Manami sucked in a breath of fresh air, hands braced on her hotel room's windowsill so as not to fall right out. She was leaning out quite far so as to get a good look at the hustle and bustle of the streets below. People were mulling about in thick crowds and from what she could see a great a many of the people were tourists like herself. The giant tree outside of her window obscured the view somewhat, but she didn't mind too much. All she knew was that she was well rested, full of energy and the sun was shining (apparently a rare occurrence in Kumogakure no Sato). She smiled broadly, pulling away from the window and turning to grab her things. It was as good a day as ever to go out exploring. She felt giddy just knowing that she was in someplace other than Konoha. 

Manami darted down the inn's stairs, barely remembering to close her door behind her, and  burst through the door. People barely seemed to notice her as they chatted amongst themselves, pointing to things and sight-seeing just as she was. The red-head traipsed down unfamiliar pathways with a certain spring in her step, ponytail bobbing in time with the pace of the crowd. A warm breeze shifted in between the throngs of people and ruffled the skirt of her sundress, the white fabric billowing outwards for a moment. The masses seemed to swell and wane as she explored the streets, cooing at the strange architecture of the cloud village. It really was a sight to behold for her, having never traveled very far from the confines of Hi no Kuni before. The strangeness of the place swept her up in an almost cacophony of sights. 

The roar of voices grew to dizzying heights, and through it all rang the clear sound of a wind chime, catching the girl's attention and holding it for a second too long. "Oof." Manami felt herself being stopped abruptly by something hard. She blinked and looked up confused, finding herself face to back with the poor person she had accidentally crashed into. "Ah, sorry for that!" She sounded sheepish, and subbed the back of her head somewhat awkwardly. She hadn't meant to bump into him really, but her distractedness had gotten to her. Her eyes were suddenly drawn to the symbol printed on the man's back. She knew that symbol very well. An Uchiha?

---

In the past, there had rarely been a reason for the dark haired male to ever enter through the gates of the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Food, training, and equipment was usually the only reasons why he had ever found himself among the inhabitants and the visitors.

However, in current days it appeared that the shinobi had been finding himself within the walls of the city more frequently. He encountered people all over the Village, in the park he had met a certain Akemi Haruo. A person who was like him in more ways than one, and Atasüke was certain that if a few things in his lineage had been changed only so slightly, then they'd be the exact same. In the youth however, he didn't wish to have his past changed, despite his terrible experiences, he cherished them and he recognized them as the things that made him how he was.

It was one of those few days that the sun shone brightly through the area. They were rare enough, and when they did happen Atasüke always made sure to find himself within the confines of the Village to enjoy what exterior events there were. Upon this day there was a sort of juggling act, and he had only had time to arrive for a few minutes before his hood had slipped off of his head.

Despite that, it didn't stay like that for long, the tall Ronin's head was concealed within a moment with a quick pale hand pulling it back up and concealing his features. From his tall height, he was able to see most of the show, but with all of the interested people he was slowly beginning to lose vision and just as the first puff of dark hair got in his way, he felt an impact in his back which pushed him forwards ever so slightly.

It hadn't registered completely until he had heard the apologize sounding out from behind his back, and he turned around with a raised eyebrow to what he imagined as a female behind him. When he had turned, his conclusion had been correct, a red headed girl, and he noticed the awkward look that invaded her face.

For a moment he didn't know how to respond, usually he was in her position and most people shooed him away or he made himself scarce before anyone could really acknowledge his presence. He didn't want to be the type of person that chased a potentially kind someone away because of a mistake...

Underneath the ridge of his black hood, he smiled and pulled the back of his hood down just enough so that his facial features were visible in the bright sunlight. When he did however, he was able to see her on a clearer level. After all, it wasn't often that he came into contact with a pretty girl.

"It's okay?" He said with a faint chuckle emanating from his throat as he scratched the back of his head with his own sheepish expression.

After his awkward forgiveness, his first word was drowned out by the sound of the ever growing crowd, but he pointed a thumb at himself (after a bit of fidgeting to get it out of his cloak) and said, "Atasüke."
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The man seemed to take a moment to notice her presence but when he did he turned. Manami took a step backwards to accommodate him in the thick crowd, There wasn't very much room to move in really, so she had to be careful to avoid bumping into another person. Once he had turned Manami could see that he had covered himself up very well and the hood that he wore covered his face in shadows, rendering her completely unable to see his face. He reminded her a bit of a grim reaper in that one moment, but she carefully kept that observation inside her, not wanting to offend this random stranger she had just met in the streets. It simply wasn't polite to do things like that. He pushed the hood back a bit, and light hit his features, allowing the young Uzumaki to actually se what he looked like beneath the mystery. His features were familiar, and the girl could see a clear resemblance to those Uchiha who lived in Konoha itself. It was clear that though the family had spread across the globe - much like her own -  the Uchiha genes had managed to keep them all looking similar. 

