Kameko opened her eyes just to close them again, blinking a few times as her blue eyes adjusted to the light of the sunrise coming in through her window. She preferred to start every day with meditation, allowing her to find an inner peace and focus, but this morning’s began earlier than normal, when it was still dark out. After sleeping restlessly the night before, she decided to go ahead and get up, since she could clearly use the extra dose of calm this morning. The young woman had received a letter informing her that “…You have been assigned to Team Alpha, under the leadership of Raikage Flynt...” and when the meeting would be.

The Raikage’s personal team? When Kameko had gone to the Administration Building earlier that week to fill out the necessary paperwork to become an active shinobi once more, she had accepted that she would most likely be tossed onto a mediocre squad to replace some Genin who had washed out of the militant life. She had made her peace with such a fate, reasoning that she had been out of practice for a few years and that such a situation would give her an opportunity to slowly get back in the swing of things. To be put with the Raikage himself? Whether he had made the decision himself or she had just been arbitrarily assigned by some lackey in his office, it was a great honor…. And she really wished that she had had an opportunity to pick up her new katana before the meeting. Unfortunately, the meeting was this morning, and regardless of when she woke up, she couldn’t make the weapon stores open any sooner.

Kameko rose from her cross-legged position on her bed to get ready for the day. Planning on picking up that new katana and training later, she dressed sensibly in movement-friendly clothes: an attractively fitted black jacket and charcoal pants. Bending down slightly to look in the mirror on her vanity, she tied her forehead protector on as a headband, the metal shining in her black hair. She adjusted her bangs, smiled at her reflection, and grabbed her small weapons pouch and wallet as she left her room.

After fixing and eating her breakfast, she decided that it was probably late enough for her to head to the Administration Building without arriving too early. Making her way to the building seemed to go by in a flash. It helped that she knew the way like the back of her hand, having grown up in Kumogakure. Entering the building, she made her way to the front desk. After stating her name and purpose, the secretary confirmed that there was a meeting on the books and that Kameko was right on time. She was instructed to sign-in for the sake of protocol and was then given directions to the Raikage’s office.

Kameko arrived at the office and found that the door was open. With her Current Perception passively informing her of the electrical currents around her, she knew that someone was in the office, though not necessarily who. Knocking politely on the door, she stepped into the doorway. With a bright smile, she held up a hand in greeting.

Sano's transformed state:

"And I'm tell you that it's stupid!"

"And I'm telling you to shut up you god damn buzz kill!"

Navi was at the moment screaming her head off at a four legged black, catlike creature that looked to be the size of an adult tomcat. It had black fur and yellow ring shaped patterns that laid about its body like tattoos to its skin. The ears of the creature were standing upright so it wasn't necessarily making the creature look like a cat. The creature had silver eyes and was without a collar. But on its head was a certain headgear that gave away the true identity of the creature. It had on its head, many sizes too big and to be worn by a powerful human, was the cap of the Raikage. It also would explain why Navi was screaming at the catlike being, who's fur was bristling with annoyance as it was getting more and more worked up.

"I don't get why you have to be so stupid and take this form." Navi let out a sigh and began floating around the office. She flew around the fountain and then back towards the window. It was obvious that she was trying to calm herself down as the two had been arguing about Sanosuke's new transformation for days now. He had done it at first to shake off his overly clingy ANBU entourage that would follow his very footsteps. But now the young Raikage had taken this too far and is now using this as his primary form whenever he was bored. Sanosuke smirked as he walked around the office with his paws and strode around his work place appreciating looking at his work place with a new perspective. After he finished his rounds, he leaped back up to his chair and stretched out his back. A lone meow came from his mouth as he yawned out how tired he was.

