Chiba made a few more markings in his journal as he looked over the village in front of him. having spent all his time the past years at the academy, it was due time he learnt about the village he was now a part of.
still, though, he did miss his father and mother. perhaps he'll visit them now that he'd graduated from the academy.
his had unconciously moved to the pocket holding a near-empty monypouch, bringing him back to reality. he was surprised that he'd gotten carried away thinking of his family. that wasn't like him under normal circumstances, but, then again, graduation from the ninja Academy isnt normal circumstances.
chiba sighed and looked over the village in front of him. "you're my home now. you're my family." his stoic nature gave nothing away regarding the events playing out in his mind.

The emerald lenses of a vibrant youth wandered aimlessly as Zwei ambled across stone terrain. His entire posture emitted that of someone who was in search for something or someone. As instructed by Lilith he was informed that he'd have to meet up with a shinobi who was new to the village. Zwei was quite anxious as well as honored that he was yet again chosen as a representative of the village. They could've easily chosen someone over him, yet stood amongst all peers. A faint smile shaped his lips as he finally reached the border of the village. It was highly populated; several merchants and travelers alike filled the gates in a hectic yet organized manner.

Little was known about the new recruit aside from his name, Zwei was only really notified of the young male's name. Zwei notified one of the border control men and simply informed him of the situation and how he was here to retrieve a fellow shinobi. After he was granted permission he eventually walked along side the line, peering through for anyone around his age who happened to be traveling alone. He approached several random people in hopes to find the young teenager, questioning them politely by asking for their names and such. It took him several minutes and of course several failures until he finally approached a young male who happened to look like a student.

Upon first reaction he simply thought the young male was a scholar. There wasn't a chance that this kid could certainly be a shinobi. He looked extremely intelligent, well composed, and not to mention the blank stare that filled his profile. If anything he was a scholar; perhaps someone who was just passing by while on a more intellectual journey. Nonetheless Zwei wasn't the type to really stereotype anyone. The edges of his lips lifted slightly as a faint smile shaped them: "Hey, I'm Zwei - You wouldn't happen to be Chiba by any chance would you?" He questioned as he stood before the youth. Zwei self consciously offered an idle hand out for him to shake just in case it was him.

"hrm?" Chiba turned to look at the young man next to him. after pausing a moment to assess the situation, (smile; friendly. hand extended, empty; greeting. forehead protector identicle to his; Iwa shinobi of genin status. overall assessment; customary tourguide for newcomers to the vilage), Chiba's hand pulls up within his sleave, and returns a second later without the book. the hand is then extended in kind, grasping his guide's hand in a firm, yet careful manor. (caluses on inside of hands; uses weapons.)
"i am indeed Chiba Shogo. I am glad to find such a warm reception on my arrival to Iwagakure no Sato, and it is an honor to meet you Zwei-Senpai. I only pray that I am not interrupting any training or missions that you are currently undertaking, and offer my assistance should that be the case." his expression doesnt change, but his eyes show the truth in what he's saying.

It wasn't until Chiba formally introduced himself until Zwei realized he had the right guy. Chiba's initial reaction to Zwei's approach; he was extremely cautious, which was normal - if Zwei was put into the same predicament he'd probably do the same. After they shook hands Zwei couldn't help but to break into a faint chuckle prompting Chiba's comment. He was extremely polite and well spoken: "Just call me Zwei, and no you're not interrupting anything. If anything I now have something to do." He lifted his hand up slightly, motioning Chiba to follow suit as he went into the direction of the village.

Fortunately for them they didn't have to wait in the long line like everyone else, but of course he caught a glimpse of a few angry onlookers who weren't as fortunate. Zwei smiled nervously, peaking over his shoulder and at Chiba: "So is this your first time in the village?" Zwei wasn't exactly the greatest tour guide, but knew his way around the village for the most part. Matter of fact he wasn't exactly instructed to even show Chiba around, but he honestly didn't mind. It shouldn't be too difficult showing him a few popular spots here and there.

Chiba followed obedienly alongside Zwei, trailing only a step or two behind. taking in the grand archways they were passing through, he noticed neither the queue or people nor their reaction to his expedient passage while they were forced to wait.
"i am glad that i can supply you with a way to occupy your time. Zwei." the name came akwardly without anything after it. chiba wasn't accustomed to being so formal. his parents had taught him it was disrespectful. perhaps that was with them, or perhaps he'd outgrown the neccessitation for such things. he'd play it safe and wait for people to instruct him to refer to them informally. that seemed the safest path to follow.
"this is, in fact my second time to this vilage." Chiba responded to the question simply, then felt the need to explain the need for a tourguide to be sent. "however, i was only an infant at the time. my father was a traveling shopowner at the time. he stopped when i began to walk, as i would wander off and cause trouble." that seemed like sufficient explination for the situation at hind. propper manners dictated that he now ask something in return. "are you a native to the city? that is to say, all your family are here?"

Once they arrived to the border patrol, Zwei simply greeted him with a pleasant smile and nodded his head head towards the shinobi. The shinobi shifted his glance from Zwei over to Chiba and returned the smile and waved them in. Zwei broke into a faint chuckle as Chiba begun to speak; Chiba's manners, complimented with a hint of bashfulness reminded Zwei a lot like himself or at least when he had originally arrived. Just like like Chiba; Zwei also came from a very strict background, being polite and courtesy to his superiors and peers were above all. It seemed his transition from his home to Iwagakure altered him a bit. Of course he was still polite, but it wasn't as excessive as it use to be. Needless to say Zwei shook the idle thoughts out of head. It was rather rude to be in deep thought while conversing with someone.

