It was a beautifull day and Hira was already used to the konoha weather, as it was much warmer than it was back home. He was loving it, as he walked down the streets of konoha. He came across what seemed to be a type of park near the east side of the village, there were a few other people around but not enough for the park to be considered popular. hira walked up to a tree away from all the people, he was going to train on this tree and he didnt want to accidentally harm someone. He unsheathed both of his swords and began slashing and stabbing the tree. Stopping to take a breathe every other slash and stab. He wanted to be as ready as he possibly could for the chunin exams as the time before their start was passing by much more quickly then he had time to keep track of.

The hell was that noise? Takao had picked one of the least popular parks in the village to take a nap in, away from the normal hustle and bustle of the unusually active village. But now he'd been awakened by some ungodly thumping sound that came from the base of the tree. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and peeked through the rustling leaves. Upon seeing the other genin slashing at the tree, he suppressed the annoyed vein that popped up on his forehead. He was woken up for some second-hand sword practice?

Takao placed his feet on the branch and channeled just a bit of chakra into the soles of his feet, allowing for him to stick to the thick branch upside down. "Oi!" he called out, arms crossed as he looked down at Hiragana.

"Do you normally muck up Konohagakure's parks for some petty sword practice?"

Hira did a backflip and jabbed both swords into the tree with good speed when he heard the voice of someone coming from above him. When he let go of his swords they remained still inside the tree, and when he looked up he saw a boy standing upside down from a branch, because of this Hira guess he was a ninja. "Petty sword practice? I consider it valuable training, and you are?" Hira said.

He wondered if the boy knew he was from a different village. He most likely did because of the fact that Hira had on his kiriagakure headband. The headband he had on was acually new, his old one covered in scratches and dents.

Takao couldn't hold in the chuckle that resulted from the other's response. That's what he considered valuable training? What skill was there to gain against an opponent who couldn't fight back? "Nothing valuable about gaining skill from an inanimate object." he said in response. It was said slightly under his breath, as if spoken alongside a sigh. Takao reached up and grabbed the branch with his hand, then released the chakra from his feet and dropped down beside Hiragana feet first.

He extended his hand out towards Hiragana after landing at his side fairly softly and quietly. "Takao Kimura. My guess is that you're here for the exams, right? Judging from the headband anyways." he asked.

As the boy landed on the ground next to him, he rose his hand up and shook it firmly. "Names Hiragana kisame, please call me Hira, and i train against and inanimate object because if i strain my body trying to increase my swinging speed and swinging power then when i get into a real fight ill have increased my skills a little plus im trying to get in any training i can before the exams. What about you? you in the exams?" It seems like they do things a little bit differently here then they do back home, he wondered what sort of fellow this takao was.

Takao pulled his hand back from the handshake after the appropriate ratio of hand to shake had occurred. "Yeah, I'm in the exams as well. Can't say I have the same mindset as you though, I've been loafin' around the village since I finished my training a few days ago. No need to stress myself or my body out, right?" he said while stretching out his arms and back.

"Hm.. So, are there a lot of you here for the exams from Kirigakure?" he said, giving Hiragana a quick look over. It was pretty obvious he used swords, and most shinobi from Kirigakure used water jutsu, so he had that much figured out. "A swordsman from the mist, huh? I guess they play to the stereotype pretty well." he thought, still looking to Hiragana for the answer to his question.

Hira tilted his head at the boys question. Was there a lot of them from kiri, as far as he knew him, otto and sero were the first kiri ninja to arrive. Had someone beat them here? That didnt really matter though it doesnt matter who got here first. He answered subtly "As far as i know just me and my squad mates are the only kiri members here at this point unless someone beat us here." He had heard of very strong clans residing in konoha such as the Hyuga and the legendary uchiha, he wondered what kind of special abilities this shinobi weilded. He probablyhad fire nature chakra, because from what he had heard most konoha ninja have a knack for fire style jutsu, if that was ture then he had the advantage with his water style jutsu.. He went on to say "What about you guys? Since the exams are here i expect a lot of konoha ninja to be participating."

