Hisaki frowned at the quote at the top of the text she was reading, trying to work through it in her mind. The book itself was an older volume on fire release, something that she had borrowed from her clan's library. It was, surprisingly, not written by a member of the Hibana clan, since it apparently predated their association with fire. Which meant it was old, and because of that, it was annoyingly difficult to understand.

The sun beat down from overhead, warming her where she sat at a table outside a tea shop. A cup of green tea sat in front of her, beside a plate of half-eaten dango. All around her, people went about their business. She picked up one of the sticks of dango, lifting it to her mouth and taking a bite as she read, rubbing at her temple with the fingertips of her free hand.

Her brow furrowed. The quote meant something, she could tell that. If she didn't make sure she understood what that was, it would be useless to continue reading. It seemed like an obvious meaning--not to go out and overcomplicate things, but to try and see things for what they really were before looking for more difficult solutions. To try the simplest thing first, without wasting energy on making things more complicated. But why open with that in a book that was supposed to be about fire release? Was the author trying to say that at its heart, fire was a very simple thing...?

She knew that that wasn't the case. Even taking the three natures of fire: the pure fire, the wild fire, and the devouring fire, there were quite a lot of complications to them. But maybe that was just a flaw in her way of thinking?

This was just frustrating. She wouldn't have been reading this anyway, but she didn't have a mission today, and taking time to study was a good excuse for leaving the house. Her mother was in a mood. If she stayed around, she would certainly find something for Hisaki to do.

Drawing in a frustrated breath, Hisaki chewed on her dango as she continued to read, her scarred right hand casually twirling the empty stick.

---

WC: 414

Kennosuke had taken the day off as far as missions were concerned. It was a nice day outside and as he wondered through the streets, he couldn’t help but smile a bit to himself. The Hidden Leaf was enjoying a time of peace and it shown on the faces of its citizens. Between the peace and the fact the streets have become a bit safer thanks to his night time activities, the people on the street were happy, smiling faces, neighbors waving to each other as they pass by. It was a good feeling to have, that was for sure. He was nearing a small tea shop when he heard someone start shouting. The shouts came from within the tea shop and a masked man burst from the doors, crashing into a table where a young black haired girl had set sending her cup and plate sailing through the air. The owner of the shop chased after the man, but the man had a head start. Luckily for Kennosuke, the man was running straight for him. Placing himself in the thief’s path, Kennosuke tilted his head slightly.

“Why don’t you just stop right there and this doesn’t have to get ugly?” Kennosuke would say and the thief would respond by brandishing a fairly rusty kunai. Smirking Kennosuke would draw his own kunai. “Or we can do this the fun way.” He would lurch forward to meet the masked thief. The resulting fight, if thats what you wanted to call it, was quick and over nearly as soon as it started. The thief slashed at Kennosuke, who easily faded back out of the blades path before slamming the metal ring at the end of his own kunai down on top of the thief's hand, sending the weapon flying from it. He followed that with a swift knee to the solar plexus, then grabs the man's wrist with his free hand and in a quick move leverages himself under the theif before slamming him hard onto the ground. Kennosuke was on the man before he could react, discarding his own kunai so he could use both hands. Taking the man's head in both hands, he slams it against the ground and the theif goes limp.

Grabbing his kunai and tucking it away, he searches the theif to find the stolen ryo before rising to his feet and turning to walk back toward the shop owner who had followed the theif into the street. He presses the stolen ryo into the keepers hand and smiles.

"He should be out until the proper authorities arrive." He says and the stunned shop keeper mumbles a Thank you. "Hey, no problem. That's what I'm here for." He pats the shop keeper on the shoulder and begins walking toward the Tea shop itself, and the black haired girl who's table the theif overturned. "Hey, you okay?" He asks the girl before bending over and picking the table back up. He studied the girl with a smile, his emerald eyes meeting her blue eyes as he would wait for her response.

WC: 523

Hisaki heard the shouts a moment before a man burst out of the door of the tea shop, running right for her. Her eyes widened, and with only a split second to react, she snatched the book off of the tabletop, shutting the volume and leaping away. The man crashed into the table, splashing green tea everywhere and knocking her plate of dumplings to the ground. She felt a pang of regret for the poor dango--she hadn't even had a chance to start on that other skewer--before she realized that that was not the most important thing right now. There was clearly a situation happening!

She placed the book (it was ancient, and probably worth more than her life to hear her mother talk about it) in the pouch hanging at her waist and rounded to face the man. Her movements were a little more sluggish than she would have liked--as a new genin, she felt as though she was still learning how to respond as quickly as some of the more experienced ninja--but she brought her hands together, ready to form hand seals.

That was when she saw that she didn't have to, because the thief was already on the ground.

Hisaki froze, her fingers already forming the Rat seal, her legs spread slightly apart as she prepared to fight. She stopped just in time to see an older shinobi pick up the thief by his head and slam him into the ground. The thief went limp just like that, and Hisaki found herself feeling a little bit silly. In the time it had taken her to react and even start making hand seals, someone else had already taken the thief out. The experience gap between them felt sharp all of a sudden.

She realized she had been standing there, staring, when the man spoke to her. Hisaki blinked in surprise, and quickly relaxed her arms, realizing that they had been frozen in the Rat seal. She let them fall to her side, straightening up, and realized that her face was growing warm from embarrassment.

"I...erm..." She cleared her throat. She couldn't look him in the eye for too long. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine. You...handled that well."

Had she seen him before? No, he looked too old to be in the Academy with her. A chuunin? From which clan?

---

WC: 400 + 414 = 814