He shook his fur and looked at Navi while smirking. "Whatever you say hater. I love this form!" Sanosuke said as he looked at his paperwork lazily while in his state. Best part about this form was whenever he needed to stamp something he would just need to use his own paw to do so and he was done! If Navi didn't think that was cool then she really needed to switch places with him. Using your hand as a stamp just made filing paperwork so much fun than it was. He heard a knock on the door. It caused his ears to prick up the sound of the knocking and caused his head to tilt to one side. Who could be wanting to see him this early in the morning he wondered. Thats when he remembered that he approved for a genin to be taught under him. Her name, if he recalled was Kameko Ryuzoji. Great another Ryuzoji. Maybe she won't be as bad as the other one he had to teach. She might even show him some respect. But until then, he would have to play a prank on the new genin that was to be taught by him. Navi looked at Sanosuke as a 'don't you even think about it' look. Sanosuke was already snickering as the door opened to reveal a girl with a go get'em look in her eyes. All that came out of Sanosuke's now feline mouth was:

Meow

---

385/385 chakra. Jutsu Used:

The bright expression on the young woman’s face slowly changed to one of confusion as she took in the occupants of the room. Slowly the raised hand lowered back to her side, and uncertain, she shifted her weight to her left foot. ‘…what? Is that a cat? … a fox?’ The black and gold creature meowed at her. ‘A cat, then.’ Not that naming it did her any good. Her eyes were drawn to what appeared to be a ball of blue light flitting about the room. ‘A will-o-wisp? Or…. Genjutsu? Did I trigger some security protocol on accident? Is that what all this is?’ If it was some sort of security, it would likely not be a Genjutsu that a Genin could easily break with a little Genjutsu Dissipation jutsu. Well, maybe she could atleast figure out what she was dealing with. Making it easier to ignore what her vision was telling her by briefly closing her eyes, she focused on what her Current Perception was relaying to her. ‘No, those…creatures are really here,’ she confirmed by the electrical currents running through them both.

Having no real option but to hazard a guess, she decided that the cat must be some sort of familiar to the Raikage. Because really, what kind of cat would put up with a hat on its head, especially one as oversized as the Raikage’s was on it? And why would it have the Raikage’s hat if Flynt didn’t stick it on him himself? Some kage didn’t take all apparatuses of their station as seriously as others, but she assumed that it wouldn’t be something that he would hand out to a child to dress up their pet in. 'But then... why would Flynt be dressing up his familiar? So that people knew it carried his authority?' it was a weak argument, but... that was what she had. The will-o-wisp? Some sort of messenger for the Raikage was all that she could surmise. 'Maybe here to go and fetch him if someone came in looking for him?'

Ignoring what a bypasser might think of the situation, she straightened her posture and spoke to the room in general. “My name’s Kameko Ryuzoji, a Genin recently assigned to Team Alpha. I’m here to meet my team leader, Raikage Flynt,” the words were spoken clearly and with confidence. It was only after the announcement of who she was and her purpose that she felt a little awkward again, standing in the doorway talking to animals who may or may not be sentient. Outlandish markings generally indicated that a creature was more than a regular animal, but there was no real way of knowing for sure. Well, there was nothing really to do about it, but to wait and see if one of them responded.

Jutsu:

As the girl went on and on about herself, Sanosuke would continue to look at her while transformed with a look of curiousity in his eyes. When she finished, Sanosuke would let the awkwardness sit in for a bit before he decided to speak. This time he would let his voice project from his body but at the same time manipulate it using ventrilqiusm to make it sound as though it wasn't coming from the cat itself. "So you're to be my newest student huh? Well then, I guess you have one thing going for you: You sure are cute for someone your age." Hopefully she would be looking around the room trying to find the source of the voice in hopes of finding her sensei. When she least expects it, he would disengage the henge jutsu that had him transformed into that creature in the first place and back into his normal form.

Crossing his arms, he was now just leaning on the table of his desk acting as though there was nothing wrong at all should she wonder what had just occurred. Sanosuke did have to say one thing; this girl was certainly older than Kaekio so she must have more fundamentals than the newly appointed chuunin in the arts of the Ryuzoji clan's swordsmanship. "There is no such thing as not needing an introduction so I shall introduce myself, but first let's take a walk shall we?" Sanosuke said while adjusting his hat and smiling at his student. He took steps to approach her and guide the kunoichi out of his office with his hand on his back momentarily before letting it drop. He would close the door behind him and lead her out of the administration building.

After a few moments it became apparent that neither creature was going to respond. ‘Stupid.’ Kameko gave a quiet little snort of amusement at herself, ‘What did you really think would happen?’ Shaking her head, she turned to go find someone who could actually understand and speak back to her. She had only taken a few steps when she heard a voice coming from the office. Spinning around, she came back inside and looked around. ‘Where is that voice coming from.. an intercom? Is the Raikage watching all this on camera, or something?’ Peering up at the ceiling, she tried to find the speaker but couldn’t pinpoint the source of the sound.

