"Because I have an unhealthy obsession with strawberries." Aethir remembered the response he gave to the woman behind the fruit stand, who simply smiled as the boy took his bag of strawberries, going on his way. He really did have a peculiar obsession with strawberries, but he wasn't worried one bit. He would always ask 'What, am I going to turn into a strawberry if I keep this up? Maybe that won't be so bad.' whenever he questions himself if he's overindulging or not.

As he pops another into his mouth, chewing the fruit oh so casually, he looked around himself. He noticed that the residents of Konoha were up and about, doing whatever it is Konoha residents did in the afternoon. "Actually, what do these people do in their spare time? They're just...here." he stared, tossing the half-chewed strawberry around in his mouth, his mouth creating suckling sounds every now and then. He was almost tempted to shout at someone, going 'Excuse me! Yes! What do you do?' but he resisted the urge...

The boy continued to sit where he was, on the side of the streets of Konoha, back pressed on a random building. Chewing the strawberry to the point where it had become void of any taste, he finally swallowed the fruit, twirling the plastic bag that contained the rest of them open to reach for another. "Speaking of something to do, I really need...er...something to do." he said as he fished for another strawberry, pausing to think if the way he said what he said was correct. Shrugging it off, he pushed the next strawberry into his mouth, chewing as he stared at the ground, admiring the calm quiet around him. He suddenly let out a quiet, tensed 'hum' almost as the taste of the new strawberry in his mouth made itself apparent. "I love strawberries..." he sighed, having a lazy look on his face.

WC: 327

Munching away, his tongue almost lost in an eternal cycle of flavors being introduced to it, the boy couldn't help but imagine the red strawberry rolling, flopping, flipping, and oozing upon his tongue. "Huh, maybe I really do have a problem..." he sighed, opening his eyes to see someone crouched, staring at him. He stared at her, as if waiting for her to say something...but it occurred to him that she had already asked him a question. "Ah, the strawberries? Uh..." Aethir smiled, laughing nervously while scratching the side of his head, the chewing of the strawberry coming to a halt. He swallowed it, soon clearing his throat. "W-Well to me, they are. I know a lot of people who absolutely detest strawberries, saying they're gross, and I know some people are in love with strawberries, saying they're great! But for me..." Aethir trailed off, thinking for a moment. "To me, it's like thousands of supernovas of flavor going off per taste bud on my tongue. And since there are many taste buds, there are MANY many supernovas of flavors when I consume a strawberry." He laughed, thinking that was probably the best way to describe his relationship with strawberries.

Aethir didn't want to be selfish, looking at the girl for a moment before looking back down at his collection of strawberries. He open the bag, moving it closer to the girl as he gave her a warm smile. "Would you like to try one...er..." he paused, realizing that he had no clue who this person was. Eventually, he went with the general term for females. "Ma'am~?" he smiled, staring at her while awaiting a response. Though, while he did, Aethir began to think about the way he just described how him and a strawberry were to her. 'Does she...' he glanced to the left at the sudden existence of a question, quickly looking back at the girl while maintaining a smile, 'Does she even know what a supernova is...?' he mentally questioned himself, while jiggling the bag to the girl playfully.

WC: 678

Almost ready to explode with excitement, Aethir's smile turned into a huge grin as he began to bounce up and down where he sat. As he watched the girl take the strawberry and eat it, he waited for her to have a somewhat similar reaction. Alas, he didn't see it happened, just smiling away at the smiling girl. 'Ah well...' he shrugged, take a deep breath. He lowered the bag, letting it rest on his lap as he was about to reach for another strawberry, but then heard her ask a question regarding him being homeless.

"I guess you can say that, yes." he nodded to the girl, looking around the streets of Konoha. "A home is a place where you feel comfortable, yes?" he turned to the girl with the same smile maintained on his face. "Well, to tell you the truth, I feel no comfort in Konoha. Then again, I haven't felt comfort in Kumo either... Perhaps that too is not a home for me." Aethir nearly unconsciously ate a strawberry as he was looking up to the blue sky. 'Then again, I've only been to three of five towns.'

