Hideki arrived at the Market District of Konoha. It was a clear, sunny day today, approximately noon when he arrived. There he would be walking down the crowded streets and pass the various stores and stalls, not effected by the allure they emit with the large variety of goods and wares they harbor. He felt slightly nervous as he continued down the street, as he was truthfully never one to be within such a crowded area like this, though he was running low on certain food items, such food items which would be easier to just buy instead of heading out into the wilderness to find.

Upon occasion he would bump into a random stranger. Man or woman it mattered little to him, as they all had the same reaction. The usual "watch it" or "are you blind" or even a subtle threat was pretty commonplace in areas such as these, though not because they are more corrupt than other places or that those shopping within are in bad moods, but instead because it was a rude gesture to just shove someone and not say anything regarding it, but that was exactly the kind of person Hideki was when in large crowds.

He received weird looks as he would continue on down the street, nearing his destination. The reasoning behind this being the fact that he had his gray hood up over his raven-colored hair, blocking the radiant natural light before it can reach his deep azure eyes. Every step he took would be given a few deep breaths in response, and every meter covered meant he was nearing his destination, which finally meant that he can escape this dreadful, accursed crowd and enter a place more secluded to his liking.

"Finally..."

He would say quietly with a sigh of relief as he would enter the fruit store. The fruit store, unlike most other stores at this time of day, was rather empty, which was exactly what Hideki liked. Nice, quiet seclusion, along with the simple fact that this place had basically everything that was on his list of things to get, which implemented an added bonus to the young Genin that wished to quickly escape the large crowds and be in a more deserted area as quickly as possible. He would look over the different kinds of fruits which this store had while the owner remained behind her register, offering a friendly, closed eye smile to the customers as they entered.

Hideki would continue looking over the wares as he calmed himself, examining the pears, apples, mangoes, oranges, cherries, and other such fruits, though his eyes finally rested on one thing. Just one thing that looked rather good at the current moment.

"These strawberries look tempting.."

WC: 458

Aethir hummed happily, skipping from rooftop to rooftop, the warm summer winds blowing on his body as he did this. He finally stopped on the corner of the roof belonging to an antique shop of some sort, Aethir yawning as he rubbed his stomach carefully. "Bored...Starving...And low on strawberries..." he sighed. He peered over the rooftop to the crowd below, Aethir carefully scanning for his favorite fruit shop. As usual, they were not getting any traffic, the ant like people 'crawling' everywhere but the shop. Aethir shrugged and smiled. "It's to be expected..." he sighed, hopping across a few rooftops, eventually ending up on the fruit shop's...and soon jumping down near the entrance. As Aethir entered the fruit shop, his eyes scanned from left to right, eyeing...no one really. After getting a large plastic back, he made his way to his usual spot, the strawberry section. However standing there, Aethir eyed a boy who was eyeing his strawberries. 'No...' he gave a quick glare before speed walking over. He didn't say anything to the boy as he lifted the WHOLE strawberry display's tray, dumping the fruit into his bag. "Ah...Aaaaaand.....six." he nodded, leaving exactly six strawberries in the tray. "Six is what I leave you with sir! Good day~" he nodded, swinging the strawberry bag over his shoulder and making his way to the checkout counter. Aethir would normally feel bad for doing such a thing, but ...Come...It was strawberries...He NEEDED them... I mean if we REALLY prioritized people's needs for strawberries here, Aethir was probably illegally insane, the strawberries keeping him in check. This boy probably wanted to...I don't know...use strawberries to ...play tag with. Aethir didn't know and proceeded to onward to pay for the heavenly fruit~

Word Count: 306

Hideki continued looking at the strawberries, considering buying a few before he would begin going down the list of things. Sure, they tasted rather sour, like a mixture between sour and sweet that is imperfectly blended together, creating a weird taste that his taste buds force him to taste, but he liked them that way. Imperfection was interesting, neat, and commonplace while perfection, even opinionated perfection, was a mere impossibility that one shouldn't even try to achieve, as they would always fail.