Seeing a bit of movement in her peripheral vision, she looked back to the Raikage’s desk to find... the Raikage himself! Startled at his sudden appearance, the girl took half a step backwards. ‘Where did he…’ Her attention was drawn to his hat when he moved to adjust it. ‘Wasn’t that cat…? The transformation technique!’ Allowing Sanosuke to guide her out of his office, she laughed good-humoredly. “I should have known no cat would put up with wearing a hat that big! Do you play this trick on all of your students? …  Please tell me I’m not the only one to fall for that,” Kameko chatted as they left the Administration Building; the nervousness that she had had in anticipation of this meeting  had evaporated along with his Henge no Jutsu. As they began their walk, she would let Sanosuke to set their path and pace.

Well at least she had a sense of humor. Sanosuke would have thought if he did this same prank to Kaekio, the woman would have had his head by now. But Kameko was actually more laid back so it seemed. "Don't worry you're the first to have ever fallen for this trick of mine, so feel free to tell your friends." Sanosuke chuckled as he opened the door for her to walk through. As soon as she was out, he would lead her down the mountain trail that would lead into town. His stomach was growling loudly and he was sure that Kameko would hear it very soon. As he walked he began thinking about what exactly he was in the mood for. Something spicey? Something sweet? Something filling? What would satisfy is hunger he wondered. Thats when he realized that he wasn't the only person who was on this walk with him as well.

"Oh I'm sorry Kameko, where would you like to eat?" Sanosuke said and before she could say something to object, he would lift one finger to stop her plea of her not being hungry. "Just pick somewhere we can eat." The amount of seriousness he put in the last part of the sentence was a bit overwhelming and caused the Raikage to chuckle out loud to himself as he kept on walking. He placed his hands in its own sleeves as he trudged on the path ahead downwards towards the town of Kumogakure with his new student beside him. He was going to better connect with her at least since for some reason Kaekio was like a firecracker waiting to be set off anytime she sees him. Letting out a sigh to release himself from his troubles, Sanosuke looked up in the sky. Women...so damn stressful.

As they began down the mountain path that led to the rest of the village, Kameko waited for Sanosuke to say something, but he seemed preoccupied. A few moments later, she heard her sensei’s stomach growl. Her blue eyes flicked over to him and then back to looking forward again. She knew who Sanosuke was; of course, everyone who lived in Kumogakure did. However, she’d never actually spoken to him before today, and when conversationally talking about some policy the Raikage put in place or seeing him from a distance during various events; it was easy to forget that Flynt had to eat just like everybody else.

When he seemed to recall that she was there and asked where she would like to eat, she didn’t mention that she wasn’t really hungry; he obviously was and clearly wouldn’t be putting up with any protests. Besides, she wouldn’t mind getting an early lunch. Thinking for a moment, she replied, “Do you like sushi? How do you feel about Yoshida’s?” Yoshida’s was a fairly popular, local sushi restaurant owned by a single father and his three grown daughters. It was also on this side of Kumogakure, and unless he suggested somewhere else, they would arrive there in just a few minutes. She wouldn’t try to make conversation on the way unless he initiated it. If he was anything like her, his patience and interest in talking would be basically zero when he was hungry.

Just the thought of eating sushi made his mouth water. Mmmm. Tasty, very tasty fish. If it wasn't for his student that was right beside him, Sanosuke would have let himself drool with hunger. But he snapped himself out of it. Not only would the sushi bar have sushi, but also various other kinds of meat to eat. Sanosuke's eyes shined as he looked at Kameko. The thought of eating several types of meat and other variations of sushi churned something inside of him. " 'How do I feel about Yoshida's?!' " Sanosuke grabbed his student by the hand and looked into her eyes while chuckling like a madman. He was even licking his lips as though he was imaging that Kameko was a portion of meat. Very quickly, he wrapped put her on his back using his other hands to support her. "I say lets go!" Just like that, Sanosuke and his student took off like a rocket using nitrous flames along with the turbo engine. He ran down the pass of the mountain downwards to the point that a dust trail was picking up the size of a tornado. In just 5 seconds, he was at the bottom of a mountain trail that would have taken normal people hours to travel down.