"Me? Not I'm not from here either." He paused for a moment, coming to a halt briefly as he stared up at the city; they had a pretty good 'climb' ahead of them, it wasn't too bad but the majority of the walk was uphill from here on out. "I'm from the iron nation; Tetsu no Kuni -- I'm actually a samurai. Kind of different, huh?" He questioned with a faint smile as he glanced over to him. At this point he begun walking again, making sure they stood side by side rather than him leading the way. "My family is actually still in the iron nations, but I'm staying with my uncle and aunt and they're teaching me the way of the shinobi. I guess you could say I'm a bit of a hybrid." He concluded, leaving out a few tidbits here and there out of the conversation. He wasn't a huge fan of talking about himself, the notion itself seemed a bit conceited.

Upon walking uphill they passed a few caravans, some of them were merchants and children and animals running about and playing along the path. "So do you remember traveling with your father? Was his shop set up similar to these folks?" He questioned with a genuine look of interest shrouding his profile

"when he was traveling, it was most often in a caravan," Chiba explained. however, when i was three years and eight months old, i was causeing trouble because of my curiosity, and he decided it would be better were we to settle down. so we settled into a small town on the outside border of Kaze no Kuni. the trade there was excellent, as most anyone interested in traversing the dessert would stop there before the journey."

Chiba paused his speach a moment before stating, "you never said whether it was your choice to be trained in the ways of shinobi." it was difficult to tell if the statement was a question or not.

he was enjoying the climb up into the village, though it didn't show on his face. suddenly, a child ran in front of him, stopped and just stared. he recognised the curiosity in the childs eyes as he had once looked upon a shinobi in the same way. he rapidly thought through the things he had brought with him, and made a decision. he crouched in frount of the young girl, watching as her eyes followed his movements. he held out his hands to her, showing that they were empty. quickly, and with practiced ease, one of his hands darted inside the sleeve of his shirt, released one of the seals he had there, and emerged holding a small puppet.
it was just a practice puppet, meant for training chakra strings, but it was all he had available at the moment. extending a couple threads from his fingers, Chiba had the puppet get to its feet on his palm, and start dancing on it. Chiba watched as the girls eyes lit up with excitement, and she started to dance as well, mimicing the dolls movements.
after a minute had passed, the doll jumped off of Chiba's hand, and floated gracefully through the air to the girl. she looked cautiously from the puppet to Chiba, who simply nodded. she tentatively grabed the puppet from the air, watching the strands of Chiba's chakra break as she took the weight of it herself. setting it in her own hands, she watched, waiting for it to dance on its own.
Chiba reached out, closing her hand around the doll. "some day," he said, breaking the silent spell between them, "you will make this puppet dance all on your own." he didnt smile, but there was a kindness to his eyes, and the girl went dancing off with the puppet in her arms.
standing, Chiba was startled to find that Zwei was still there., as if he'd forgotten for a moment about his guide.

Zwei listened intently as Chiba inquired about his past, finding it rather interesting how they both originated from a small village on different sides of the world, yet here they were. Although it was such a simple question Zwei was a bit taken back by it; no he wasn't angered by the question, but a perplexed expression shrouded his visage. Although the question was simple it was extremely loaded, he hadn't thought about it that much. He enjoyed Iwagakure immensely but the idea of being his family and further advancing his true samurai techniques sounded quite tempting at times. His train of thought was snapped as a young girl headed over into their direction.

She was sweet and her entire frame emitted a sense of innocence. It was quite pleasant to see the energy and pure jubilation feeling her entire being. Zwei folded his arms across his chest, coming to a halt as he watched Chiba and the young girl interact with one another. "Oh?" Zwei muttered quietly to himself as Chiba withdrew the doll; he had learned a little about this technique during his academy days, but this was certainly the first time he had seen it in action. He watched as Chiba moved his digits meticulously and the doll reacted to it marvelously. At this point an enormous smile shaped his lips, finding the little girl's gestures adorable.

When it was all done and the little girl fled with the doll in hand he watched as she reunited with her parents, obviously excited with her new found item. Zwei unfolded his arms and motioned his hands within his pockets and awaited Chiba to gather himself. "That's really amazing -- I was just about to ask you what your specialty was and it seems I was fortunate enough to see a demonstration instead." He paused for a moment just as they begun walking again: "And to answer your question - I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. It's an honor to be chosen and I love it here in Iwa so I wouldn't trade it for the world."

After several minutes of ascending the hill they arrived in the busier part of the village -- the commotion was intense, it was very hard for anyone to hear themselves let alone converse with one another: "Hey Chiba, where are you staying? Do you know?" He yelled out, leaning towards Chiba so that he could hear him amongst the commotion.

Chiba looked at Zwei questioningly "specialty? well, that's one of the three skills i learned at Academy. i hadn't thought of it as a specialty. it is good to hear to say that you like it here."
the quiet as they climbed the moutnainside grew louder as the came into the crowd. Zwei shoudted something at him, but he hadn't heard over the commotion. pointing at his ear, Chiba shakes his head to indicate the problem at hand, then points to a low rooftop nearby, and easily makes the leap.