With the Hidden Leaf hosting the chunin exams this time around, a fair number of Kiri-nin had traveled to the Land of Fire, all making their way to Konohagakure in the hopes of showing themselves worthy of their place as shinobi of the Hidden Mist, or simply to show their support for the season's genin. Kaito had come mostly just because participating in the exams was expected of him, plus his grandmother had always wanted to one day watch him compete. Kaito didn't much care himself, but given everything he had only recently learned about his grandmother, his mother, as well as himself, Kaito had wanted to keep the spirit of his grandmother alive by joining the exams.

So far, Konoha had seemed well enough, but Kaito already felt homesick, he missed the smell of the ocean on the breeze, the sound of seagulls off in the distance, and the food they called fish here was horrible. Kaito didn't know what it was the locals had done to the fish, but he had to go out of his way to find a restaurant that had live fish before fighting with the chef so Kaito could cook the thing himself. Still though, Konoha had a number of things to offer that seemed nice enough, such as the vast amounts of meats Kaito had never eaten, venison for one tasted like something from above. Konoha also seemed real big into baked goods and hearty soups and stews. Suffice it to say, Kaito's stomach was full.

After eating the day away and seeing some of the few sites around the village Kaito had heard of before, the young Kiri-nin decided to make his way to Shinwato, the more nightlife friendly district of the village. Kaito didn't really know what to expect, though when the fireworks started they had startled him a little bit, not that he had never seen them before. Kaito was just having trouble letting his anxiety fade away so he could relax. Being in a distant land had an unsettling effect on him. Some small part of Kaito wanted to just go home, and Konoha was not his home. The only person he'd ever met from this village was Sachihiro Senju, and Kaito hadn't bee able to locate the Konoha-nin yet. With most of the Kiri-nin scattering to the wind for site seeing and meeting up with old friends from the Hidden Leaf, Kaito felt a bit alone.

In the end, the young genin from the Hidden Mist had made his way to a large gathering of people watching the fireworks overhead. A few vendors selling food, others selling trinkets and gifts, but mostly just people. Kaito took a moment to close his eyes and take in all the sounds, children playing, adults chatting, and collective laughter. In other words joy. It was the same joy Kaito had felt in his own village many times over the years, the same sense of joy he sought to protect as a shinobi. He would never question his loyalty to the Hidden Mist, but if all villages could share this sense of joy, Kaito never wanted to be the one to cause the suffering that would bring others' joy to an end. With the demonic blood inside him, Kaito Osoroshi wondered though, did he even deserve to live? If he was meant to be a monster, how could he protect the carefree joy of his people? If he used his new found abilities, most people would recoil from him. How would he, an Osoroshi, balance those two aspects of himself? The monstrous legacy of his blood, and his desire to keep those he loved safe from harm? What the hell was he doing in Konoha anyway?

He needed to stop thinking about that for now, Kaito needed to focus on the exams, and his future, but the loneliness in his heart was festering inside him. No family left, and no friends by his side, he was a ninja far from home surrounded by those that reminded him how much he didn't belong where he was. Kaito needed a drink, to say the least. Just then a round of fireworks went off that snapped him from his thoughts. As the bright blue lights fizzled out, Kaito actually managed a smile at how beautiful the sky was right now, the fireworks crashing against the cold darkness of the void. Such brilliant determination.

Keshi enjoyed the celebrations that had come in the wake of the Chunin Exams although there was one aspect of the Exams that both frustrated and saddened him. He had not been placed with a squad and he had never been on an official mission, these exams showed him what he could be doing instead. The boy had his thumbs hooked in the sash that held his robes in place at the waist, his eyes looking over the pedestrians with a fair bit of curiosity but also without much purpose. He had seen most of these people in passing for a very long time, some of them were foreign to him as they were travelers here to either participate or witness the Exams so that was new at least. It was then that Keshi caught sight of an individual that he could not dismiss. Try as he may to continue with his wandering Keshi felt drawn to conversation with the other. As he came within conversational distance Keshi raised a hand in greeting “Good evening!” his serpentine eyes were locked on the other’s face and as odd as they appeared, they did not seem to hold any sort of cruelty or malice. Keshi then moved the bangs of his hair away to reveal his Konohagakure headband “My name is Keshi, I’m a Genin. Are you here for the Chunin Exams? What village are you from? Are you a Chunin? I mean, if you’re from around Konoha I’m sorry I assumed you were from somewhere else… not to say that I know everybody here just that I haven’t seen you around before... is... all.” Keshi put his hand down to his waist as he finished his questioning with hesitation as he realized he was probably saying far too much far too quickly, at this realization Keshi grinned widely with his best winning smile he could muster.