He wasn't sure that Kameko was used to moving this fast so suddenly, Sanosuke just had to get something to eat. He had been at the office all day doing filling out papers. It got so bad that he was being delirious from the hunger that he was experiencing. Him transforming into the cat like creature was just his way with dealing with his hunger. He leaped from rock spire to rock spire in order to find the sushi shop that Kameko mentioned. If he last checked, it was somewhere that wasn't too far away from the administration building. When he spotted it, Sanosuke's eyes widened. "Found it!" He exclaimed and came to a skidding stop in front of the sushi bar.

"Destination arrived! Now that would be 850 ryo ma'am." Sanosuke chuckled while holding his hand out.

Suddenly, her sensei stared down at her with a crazy light in his eyes. Instinctively, Kameko started to take a step back to put some distance between her and the wild man, but he grabbed her hand and, with a combination of her slenderness and the man’s strength, it was nothing for him to pull her towards him and toss Kameko onto his back. It was a good thing that he was holding on to her, because he took off before she really realized what was going on. Quickly she wrapped her arms around Sanosuke, holding herself snug against his back. Looking over his shoulder, she watched the mountain trail fly by, and then they were airborne as he apparently decided, rather than go through the village like a normal person, he’d rather run like the hounds were after him.

As abruptly as her ride had begun, it stopped. After his theatrical slide in front of the restaurant, she dropped off onto her own two feet and had to take a couple of steps to steady herself, experiencing a brief sense of vertigo from moving so much more quickly than she was capable of on her own. When he held out his hand for payment, she pretended to consider it. “Hm. Well, I’d say that the price of my wonderful company is worth far more than 850 ryo. How about, just for today, you buy me lunch and we’ll call it even, huh, Flynt-sama?”

Acting as though Sanosuke had offered his hand to her instead of holding it out for payment, the young woman smiled charmingly at him and took his hand with her’s, leading the way into the restaurant. Decorum was pretty much out the window after taking a piggyback ride through town on the Raikage’s back, and to be honest, now that she was providing for herself, she didn’t think that she could afford to sate Sanosuke’s appetite, not with the way his stomach was still growling. When they entered the establishment, she released him and the pair were greeted by name by Hina, the youngest of the sisters; her because she had been here often with her father on business lunches, him because, well, he was the Raikage of course. “Raikage-sama, Miss Kameko; will it be just the two of you today?” she asked.

Kameko indicated that it was, and they were led to a table built for two. They were before the lunch crowd, so there was no wait, but the Yoshida’s would soon be filling up. When they were seated, the middle sister, Nanami, came by. After handing out menus, introducing herself and explaining that she’d be their server today, she asked, “While you decide what you’d like to eat, can I get you something to drink?” Kameko ordered a water, and Nanami looked to Sanosuke, “And for you?”

"Taking advantage of the most powerful man in Kumogakure. Well aren't you spunky." Sanosuke teased his student. Kameko grabbed his hand and decided to guide him inside the restaurant. Warmth rolled off her hand and crept into his skin as they entered the restaurant together. Just coming in Sanosuke was taking a good look at how the place was decorated. It looked quite authentic. Something told him that Kameko knew more things than the average customer did about this restaurant. How she walked through the restaurant, Sanosuke couldn't help but feel as though she was at home. He might be wrong, but that's what the Raikage honestly thought. Once they sat down at the table, they were asked what they wanted to drink. The kunoichi wanted a water and when the woman asked him, Sanosuke had to think. Should he go for something alcoholic or something sweet? It was pretty cold, so maybe some warm sake might do the trick. "Warm sake if you don't mind. The best bottle you have in the house." Sanosuke said simply with a smile. With his drink ordered, the most powerful man of Kumogakure no Sato, placed his hat down for him to eat. "Pour yourself a saucer while you're at it. None for the girl, she didn't pay the ride fee."