Suddenly though, he would notice out of the corner of his eye someone speed walk over to him, obviously content on getting to some kind of fruit nearby Hideki, or perhaps he's another crazy long lost family member like Toshiko? Whoever he was, he was nearing Hideki, and quickly. Suddenly though, the entire, yes, the ENTIRE strawberry display tray would be lifted up from it's place, and the fruit within was dumped into this stranger's bag, prompting him to just randomly say "Ah...Aaaaaand.....six." before nodding and leaving six strawberries within the tray, placing the display tray back into its place.

"Six is what I leave you with sir! Good day~" The stranger would almost happily say as he turned around, swinging the bag chock full of strawberries over his shoulder, walking away in the direction of what Hideki would assume is the checkout counter. Hideki would simply stand there, a pissed off look plastering his face. This person rudely came out of the blue... and did this without even mentioning why at all, and only left six strawberries remaining for those that want some? Hideki couldn't really stand such behavior when it's unexplained, and he would make that known in what he would do in response.

Picking up the six strawberries in his right hand, Hideki would raise his hand from the display tray, rearing it backwards and backwards, until, suddenly, he would reel it forwards, letting go of the strawberries and watching them fly right towards the stranger's back.

"Next time when you're being rude you might want to explain yourself, jerk!"

He would burst out, though suddenly he would cover his mouth as he realized he had lost his temper over some strawberries.. But it wasn't his fault he just wanted a small treat on one of the few days where he actually comes out and into the market area.

WC 405
TWC 863

Aethir continued to walk to the counter, hearing a sudden 'fwoosh' of clothing, Aethir quickly turning as his eyes locked on to the six oncoming strawberries. "For such a trial must be answered..." Aethir spoke, quickly biting down on one...then two strawberries. "...endured and tested...!!" he continued, leaning to a side to bite the third strawberry. He then swung the bag full of strawberries to knock a strawberry into the air. "Never to ignore such a delicacy...!!" he twirled, biting two more strawberries before gulping loudly. "For ze delicacy will then ignore you...Wait what? Whoa... I should remember that..." Aethir suddenly looked up to bite the final strawberry, remembering the final strawberry in midair, holding it between his teeth as he slowly looked to the boy with a calm look. With a light groan, the man slowly walked closer to the boy. The ronin would then sling his arm around the boy with incredible speed, looking the boy in the eye as he devoured the final strawberry. "Mysterious villager," Aethir spoke, eyeing the boy with a calm...yet caring look, "I'm curious... Do you like strawberries? How do you feel about them? I'm willing to give you half of this bag you see, depending on your answer." Aethir glanced at the checkout counter, smiling back to the boy. "Who am I to deny a fellow strawberry fan? Hmm? I don't know... Thus, since I know who I am, Aethir, I know that denying a fan of strawberries is not something I should do. See?" the ronin nodded, eyeing the boy for a longer amount of time. He didn't pay attention to how awkward this may have been for the boy. "You see...I'm a hardcore fan of strawberries... They mean a LOT to me... a lot... like... the well-being of Konoha a lot. Like, if I don't have a strawberry in a matter of days, the world...is GONE a lot. So then. Fan of strawberries too? Or rather, what's your favorite fruit? Hmm...?" he reformed his question, staring into the boys eyes.

Word Count: 658

Hideki's jaw would drop in amazement as the stranger would suddenly turn around, speaking about a trial having to be answered while biting down upon two of the incoming strawberries, then continuing on with his statement by speaking about said trial being endured and tested while he leaned to the side, biting down upon a third strawberry while swinging his bag around, knocking another strawberry out of the air while saying something about never ignoring such a delicacy.

He would quickly twirl around as he devoured two more strawberries before gulping loudly and finishing the remainder of what he was saying with some kind of cheesy accent, stating that the delicacy will ignore you before going on to mumble something else. This guy... was something else. Hideki expected to have hit the guy or for him to avoid the berries completely, but not to skillfully devour all of them as they came right for him. He also expected the stranger to be angry or highly annoyed with Hideki, usually ending up with a fight between the two, yet instead he appears to be perfect calm about this, and it was just confusing as to why.

Suddenly though, with a light groan, the stranger would then move towards Hideki, quickly slinging his arm around the Genin's shoulder faster than he can react and staring into his eyes. Hideki himself would respond by staring back into the stranger's eyes, not wishing to show possible intimidation by the sudden even that took place before him, and gave him a calm and collected look in response.