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320

It was a fine night, the kind of stuff that the tourists loved and the locals put up with. Joe, for his part, couldn't sleep with all the racket that was going on. He had been trying to catch up on some well deserved sleep after his two most recent matches in the exams, yet the sounds of explosions over the night sky did little to help him rest. It was strange, he usually was a pretty hard sleeper. Maybe it couldn't be bothered, he already had more on his mind than he could handle. His fight with Yoh had shaken him to his core, plunging him into an identity crisis that he could do little to solve save put on a content face and hope to weather the storm. He was good at that, weathering a storm that is, he always had been since he was a kid. Orphans are made of different stuff, he liked to think it was stronger than the mainstream metal most family children had. The small saying put a weary smile on his face as his sleepy eyes drifted upwards to look at the fireworks. He was clad in his nine-tailed fox hooded onesie, walking barefoot along the dirt streets to one of the main observation areas where a whole group of people were standing to watch the show.

He made an 'o' shape with his mouth as his glossy gaze looked at the exploding colors above him. Gee, they sure could do some crazy stuff with gunpowder couldn't they? It was about the only thing it seemed to be good at, guns would never catch on in the shinobi world, they all seemed so useless. He blinked once, looking down from the sight to walk around through the crowd. On nights like this where everyone was crowded in one place, he liked being able to wander through a busy street and pretend to belong. Naturally, he got a few odd looks from some of the civilians- seeing one of the competing Genin wandering around in a biju onesie would do that, but Joe managed to ignore their looks. Instead, he honed in on a flash of white hair. A recognizable feature that, when coupled with a glimpse of the face that went with it, told the Genin just who he seemed to have found. It seemed there was a small cluster of varying shinobi all huddled in one spot a bit away from the main crowd of onlookers. Joe remained silent as he came to the edge of the small semi-circle that had formed around the sitting Kaito. He remembered the teen as Xiao's friend. Guy was into blood. Weird stuff man.

The other two figures were strangers, although they seemed friendly enough. One was an outgoing Genin who introduced himself as Kashi, whilst the other was another wallflower come to roost around the lil ray of sunlight of camraderie. Once Kaito had responded, the Kurama-pajama would make himself known, "How are you enjoying Shinwato?" he asked the pale boy. He knew nothing about the other man, only some basic ideas of his power. "I didn't ask, but did you fight in the arena with the trains? I keep hearing horror stories about that thing, I'm glad I haven't had to face it yet" the teen stated with a small exhale that eased some of the stress on his shoulders. He looked to the two whom he didn't know, "I'm Joe, nice to meet you both. You are Genin as well, yes? Are you competing?" the teen asked, hoping that feigning being extroverted would help him shake the nights of bad sleep and anxiety that had been eating away at him. People were good for that kinda thing, right? Hell, what else were they good for if not for that?

649/649/2233 TWC

Bored with the world around him as he looked to the sky not sure what to do with his time Makoto was busy star gazing when he seemed to notice others gathering around as he turned to lay on his stomach. Watching from the roof as he swayed his feet back and forth alternating between the two as he was wearing his pajamas since he wanted to rest before he would enter battle as Ashe sat next to him wagging her tail while hopping over him from time to time like a playful little wolf pup as he sighed and just stared at those normal people down there.

Makoto thought he heard something cool about trains, though it was Iwa who were known for their trains with these other villages stealing their brilliant innovations as he remembered the few times he would sit near the window as the wind blew in his hair. Trains were fun things as he was a bit happier then usual today, he had finished mastering his new hidden mist jutsu, though he felt it was incomplete and hoped he would get to show it, or at the very least not show it as it was hard to describe the art of ninjutsu to people who only cared about showing off with their fists of steel and their abs of iron and ribs made of hard diamond rocks as he remembered how his village was infected with Taijutsu specialists. A ninjutsu lover trapped in a taijutsu masters fever dream as he shuddered at the thought of being forced to use that forsaken style. Though if he ever used taijutsu he would probably over look it, Makoto was a simple shinobi in that sense as he wondered whether those guys grouping together were even friends.