He let the woman go off with a wink of his right eye and a playful smile to let her go get the beverages. Most girls in the village found a kage that was flirtatious, attractive, and single intimidated most of the females in his village that he flirted with. Sometimes he would flirt mindlessly to get a shake out of a girl's reactions, other times he might just want some nightly company. Either way he got what he wanted. The menu looked pretty good as he tried to figure out what exactly he wanted to eat. "Hmmm, you know this restaurant is pretty nice. I'm surprised I haven't came here before." When his sake came in, he smiled at the server who had a small blush on her face as she poured him a saucer of sake. As she handed him the saucer, Sanosuke gave her a look and rose his eyebrow. It caused the woman to blush more as she poured her own saucer. "That's much better. It's good to drink with others. Now I'd like few pieces of sesame chicken, Nigiri with extra ginger, fried rice, salmon and raw shrimp. " He closed the menu and gave it to the woman whom was scribbling his order. When she took it, Sanosuke poured another saucer and waited for Kameko to order her food before speaking.

"This is so much better than being cooped up in the office. How about you tell me a little bit about yourself. After all, it's not everyday I have a beautiful, young kunoichi to train. " Sanosuke smirked as he relaxed in his chair while paying his undivided attention to his student. The Raikage took a sip from his sake again. It was pretty good, sweet while having a punch of the alcohol as the after taste. "Hopefully you won't be as troublesome and hard headed as my last student I had to train.

Kameko hadn’t really considered the idea that Sanosuke might refuse her cheeky request. Besides the well-established tradition of the superior paying for his subordinates, she was generally used to getting her way. She had grown up as the beloved only child of a very well-off couple. As she grew, her father’s associates would frequently fawn over his sweet and ‘refreshingly honest’ daughter when she would join him at company events. More recently, as she blossomed into the attractive young woman that she was today, she became accustomed to men, particularly young men, being rather generous with offering up their assistance…and their wallets.

Not surprisingly, the Raikage ordered the best bottle of liquor that the establishment had and proceeded to flagrantly flirt with Nanami. Kameko watched their exchange with amusement, but didn’t comment on her sensei’s proclivities. “This is one of my favorite places in Kumo,” she replied, conversationally. Having been here often enough, she didn’t bother to open her own menu and ordered a sushi roll containing salmon, crab, and avocado by name before handing her menu off to the server.

She smiled in response to his smirk. “I’ll try my best,” she replied honestly. “Tell you about myself? Hmm…” Buying time as she considered the suggestion, she picked up the straw that Nanami had left for her on the table. Opening it and dropping it into her water she took a sip before beginning. “Well, I’m sure you have a tidy little file on me sitting back in that stuffy office of yours, but we’ll pretend that you don’t,” She good-humoredly made the assumption, waving her hand as though flicking away the idea of his file. “Let’s see… I’m eighteen years old, born and raised in Kumo. I graduated from the Academy a few years ago but just recently began training as a Genin. I decided to take some time and work with my dad at Seika,” she explained. Seika, the company that her father was CEO and President of, was a major player in the economy of Kumogakure; they were responsible for the import and distribution of a majority of the iron that the Skyforge used to create all variety of weapons and armor. In a village where the economy is driven by its shinobi, a company that is close to monopolizing the import of necessary components to create most shinobi tools is a very influential one.

Unsure of what Sanosuke was interested in knowing, she tossed out a couple ‘fun facts’. “I hate being bothered first thing in the morning. But I love listening to the birds. Really any music is great.” Looking around at the restaurant that was beginning to swell with the lunch crowd, she admitted with a shrug, “I don't know. What would you like to know? ... Actually, why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself, first, Flynt-sama? What makes the Great Raikage tick?” she suggested, turning the question on him as she picked up her water, drinking from the straw. Kameko leaned back in her chair, mirroring Sanosuke's posture.

(So sorry about the wait. School just started, but now I have some free time.)

As Sanosuke listened carefully as Kameko spoke, he took very small notes about how she acted as a person. She seemed to be a well adjusted girl whom wasn't spoiled at all, she was trained rather well. He might have to meet her father to congratulate him on having a well trained daughter. It was certainly hard to find girls that had such discipline that she was exhibiting; so reserved yet earnest when appropriate, very rare to find these days. He had took a peak into her files but didn't think reading to intensively into them would be necessary since she would be under his tutelage until she is ready to be a contributing member of Kumogakure no Sato. Kameko's dad worked for Seika, not too shabby. The Ryuzoji clan is a very influential part of the village hidden in the clouds, it's no surprise that they would have connections linking to Kumo's best forgery.