He lowered his head, staring at the girl with a the SAME smile he had for sometime now. "As for what I'm doing here? Well..." the boy scratched the side of his head, staring down at the strawberries. "I was in the mood for strawberries you see. And well, I wanted to eat them while enjoying the weather." He nodded to himself, chuckling as he took note of the low volume level around him. "It's the best way to enjoy something you love I think. Savor every moment of it! Because before you know it- ...Er..." Aethir looked down at the nearly empty bag of strawberries. "...Before you know it, you'll be out of strawberries..."

He sighed loudly, his back sliding against the wall as he slid left onto his side. He then propped his head with his knuckle, his elbow resting on the ground. "Ah well... Tis be the life of having something you enjoy. Something you enjoy." he repeated the last part, almost in a melodic manner as he started to think to himself about this and that... Eventually, he looked back up to the girl with a curious frown. "What about you...er....Ma'am? What were you off to do?" he nodded with his question, eyes looking down Konoha's streets as he listened for the girl's answer. It never occurred to him that he may have been a little chatty for someone he just met...

WC: 1118

Aethir looked from the girl to his bag, soon reaching for another strawberry. He brought his hand near his mouth before the girl, apparently named 'Mikage', declared that she was bored. Perhaps from his explanation, or perhaps from her day in general... Aethir didn't know. What concerned him the most at this moment was the fact that he had let go of his plump fruit. He let out a small cry and a whimper as he caught the thing swiftly. With a happy sigh, Aethir heard Mikage's question, finding it odd how she's referring to him and her in third person. However, the odd feeling changed to laughter as he heard 'Mr.Homeless Man'.

"Aethir. Aethir is my name, Ma'am. Though, I guess Mr.Homeless Man works too!" he laughed after stating this, shaking his head afterwards. "It has some truth after all." As he said this, Aethir laid his head on the building, looking back up at the sky. He thought about the towns he's gone to so far. Konoha, Kiri, and Kumo. Though he wandered to Kirigakure first to attend their academy, he couldn't say he felt exactly comfortable enough to call it a home. In fact, the only place he could call home went up in flames some time ago. He wasn't sure how, but he found himself looking for an to his suddenly appearing question. 'What makes a place comfortable enough to become a home?' He then started to think of the word 'Man'.  'Ah, that's right... My 18th birthday passed... The time where young boys take their first step into adulthood. Now what did I do for it again...?' he remained still for a moment as if he had been paralyzed, his breathing barely noticeable.

Finally moving again, he took a deep breath, thinking about this for some time, but then nearly choked on the air as he forgot to answer her question. "Ah, but sure, I'll go! Bonus if we find strawberries." he tossed his head to the left and right before chuckling lightly, "I have nothing else to do- ...Er...Mi...ka...ge?" He took a gamble, stating what he thought was the name of the girl, but decided to change that gamble into a question afterwards. "That's your name, isn't it? If not, I'm sorry..." he smiled not because of anything humorous, but rather he was incredibly nervous, not wanting to be wrong. And almost as if to remedy his nervousness, he popped the same strawberry he caught earlier into his mouth,  chewing happily and quickly like a greedy little hamster. "Blissful..." he sighed, looking at a random spot on the ground as he savored the flavor.

WC: 1575

Aethir...felt a little awkward being stared at by the one called Mikage. 'Should I...say something else...? Um...' Aethir gulped silently, looking around with his eyes, until looking back at Mikage with a sheepish smile. With a giggle, she finally spoke. "E-Eh...Well...I'm a little dumb, so it's not obvious~..." he laughed nervously, while gently placing a hand over his face. The way she spoke made her seem a bit...upset that Aethir didn't notice. He had to admit, it was a little...weird to admit to someone he just met that he was dumb. But he soon shrugged it off mentally, looking at the girl. "But I'm glad I got it right." he nodded, then paused for a moment, getting such a strange idea. He shrugged the idea off for later, paying attention to Mikage as she spoke of strawberries. "A-Ah!..." he suddenly looked down at his strawberry bag. "Aethir's strawberries are running low..." It was here that he noticed...He was talking in third person as well, the idea from earlier coming back without his consent. He was originally going to talk in third person for fun, but now...Now it's starting to feel a bit natural around Mikage... Aethir looked up to notice Mikage already prancing off, the ronin quickly moving over to her, wanting to stay together while they shopped.