There was that weird lonely looking white haired guy who he thought might be some kind of lone wolf. The other guy was apparently more lively with those weird looking bangs and keeping his hand on his hip like he was some kind of model or like that guy was some kind of mothering type. After a while he noticed there was a girl slurping some kind of drink and seemed to be watching the two as he wondered if she was just bored or stalking them or maybe she was tailing them for a mission. It did not really matter much since he just thought her drink looked cool as he felt he should probably get a drink later on. He was thinking that maybe lemonade or ramune would be nice.

Makoto was about to move along and lose interest, but then a real weird looking lady showed up. She had black hair and maybe her eyes were also brown like his and even had a similar mid fringe and then it finally hit him that this could be a guy, or maybe still a lady as he could not tell due to the late night as he just kept watching on with some kind of curiosity. Makoto had no friends, no family, only jutsu and his new pet Ashe the wolf pup. In the end he would just lay there looking down at the strangely odd group.

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Thread WC = 2233 + 537 = 2770

It wasn't long after Kaito had finally started to enjoy the fireworks display, managing to put himself in a better mood in the process, that another shinobi came up to him and interrupted his thoughts. It was always so striking to him how much Konoha-nin seemed comfortable approaching shinobi they weren't familiar with. They treated strangers as friends, and while that would normally be a quality worth admiring, when it came to shinobi, at least in Kaito's experience, it was always best to wait and observe before approaching someone from another village. Still, Kaito wished no ill will towards anyone, it was more an observation on the differences between Konoha-nin and Kiri-nin, at least from what he'd seen so far. The brown haired boy wasted not time in asking as many questions as he could, seemingly overeager to make a new friend.

With a short lived smirk that blossomed into a grin, Kaito offered his first response. "Apologies, I know I have a habit of covering my headband with my hair, my name is Kaito, Osoroshi Kaito." It was doubtful the boy would recognize Kaito's surname, as the Osoroshi clan was in itself one of the many secrets of Kirigakure, an entire clan hidden from the world by secrets and lies. "I'm actually a genin from Mizu no Kuni, though I've decided to pull myself from the exams." Kaito didn't really want to explain why he wouldn't be continuing on with the exams, as he was entirely certain about what how he wanted to handle everything that had been happening so far. He had no reason to confide in this young shinobi about what had happened, and Kaito didn't want to hear all the things that people said when someone died. He just couldn't bare to hear it right now.

It was at that moment, Kaito recognized someone he had met only once before, Yoshihiro, or YoJo as he prefered. Kaito knew the boy to be a friend of Xiao, though Kaito didn't know if YoJo knew what had happened to Xiao just yet. Pushing such thoughts from his mind, Kaito instead offered the other Konoha-nin a grin and a greeting. "Konoha is a beautiful place Joe, you should be proud to call it home." Kaito spoke quickly, the Kurama pajamas were getting to him as his cheeks went flush. Did Xiao tell YoJo I have a thing for pajamas? No, Xiao wouldn't have known that. Kaito thought to himself briefly before turning back to the snake eyed boy, who seemed kinda cute now too, now that Kaito's mind was hurling itself into the gutter. He just needed to stop looking at how the various tails on YoJo's pajamas swayed with each of his steps.

"Oh no, I haven't heard much about the trains, I've only fought in the field of weapons and the arena full of darkness. Both were rather uneventful to be honest. My second opponent never even made it to the arena, though I'm not sure why." Kaito spoke quickly still, his face blushing more intensely each time he sneaked a peek at YoJo's adorable outfit. It had to be the outfit, as Kaito had already met this boy, but perhaps it had also been the fact that the first time they had met, they had been in combat against one another, so Kaito's mind would have been focused on other things besides how cute YoJo appeared to be. "Kashi, I don't know if you've met YoJo before, or Joe as he just said, but he's a cool guy, since your both from Konoha, perhaps you guys would make good friends." Kaito was all for making new friends himself, but as he turned to look away from the cute guys flanking him, his perception caught movement along one of the rooftops.