After Kameko listed random facts about herself, Sanosuke had finished his saucer and was feeling pretty good. There was no way he was drunk but his muscles were definitely more relaxed than usual. That sake sure did its job at soothing his soul. Doing all that paperwork left him stressed and wanting nothing more than to pass out on his bed and have someone give him a nice massage. "Well I do lots of pushups and situps. I also drink a lot of juice. But when I'm not being buried with paperwork or not working out, I usually read or write." Sanosuke smelled that the food was nearly prepared and it would be out in a matter of seconds. If he listened carefully, he could hear the waitress arguing with her sister about whether or not she should give the Raikage her number or not. That amused him in the form of a chuckle. "Any goals you have for yourself?" He sounded casual but then again it was a question he wanted to be answered so that he can finally assess the girl before him.

Kameko didn’t put much thought into whether she was being assessed or not; she was generally a straight-forward person and wouldn’t edit her answers just to appear better in her sensei’s eyes. Even if it didn’t go against her own personality, they, hopefully, would be working closely together as he trained her and any bending of the truth would be found out sooner or later. In any case, wasn’t making judgments about other people inherent in human nature? For example, besides the fact that it was the first thing he decided to share about himself, she wasn’t at all surprised when he mentioned working out as a pass-time, his muscular physique certainly spoke to hours of physical training.

Her hearing not as keen as the Raikage’s, she was unaware of the discussion going on in the kitchen and put down his chuckle to being a laugh about the idea of having the free time to take on anything besides paperwork or training. “Well, really, I’d li--,” she began to answer his question before stopping mid-sentence as Nanami reappeared carrying a tray of food.

The pretty waitress announced, “Here we are!”, and began handing out the plates. When her green eyes looked at Sanosuke, her cheeks became a rosy pink, and she quickly looked away. She distractedly handed Kameko her sushi, not noticing the kunoichi’s ‘thanks’, and became very interested in the plates she was holding as she laid out Sano’s meal in front of him. “Is there anything else that I can get for you?” Nanami asked, smiling hopefully at the Raikage.

Kameko casually rubbed the side of her neck, the gesture giving her an excuse to look away from the exchange as Sanosuke replied, or didn't, to her. ‘I wonder if it’s always like this when he goes out. He certainly doesn’t seem to mind… And who can blame her?’ she thought of Nanami. His musculature wasn’t the only thing that she’d noticed about Sanosuke since she’d seen him go from a cat to a man. He was very attractive, tall, confident, good-company and the one of the most, if not the most, influential men in the village; talk about an eligible, young bachelor!

When the flirtatious waitress left, Kameko would answer his last question. “I’d say my goal is to be successful on my own merit. To reach a level where I’m of real value to Kumo,” she said, and though the words might seem a bit self-deprecating, her tone was not. It wasn’t that she didn’t see herself as being of value as a citizen, but she wanted to be known as far more than that. Success to her amounted to praise, and that wouldn’t be achieved by staying in the private sector, especially since it could always be said the nepotism had gotten her the opportunities that she had had in that area… which was entirely accurate, but that perception made it easy to ignore how well she had done, on her own merit, with those opportunities.

While she didn’t want the young ladies drooling over her as they did for Flynt, she realized that she was a bit envious of the deference given to him. Unwilling to think about inheriting that role (the previous Raikage did not survive the title, and Kameko refused to think about death), she considered the next best rank. “Who knows? Maybe some day, I’ll even be one of your Sannin.” She quirked her eyebrows at her sensei before using her chopsticks to pop a piece of soy sauce dipped sushi into her mouth.


OOC: No worries :)

The smell of food hit his nostrils like the essence of a scented candle being lit right under his nose when the Raikage caught a glimpse of the food coming into view with the same waitress he was flirting with holding them. She was trying her best not for them to clatter everywhere and succeeded graciously. Looks like she's not just a pretty face after all; well that is when it came to the kitchen. Sanosuke noticed how she dismissed Kameko's thank you and rose an eyebrow at that. Rude, but then again she was trying to work up the courage of talking to him once more. They way she battered her eyes and the impressive size on her chest was something he shouldn't undermine so easily. The tint of pink on her cheeks, the sparkles in her eyes. The waitress was had fallen head over heels for him the second he walked into the restaurant. He couldn't let the ladies down after all. He broke off his chopsticks and said a quick prayer before taking a piece of the sushi from the plate. "Mugen. That's the phrase that you'll say in order for you to spend the night at my estate tonight. Wear something that'll leave me as dumbfounded as you are now." His voice was low and tantalizing as he was using his charm to speak to her in the ways that countless of women before him fell before. After swallowing, Sanosuke winked at the woman so that she can leave and tell her sister the good news.