Aethir willingly followed the little girl with a smile, humming a tune while devouring his last strawberry. With the last of the fruit gone, he crumbled up the plastic bag, placing the plastic ball into his jacket's pocket. That humming of his soon came to an end as got physically tired from it. '...Little fugue never gets old...' he shrugged to himself as he commented on his humming, eventually noticing Mikage staring at one of the hats in a shop. 'Eh? ...Hmm...Either she likes the color red, or-' Mikage's question had interrupted his train of thought. "Eh? ...A Kage? Me? ..." he slowly turned his body away from the girl, pondering. "Well, I did tell my brothers I would be off to be Mizukage one day...but...plans changed. Dreams changed." he nodded, finishing the rest of that thought in his head. 'And apparently your identity. Mmm...' He then yawned, placing a hand over his mouth as he did so. "I never gave it much thought since I was sixteen. Two years without thinking of being a Kage. I don't know... Maybe..." A thought then caused him to chuckle, Aethir deciding to share it with the girl. "If I do become a Kage, it'll be in a place where it's not so hot! Kirigakure might do. I'll just import strawberries from the other nations to Kiri...Yes..." The chuckle turned into a laugh as he thought of himself dressed as the Mizukage, enjoying some strawberries.

The laughter soon ended as he moved on to another thought. 'Though...I've never seen any of the kages in person... Just their fancy hat and outfit...' He didn't realize it, but Aethir was staring at the Kage hat with a frown. "I'd have to pick a village to call home though, Mikage. I don't think they'd let a homeless man like me be a kage. How about you?" he turned his head over to Mikage with a smile, "Would you ever want to be a kage Mikage?" It was here that Aethir was struck with a terrible idea for a joke... "I mean you can't spell Mikage without kage, so why not have Mikage be a kage so that Mikage's name can stand for Kage along with Mikage's name that is Mikage, hm Mikage? Hmm~?" Aethir smiled wider, overusing her name and 'kage' on purpose in an attempt for humor. This may have been forced, and possibly viewed as not funny at all, but at least it was enough to get himself to laugh. Even if it was a small chuckle caused by his own terrible joke, he needed to laugh after thinking about his brothers and what not...

"Anyhow, Mikage," the man nodded to the little girl, "I think I'm going to get going for now." With a single wave, he began walking down the streets of Konoha, humming. The humming stopped as he decided to say farewell to the girl. "See you around, I suppose!" he waved to her, his humming resuming. As he continued, he stopped to look inside one of the stores, seeing a hokage action figure. 'I really shouldn't...' he bit his bottom lip, groaning. 'But look at that...hair...' The ronin couldn't resist, buying the action figure from the store. He then continued on his way home, playing with the figure. He made silly noises such a 'kablow' and 'kaching', flexing the hokage's arms as he did. "I wonder, does this cape deta- Oh my god, it detaches~! Oh, we're gonna play 'what looks good on the hokage' tonight..." He began to chuckle, it soon turning from a cheerful sounding laugh to a wicked cackle. "Oh yes, we are..."

He kept on down the path, turning into his home, still playing with the doll. "Oh man, this is going to be good... Let us begin!" He smiled, ripping off the figure's cape, clothes, and ...hair too. "Oh god..." he slowly smiled. "Oh god, I can make a mini-me. This is so cool. THIS IS SO COOL...!" he began to use different pieces that had come with the action figure, making different mini versions of the people he had met.

Word Count: 2521