her. She wanted to uphold the rules of the village, follow them and be a good citizen. But being a good citizen would require her to kill the people that did wrong and give them no chance for redemption. The one thing that she truly believed in that should happen. Would she ever find the right answer or will her life turn into an endless quest looking for the right answer.


wc 1195
twc 4830

OOC: Sorry I held you up, I'll be exiting this post so we can get our EP. Since I'm in kiri we'll have to do another thread together!

Syekrenwatched the young woman's facial expressions, cursing himself for laying such a heavy subject on her after they'd met only the second time. Then again, he'd laid much heavier burdens on Izumi after just meeting her and she was fine. That was likely due to the admiration she held for him and not just a show of her fortitude. Syekren shook his head, sighing. Here he was, sitting on a roof with another beautiful young woman and his thoughts continuously went back to Izumi instead of staying on the topic at hand. He couldn't do much for it at this point, however, as he just realized the Fuyuko was talking once more. She asked why someone would take someone else's eyes, and correctly insinuated that such things only happened when a person possessed a dojutsu. Syekren silently nodded, but didn't give too much information out just yet. While the girl didn't appear to be malicious, labeling oneself as an Uchiha was always dangerous, no matter the company you kept.

When she mentioned that she wanted to become stronger and made a fist, Syekren chuckled. He didn't mean to, but she reminded him a lot  of himself when he was younger. Strength was all he strove for from a young age and worked his ass off for it. "You'll get there lass, just as I did. You remind me a lot of myself actually. Full of zeal and fire." Fuyuko moved on after that into another round of questioning, but the Uchiha wouldn't get a chance to answer her next questions. It was at this moment a large black raven swooped down from the sky and landed on the roof next to Syekren. He was mildly surprised but didn't let it show, the bird titling its head up at him and holding one of its legs out expectantly. After looking down, he noticed a miniature scroll was tied to the bird's leg, and when he took it off, the bird squawked and flew off into the clouds once more. The ninja tilted his head and slid the scroll open, reading the contents quietly.

After a moment he stood and sighed, stashing the scroll in his pocket for later destruction. "I'm sorry to do this to you, but I have to go. I've been called for an assignment. We'll have to meet up again though and I'll answer that question for you." The uchiha smiled and winked, turning his back to her before he burst off, jumping from the rooftop to another. He would leap across the rooftops to get to his destination, eventually disappearing from sight for the young genin now alone on the roof.

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EXIT

Training:

Fuyuko chuckled a little bit at the comment Syekren made about her being similar to him. It is not something that she had expected to hear. Then again, being ambitious about things is something that a lot of people have when they are younger so it wasn’t all that weird to hear it. Soon after a black raven would land on the top of the building they were seated upon. Syekren noticeably distracted by it made Fuyuko interested in what it could be. He pulled up a scroll but angled just so she wasn’t able to read it’s contents. He would then stand up and tell her that their time together here would have to be cut short. Fuyuko sighed but she understood it. “Best of luck with the assignment, may we meet again then someday.” She said as she waved. And within the blink of an eye he had disappeared from her sight.

There she was just seated alone at the top of the building gazing over the vast size of the village looking at the sinking sun alone. While she did enjoy her time with him here and at the ramen shop. Deep inside of her she felt like, despite how he made her feel, it was most likely not mutual and it was better to just burry those feelings.


[Exit Thread]

wc 225
twc 5055

OOC: It's okay :p

5055/2000 Suiton C > B
3055/3000 Suiton B > A

Discard 55 wc