"You and your squad mates, huh?" Takao said, though the statement was more directed towards himself for confirmation than to Hiragana. "I don't think any of my squad is entering. But, then again, one of my teammates is a Chuunin already. I'll probably be going in alone, assuming that there is going to be a squad based test." he said with a rather exaggerated shrug of his shoulders following right after. Takao wasn't worried about the exams, after all.

"I don't know how many Konohagakure ninja are in the exams. They haven't released any kind of information on the exams either, but I could imagine a lot are signing up now that they don't have to travel to Kirigakure."

Hira shrugged he did hear that the exams were originally planned on being held in his home village. "Yea travelling does take some time and its easier when you dont have to travel. It allows you to train a little more." He looked up at the sky, he kinda worried about the exams. Not for his own sake but the sake of his squad mates. He looked over at takao then removed the water bottle he carried around his weist and took a few sips before returning it to his weist. "How is the hokage? I have yet to meet him but iv heard of him?"

"You're tellin' me. I managed to get a bit of training in during the time we were meant to be traveling to Kirigakure. Who knows if it'll make a difference. At least you guys got to enjoy the sights on the way here." Takao said as he released a sigh. Honestly, Takao was much more interested in traveling to Kirigakure than taking the exams. He was just that kind of guy, but his excitement had been redirected towards the exams with the need for travel out of the way.

"Depends on what you mean on how the Hokage is. If you mean his current state of health, he's fine. Healthy enough to kick my ass last I checked. If you mean how he acts, he's an alright guy. He's got a knack for showing off, that's for sure." Takao said. The memories of that Water Dragon were... less than pleasantly reminiscent. Despite being on a squad that was directed by the Hokage, Takao never really got the chance to talk to him. Kenta was the Hokage though, he was likely to be up to his ears in much more important things.

Hira just nodded in agreement as Takao spoke, this guy seemed alright to Hira and getting on Hira's good side was not an easy task during the first meeting. He just kinda sighed along with him before saying "I wonder what kind of people are going to be in the exams ya know? I was real excited at first but as the exams draw closer my excitment just kinda, left i guess. I still plan on winning and all im just not as pumped up i guess." Hira had too much on his mind to be pumped right now because of the last thing he saw before he left for the exams, the death of his mizukage Hikou. Him and Hikou were close and Hira had never really been close to anyone before Hikou so that was a big loss to him.

What kind of people were going to be in the exams, huh..? The thought had crossed Takao's mind before, which was only natural. He had competition in the exams, it really only made sense to wonder what kind of people he would be faced. Every now and again a scenario would play over in his head, imagining what kind of battles he would experience in the exams and how they would happen. It was merely a habit of Takao's that kept him up at night more often than actually helping him.

"Who knows what kinda people signed up for the exams. I know that there are participants from all over the countries, so we're bound to run into some interesting characters sooner or later."
He looked over at Hiragana and nodded slightly, as if saying that he understood. "I've heard about what happened to the Mizukage. I can imagine that it's been a pretty big blow to your enthusiasm." he said.

Hira nodded in agreement to all of Takao's words, he just let out a sigh when the mizukage was brought up. hira wasnt one to be depressed a lot but Hikou's death hit him in the gut hader than anything else ever had. "Yea, but even though his death might put a damper on my spirits, what he taught me while he was alive far outweighs that. What Hira said was true and he never doubted his own words when it came to that. He looked up towards the sky and asked takao "I wonder what the life after life is like..."

[Gonna leave the topic for the exams topics.]

"The afterlife? Hm." Takao said as he looked up at the sky as well. "I guess that's something most of us shinobi think about. Our line of work isn't exactly the safest of what's available after all." He chuckled. Death wasn't something Takao thought about often.

"I don't worry about that kind of stuff too often though. After all, I don't plan on dying any time soon. At any rate though, I'll be going now. Now that I'm awake, I've got a few errands to run. Enjoy the village." Without saying much of anything else, Takao waved to Hiragana as he turned and began to walk away.

"See you in the exams!" he shouted out from a distance before disappearing into the crowds.

[Exit]