With the waitress handled, Sanosuke looked at Kameko as she was enjoying her food herself. Taking a few dips of the Salmon into the soy sauce and the wasabi, Sanosuke engulfed the piece in one bite. She was aspiring to be one of Kumo's sannin. Now that was something that could raise morale. Kaekio wanted his seat as her own. Although she shows promise, the young and eager kunoichi shows much to learn about patience and the art of being humble. Sanosuke smirked at that and took a sip of his sake after he took another piece of salmon followed up with a piece of nigiri. "And a sannin you'll be so long as you're willing to listen. Listen too much and you might even come up with a way to surpass me and steal my cap right from on top of my head as well! He laughed at the last part. He definitely knew that at some point he would need to think of a successor. The council of Kumogakure made him pick one in case of his early demise. It was obviously going to be Kenji, his right hand man and brother-in-arms. But a successor when he decides to retire in order to live a simpler and quieter life was something he didn't think of.

"Seeing as you're part of the Ryuzoji clan, it's safe to assume that you would consider yourself an adept swordsman?"

She couldn’t be sure if the smirk was at some other thought or her own half-joke – but actually serious statement – about becoming a Sannin, but Kameko didn’t try to read too much into Sanosuke’s expressions. It sometimes felt as though when he looked at her he was seeing someone else. ‘Is he looking for some semblance of Kaekio in me?’ she wondered as a passing thought. A couple years younger, the two girls were not particularly close, but everyone who followed the current events of shinobi in Kumogakure – which was pretty much everyone, since it played such a big role in the economy, even if they didn’t personally know a shinobi – had heard that one of the Raikage’s students had won the most recent Chuunin Exams; Kameko was certainly aware of this, the kunoichi in question being a member of the Ryuzoji clan. When he had mentioned his ‘last student’, she had purposefully avoided letting the conversation follow that train of thought. She didn’t wish her ‘cousin’ any ill-will, but she was competitive and didn’t want to highlight her own short comings. The sixteen year-old was already a Special Jounin, for goodness’ sake, while she was still a Genin at age eighteen… but hopefully not for too much longer.

“Better watch out!” she laughed, blue eyes sparkling with mischief at the idea of usurping his position. She took a drink out of her water, casually wiping her up-turned mouth with her napkin before returning it to her lap; the social nicety second nature to the young woman. “I’d say so,” she agreed with his assumption about her kenjutsu capabilities. She had more or less kept up on the training drilled into her as a child, but up until this point that training had been done with a bokken, the traditional wooden practice sword. Now that she was officially training in the martial forces of Kaminari no Kuni, she’d need to purchase a real katana; she had an idea of where she would do so, there was a reputable second-hand shop near the Skyforge that would do right by her, and she planned to go and make that purchase today.

“I also specialize in Ninjutsu. Raiton primarily.. and Suiton,” she added helpfully. She unintentionally added Suiton as a bit of an afterthought. At this point, she was just as capable of utilizing one element as the other; it was simply that she used Raiton more on a day to day basis. Actually, all the time, as she couldn’t switch off the passive Current Perception which kept her informed of the electrical currents flowing through all living creatures, all the time, within a little circle around her.  

“I actually need to do a little bit of shopping today; I figure that a simple bokken won't be of much use outside of a sparring ring." She laughed and, having finished her sushi, rose from her seat. "It was nice to meet you, Flynt-sama, and thank you for lunch.  I can't wait to begin training, and I promise to come better equipped to that meeting." Her voice showed that the eager words were quite genuine; she was looking forward to beginning her career as a kunoichi. With a smile and a little wave of her hand, the young woman turned and left the restaurant. Her next stop would be at the Skyforge to check out that second-hand shop.


Training Specialties:
Ninjutsu: C->B 2000/2000

Remaining: 1753

Training Stats:
Endurance: C->C-2 1175/1175
578
Perception: C->C-1 575/575

Remaining: 3