In an instant, Kaito's grin had faded and his muscles stiffened, as he moved his hands closer to his back satchel where his kunai and senbon recided. Looking through his peripheral vision, Kaito saw a young shinobi, roughly between the age of twelve to fourteen, and a small dog. With the light from the fireworks overhead, Kaito was to see the boy clearly enough to recognize him from among those that were participating in the chunin exams, and if Kaito was correct it was the same Iwa-nin that Yoshito, one of Kaito's closest friends, had been paired with in the first round of the exams. Kaito knew the boy's name to be Makoto, but it didn't matter all that much to him, what worried him more was the fact the the boy, an Iwa-nin, was watching him. Kaito's thoughts began to run wild, the man Xiao had been killed by had been from Iwagakure, and if his fellow Stone shinobi knew of Kaito's relation to Xiao and feared that Katio might seek vengeance, it made sense that they would stick one of their on on him, to tail Kaito just to make sure. It was still insulting though, insult to injury more or less.

Attempting to calm his nerves, Kaito offered the two Konoha-nin another grin before crossing his arms over his chest. "Perhaps you too would like to get something to eat? My treat." Kaito offered with a chuckle, Kaito could use a drink to help him relax, and it was always best to make new friends while sharing a good meal. "Do either of you have any recommendations on the restaurant? If you ever go to Kirigakure I'll make sure to take you to my favorite seafood place, and Grandma Obasha's Bubblegum Tea Spa, that place is pure magic." Kaito just wanted to get to somewhere else, hoping the Iwa-nin wasn't actually tailing him and just happened to be there watching the fireworks, not that he wanted to take the risk seeing as how the young shinobi had obviously been eavesdropping.

(OOC: Masu, if you approach the three of us before Katio offers to take everyone out to eat, Kaito's offer extends to your character as well. Same goes to you Makoto, assuming your character makes it clear he's not looking for trouble.)

Keshi saw the grin form and was relieved that the Genin that identified himself as Kaito Osoroshi "Oh, that's cool!" Keshi said in response to Kaito's introduction of who he is and where he is from "You pulled yourself from the Chunin Exams? Does that mean that you're no longer competing?" he wasn't sure what to make of that statement as he was unfamiliar with the inner workings of the Exams. Keshi could only assume that Kaito was no longer participating. When the Kurama PJ wearing ninja showed up to introduce himself Keshi just stared at his outfit with a mix of delight and confusion. On one hand you did not often see someone wearing something so ridiculous which made it funny, on the other side normal people didn't do such things which probably meant that this 'Joe' character was sort of off in some way "Uh... yeah I'm a Genin." he responded after the pause to Joe. Keshi glanced back over to Kaito as he suggested that Keshi and YoJo should be friends "Maybe!" he chuckled in a noncommittal manner "I haven't been watching the Exams. I actually have never been on a mission either." he shrugged while twisting is mouth is a sideways frown "I don't have a squad. Academy never placed me and won't tell me why." to Kaito's question he shrugged "I don't know! I just sort of go places. To be honest I don't think I read the signs. As long as its cheap and tasty I go for it."

Keshi moved to put his hands on his hips while looking between the two with a grin "Well! I think this is off to a good start!" he was grinning brightly "Sounds like a free meal is just what I need." Keshi turned around and caught a glance of a few people looking at them, his serpentine eyes narrowed suspiciously for a moment then he appeared to look relaxed and aloof once again "I think we're being ... observed." his head nodded towards the girl in particular "Anyone you know?" he turned back to the pair before him "I don't know many of the new faces around here, or really many of the old faces." he paused then quickly added "I'm not a shut-in or anything! Just tend to forget faces sometimes is all." Keshi did not seem angry or frustrated by being watched as he was used to a passing stare now and then because of his features. Keshi himself stared at people with certain traits he found interesting as well like the Hyuga's with their silver eyes or the Inuzuka's with their fang tattoos.