The stranger called Hideki a "mysterious villager" while eyeing him with a slightly caring look of some sort. He would explain about how he is curious, and inquired as to whether or not Hideki liked strawberries, and how he felt about them, as he is willing to give the Genin half of the bag depending on his answer. Before Hideki could respond though, the stranger would look away from him and at the counter before returning his gaze, smiling at him now as he inquired as who he is to deny a fellow strawberry fan,, though the question would be obviously rhetorical as he would suddenly answer his own question by stating that he doesn't know since he knows who he is.

Then, a name was suddenly attached to the strawberry fanatic. His name being Aethir and that he knows denying a fan of strawberries is not something he should do. He would then nod while eyeing Hideki, created a moderately awkward moment between the two before he would continue on, stating that he's a hardcore fan of strawberries as the mean a lot to him, enough that it was comparable to the well-being of Konoha. He then went on to state that if he doesn't have a strawberry in a matter of days the world is gone a lot. He would finally finished this long string of dialogue of his by asking once again if Hideki is a fan of strawberries, but then he would cancel out said question by asking Hideki what his favorite fruit was.

It was hard for the awestruck Genin to not laugh at this point, as the Aethir was a  rather funny individual, in a way, though creepy in others. He was beginning to feel shy again due to how awkward and silly this situation was, and that wasn't a good thing for Hideki, as when he becomes shy he can barely speak. He must say his peace and quickly.

"Erm... My favorite fruit is strawberries, actually. Whenever i don't have anything to do like a job or mission, i usually come here to buy some and take home with me so i can enjoy them while i relax. Though my favorite fruit is not my favorite food, it's still saying a lot since i like fruit quite a bit. I'm definitely not as big a fan as strawberries as you are.. But i'm still a fan of them. I may like strawberries a lot, but i'm a sucker for dango.. Anyways my name is Hideki, and i'm sorry for throwing those strawberries at you.. I just lost my temper."

WC: 712
TWC: 1575

Aethir continued to eye the boy with his large smile, eventually smiling even wider as he heard that his favorite fruit was strawberries. He didn't cut the boy off as he continued to speak, speaking of information he...didn't even ask for. Aethir shrugged this off and recorded this information mentally, nodding to each end of a sentence. "I see..." was all he said, inhaling for a long time before exhaling. He then took his arm from around the boy, walking away slowly, soon stopping to look at the large bag of strawberries. "Well then...I'm going to buy you these strawberries. Let's see, there's probably...two-hundred and twenty four strawberries in here for you." As he continued towards the counter to pay for the hundreds of strawberries, Aethir smiled to the clerk as he turned back to the boy. He soon walked back over to him with a smile, extending the bag out to him. "Here you are, Hideki. Courtesy of Aethir." he nodded, jiggling the bag lightly, not to bruise the fruit. As he waited, a thought suddenly pelted him from left field. "I really should go somewhere else. Travel. Hideki, do you ever travel? Unless you've never left Konoha~ ...If that's the case, then never mind~" Aethir shrugged, staring at the boy for an answer. But as he stared, he noticed....No...It was impossible. This is someone completely random, yet Aethir could see...a small resemblance to one of his students. He shrugged it off, beginning to whistle a tune before stopping a few minutes. He grumbled before speaking. "I think I'm going to head off...Wander somewhere out of Konoha..." he sighed, looking at the entrance to the shop. Eventually, he turned back to Hideki with a curious look. "...Wanna come with?" he offered, the ronin tapping his fit as he was about to leave.

Word Count: 977

After Hideki finished speaking, the once grinning Aethir inhaled for what seemed like a while, exhaling afterwards. He would then take his arm off of Hideki while slowly walking away. He would stop shortly afterwards and take a look at the bag of strawberries, most likely from Hideki's point of view decide on whether or not to give the Genin some of the bag. The Genin's thoughts were confirmed as Aethir began to speak again, telling Hideki that he is going to buy him the strawberries, going on as to estimate a total of two-hundred and twenty four total for Hideki.