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Post: 458 | Personal: 778 | Thread: 4,245

Joe stood there in his Kurama onesie, the dull orange fur of the nine-tailed fox radiating with light gently against the crackling of the fireworks overhead. It was a comfy thing to wear on a night like this when he had to go out even if he didn't necessarily want to. Sure it was a tad bizzare, but such was how tired he was. He didn't have it in him to put on something that looked more 'normal' than what he had on now. He simply looked down at Kaito as he acknowledge the boy's presence in front of him. "Yeah, it's the only home I know" he replied, giving a small nod to the Kiri-nin as he paid him the compliment. It was the truth, Joe had never traveled to any of the other hidden villages. He liked to think that there was something different that made each of them special in their own way. He saw the other teen stare at his choice of clothing. Joe blinked slowly, grabbing one of the soft tails attached to the base of his onesie and gently tickling the boy's nose with it. "Pap, pap, pap" he said, "-it's really soft" he added, compelled to show off his collector's edition of the pajama product.

He let the Kiri-nin settle down enough to introduce Joe to a fellow Konoha Genin by the name of Keshi. They seemed like an interesting type, their snake-like eyes acting all funky and abnormal. Maybe they had a cool contact lens that caused them to look like that? The chances were small, but hey it was worth hazarding a guess. Joe, for his part, gave a small nod to the stranger shinobi, "Nice to meet ya" he simply said, just a taaaaad too tired to put too much energy into the greeting. He was sleepy, only really out and about out of annoyance rather than necessity. He had no idea when these fireworks were going to be stopping, and until they did, he wouldn't be getting much sleep in the process it seemed. Unlike the other ninja present though, Joe was very much oblivious to the feeling of being watched. Instead, he had a glazed over look in his eye as he stared ahead at the handful of Kurama tails that he was rubbing against Kaito's face and lips, they were so soft! It wasn't until a third figure, a girl, approached and offered to join them that the boy spoke again.

"Sure you can come along we ain't gonna bite ya except for maybe Kaito" Joe stated, inviting the stranger to come and join their little gang since they didn't have much else to do together it seemed. Instead, in the meantime, the boy tried to think of what the group could eat. There were plenty of places in Shinwato to go for food, it was just a matter of seeing if they had any walk-up tables available seeing as how there were so many people here to watch the exams. "How about dumplings?" Joe suggested, eagerly nodding his head at his own idea. When were pork or chicken dumplings not a good idea? The answer was never, of course.

550/1199/TWC 5236

Total WC: 1199

• Training C1 Dexterity to C2, 1000/1000

Makoto was not sure how to react as the fireworks exploded again he began to notice that Ashe was starting to get a bit nervous. "go back to the inn Ashe", as he whispered that softly to his pet he yawned a bit then jumped down slowly as he landed. Now that he dropped down his pajamas were clearly visible as they were a white with some light pale bluish color to them and they also had the symbol of Iwa on the left side near the middle showing that he kept his village in his heart. He was up for some free food and he was not that sleepy though he felt like jumping down as a bit much as his feet felt a bit sore from the landing.

The look of his hair flowing upwards as he fell also stood out a bit thanks to the fire works in the night sky as the stars were so beautiful as Makoto wanted to make a star fall jutsu now, as he felt inspired by his fall and the stars and began to wonder if he could use it to hit multiple enemies and allies in an area flashing them with starry lights though that might be a bit over the top as his hair eventually fell downwards and then bounced upwards with the volume and dexterous fervor of his hair which had some ends standing up as he forgot to brush his hair and generally never bothered.

He tilted his head slightly as the hair fell to the side before he flicked his hair by shaking his head a bit as the hair seemed to return to its normal unkempt state as his little fringe hair in the middle settled in the middle he stretched out a bit and said. "Count me in, if you paying" as he looked to the side as if he did not care, but he was just really hungry as he fidgeted by rubbing his one foot against his ankle as he raised the lower part of his pajama pants up, he usually wore pajama shorts but it was cold for him that day so he was wearing the long pair this time and he did not care if people saw him in his pajamas, if someone was behind him they would also notice the back of the pajama top had an image of a wolf on the back and multiple shuriken forming stars on the back as an image.