Hideki would open his eyes in surprise at the large amount of strawberries being given to him. Sure, he liked them a lot but he wasn't sure that over two-hundred was a necessary number to give him. forty or fifty would have been more than enough really for the young Genin. As the stranger would finish making the transaction, he would turn back around, walk back over to Hideki, and hand him the bag containing the large amount of strawberries with a smile on his face. He told Hidekit that it was courtesy of Aethir while nodding his head. Hideki would grab the bag out of Aethir's hand as he began to speak up again.

He told the young ninja that he should really go somewhere else, that he should travel. Following up on this statement he would ask the young ninja if he ever traveled, and never mind if he never left Knonha. Hideki thought about it for a bit. He knew that he never actually traveled before, though he did indeed leave the safety of the village walls before as to explore and to get away from loud civilization and into the peaceful setting that is nature, though he never truly ventured too far away, nor for very long. He would then notice that Aethir was whistling a tune and grumbling a bit before opening his mouth to speak.

He spoke about how he thinks he's going to head off and wander somewhere outside of Konoha. He would stop speaking there though as he would look back towards the entryway of the shop and then back to Hideki, shooting him a curious look as he offered the young Genin to come with him. One should never accept a ride from a suspicious individual, and this person named Aethir was stranger than most that Hideki had met before, though he was mostly sure the guy meant no harm whatsoever. Yes, nodding his head, Hideki would come to a decision.

"Sure, it sounds fun, actually.."

He would respond with a smile, waiting for them to go. It was unknown for him, for a simple trip to the market to suddenly change to him wandering outside of the village with a strawberry fanatic named Aethir.

WC: 482
TWC: 2057

Aethir smiled, leaving the fruit shop as the once busy life in the streets of Konoha had no, for a lack of better term, died. "Iiiiiiiiiiii'm~ Having a waking nightmare, I'm seeing colors in the skyyyyyy~" the man sighed loudly, looking to the left then right, eventually walking to the left, slow enough that the boy could follow with ease. The ronin continued the song as loudly as he could so that the boy could find him just in case he got lost. "Man..." he spoke, scratching his head while wandering absentmindedly through town. He would finally stopped, realizing where he was heading, turning to look at Hideki while in front of the Konoha gates. "...I don't know about you, since you're probably from here... But I'm going to head on over somewhere...To another town you see..." Aethir turned to the open gates, inhaling then exhaling. "Which one? ...Not a clue. Be seeing you, Hideki~" Aethir would continue on before stopped, turning back to the boy. "...Unless you...want to come with..." he invited him once again, smiling as he continued out of the gates of Konoha. If Hideki did choose to follow the ronin, then strawberries all around! If not...then the ronin had done his good deed for the day...Aethir continued out of the village gates, heading down the dirt trail towards somewhere...

Word Count: 1209

Hideki would follow Aethir in close pursuit, leaving the fruit shop and returning to the once busy and bustling full of life streets, though the young Genin could clearly see that they were indeed beginning to die out. He would listen to the man sing some sort of song out loud, causing some heads to turn towards them both as they continued walking, now moving to the left. Hideki adjusted his hood so it covered the majority of his face, as to keep those eyes off of the slightly embarrassed Genin and purely onto the loudly singing man walking ahead.

They would continue this, Traveling through the village almost absentmindedly, causing Hideki to wonder if this person he decided to travel with just got lost, which would be an early omen regarding what the traveling outside the village may end up being like. Soon enough though, at the point where the boy would have spoken up and asked if he was lost, Aethir appeared at the gates leading out of the village, where they both would then stop moving. Aethir himself would turn around and look at Hideki, stating that, he doesn't know about him, since he's probably from Konoha, but he's going to head on over to somewhere, to another town, specifically. Before he would continue though, the person that Hideki now knows is a Ronin turned to the opened gates, inhaling and exhaling before he would tell Hideki "be seeing you"

"Be seeing you"

What?

Hideki was suddenly about to speak up once again, about to ask Aethir why would he even invite him in the first place if he's just going to ditch him before they even traveled, though before the young Genin could, Aethir himself turned Aldine once again, subtly stating that he can come with, which made Hideki smile a little, knowing full well that he won't be left behind once again. So in response to Aethir, the young Genin would merely nod his head and run up to the Ronin, closing distance between the two before he would slow down and walk alongside him, excited to begin traveling.

THREAD CLOSED