Words = 537 + 416 = 953
Total Thread Words = 5236 + 416 = 5652 (2 EP)

Kaito always enjoyed making new friends, so it didn't bother him that the girl had been listening in, as Kaito knew all too well what it was like having difficulty jumping into the thick of it socially speaking. To Keshi's question though, Kaito offered a halfhearted smile, it wasn't really something Kaito wanted to talk about given the fact he was still attempting to make sense of it all himself. "No, I'm no longer competing, I have more pressing duties to attend to for now. But on another note, Yojo, you look really good in your outfit, pretty cute too." Kaito spoke while offering Yoshihiro a coy wink. It dawned on the Kiri-nin that Yoshihiro might be flirting with him, or at least playfully teasing him, but either way, the attention was more than welcome.

Shortly after the three of them had decided on dumplings, the girl that Keshi had pointed out stepped up to ask to join. Kaito couldn't help but be intrigued by her eyes, which were beautiful and mesmerizing. "The more the merrier, and don't worry, it's on me, just don't go too crazy with the drinks." Kaito greeted the newcomer with a chuckle. A second later, the Iwa-nin Kaito had spotted spoke up as well, asking to join the meal to make their group a party of five. "New friends are always welcome." Kaito offered, reaching out to place a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder. "Besides, I've never actually had the chance to get to know a shinobi from Iwagakure, perhaps you can introduce me to some of your friends." Kaito couldn't help but hope this young shinobi might know the Iwa-nin he was really interested in meeting. The very same one that had very recently killed Kaito's adopted little brother. On the plus, if this Iwa-nin caused any trouble, Kaito was confident Yoshihiro would have his back, not that Kaito wouldn't be able to hold his own.

With new friends in toe, and dumplings on the mind, Kaito set out in search of a decent restaurant, it wasn't long before he spotted a sign for all you could eat dumplings. With the sounds of the fireworks overhead, Kaito crossed the small bridge that led to the entryway beyond a small koi pond, meeting a beautiful young woman at the door who offered the group of ninja a warm smile. "Don't forget to order your drinks before ordering food everyone, and no alcohol to anyone under sixteen, I won't have the Military Police knocking on my door at the inn." Kaito laughed as the group of five was led to a booth. To start off, Kaito ordered himself a round of har gow doublings because shrimp is always a favorite and a round of duck and Shiitake dumplings in the jiao zi style because they could all use a little good luck with the chunin exams going on. Kaito also ordered a bowl of Donburi for himself, and a bottle of Shochu along with five glasses. Screw it, even if some of them were young they were all shinobi, if they could risk their lives they could drink.

Kaito made sure to let his guests have a chance to order their own food before speaking, luckily the Shochu had already arrived which allowed him the chance to pour everyone a drink. "So, mind if I ask your names?" Kaito inquired as he poured a drink for Masu and Makoto, he knew the later's name, but still felt like playing it off as if he didn't. "Also, I'm curious if anyone has ever been to Kirigakure before, or at least what you guys might have heard. Of course I'm curious to hear about your own villages, so far Konoha is wonderful." Kaito said, beaming towards Keshi and Yoshihiro as he poured their drinks before setting the bottle down. It'd be a few minutes before their food began to arrive, though that just meant they would have a chance to talk before shoveling food in their mouths. Sharing a meal was always the best way to bond with new friends, besides killing people together, but Kaito doubted anyone here really had the grit for that, well maybe the lady with the mesmerising eyes, she seemed like a tough one.

Food is Love:

Keshi was happy to make some new acquaintances, he had been cheerful throughout. However as the talk of food and going out began to continue he looked a tad uneasy, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to go after all. At Kaito's question the genin shook his head "No I have never been outside of the village, well I mean outside of the village's land. I've been outside of the walls of course." Keshi gave a warm, reassuring, toothy grin "It's been awesome meeting you guys but I think I am going to hold off on going anywhere on a second thought. I don't have much money to spend and I think I should get going back to the house!" the boy turned away from the group and took a few steps away before looking over his shoulder "I hope to see you all again soon, I shouldn't be hard to find either!" Keshi waved to them all and then headed off into the celebratory crowds viewing the fireworks.

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Post: 177 | Personal: 955 | Thread: 6,542

OOC: Thanks for playing with me in my first thread. Sorry that it's taken me a week to do so little, I've been very busy since I had graduation & the holidays all in the same month. Again sorry for bowing out so soon into the thread's progression but I'm not really "feeling" it since it's taken me so long to get back to the RP from all this other stuff. I don't want to give you guys terrible content for the effort you're putting into it.