The same fate had befallen herself, inheriting the trademark locks of the Uzumaki clan with her fiery red hair. She knew not if her facial features were also similar to those of her relatives, never having met any besides her immediate family. Perhaps she too was recognizable by her features? It wasn't as if she wore her clan symbol on her everyday clothing. Konoha's adoption of the symbol had made her sway away from the idea of doing so, as much as she loved her heritage. He seemed to be amused by her own apology, accepting it and chuckling all within the same breath. Manami smiled as her gave his name, leaving off the 'Uchiha' for what she believed to be obvious reasons. No need to give your clan name if you wore it on your back. He seemed to bare as sheepish an expression as she had mere seconds ago, and the girl held out her hand in offering, having to crane her neck a little to really look him in the eye.

"Uzumaki Manami, Atasuke-san. Nice to meet you." Given that she knew his, she found no reason not to let him know her own clan name. "Are you also here to sight-see?" She was curious. She had never spoken much with those Uchihas who lived in Konoha itself (not including her sensei), so getting to know Atasuke sounded like fun. Just getting to know people in general was something she enjoyed, being the social creature that she was. He seemed a touch shy, or maybe just introverted. If what she could gather from the use of a cloak and his 'statement phrased as a question' answer he'd given. Introverted people were nice to interact with, at least for Manami.

---

As he grew up within the Land of Fire, Atasüke had heard of fellow clans mates in the Land, but he had never actually encountered those kinsmen. Although he had taken an interest one day when he had been traveling with his father, he had been immediately shut down for unknown reasons and he had never asked again. There had always been the lingering thought that the other Uchiha had cast his own lineage out, or maybe his father had done something to earn their disrespect, but contrary to his thoughts and theories, history said otherwise.

He had learned that his Clan had become scattered throughout the world after what was safe to say was a Purge initiated by the heads of the Leaf Village. He could never guess as to what his father thought of that piece of history when he had been teaching it to him, but he figured that his father didn't care about that smudge of dishonour that was placed on the Village and their Clan. Why should he? Neither of them could make an accurate explanation for the reasoning, but they could always guess, and growing up with just the general information about your lineage was basically that.

Guessing.

While he had grown up he had known relatively few Uzumaki, actually, one if that many. But he knew enough to know that their red hair was practically the trademark of their Clan.

When she had confirmed what he had been thinking by saying her name, he nodded his head slowly as if he were confirming his own thoughts. We and you are the same in some ways. He wondered to himself. Both of their Clans had been wiped out by the Leaf Village, and Atasüke could only wonder as to why so many Clans that were key in the creation of the Village were destroyed by what they had created.

It didn't matter anymore though, that was many generations ago.

Was he here to sight see?

He didn't really know how to answer that. Long ago he had left the Land of Fire to pursue his own path in the world, to think that he was simply 'sight seeing' in all this time was odd. But seeing all of these leaf shinobi certainly made him nostalgic. Was his home worthy of a visit at the end of the Exams?

Maybe a few weeks after...

"Kind of." He answered her vaguely. Meanwhile, the crowd grew ever larger, and his half-lidded eyes suddenly seemed more aware as he grew self-conscious and uncomfortable in the surrounding people.

Having a conversation in the thick press of a crowd was certainly not ideal, and being shoved and pushed was definitely not ideal either. As the pressure of the crowd thickened, Atasüke extended a hand out for her to take as he beckoned for her to follow him, and if she chose to take it, or simply follow him without it, he would've guided her out of the heat emanating bodily mass, on the edge of one of the public parks.

"Not really sight-see, so much as traveling the world. You see, I've been in the Land of Lightning for a while." There was a faint smile on his face as his ebony gaze floated up to look into her own eyes. "I'm a Ronin, although I wasn't when I first became a genin... I guess." He wasn't entirely sure as to how to describe that brief point in his life. He had graduated from the Academy at a fairly young age and had spent most of his time as a child traveling and exploring the Land of Fire.

A moment of pause.

"Are you here to take part in the Exams?"

He awaited her to answer his question before he indicated to the park with a flicker of his gaze and hopefully was able to guide her within it's confines.

"So... Ahem," he made as if to clear his throat with an awkward smile and said, "what do you do in your free time then, Manami-Chan?"

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Atasuke seemed to take a moment to process her words, a million indiscernible emotions briefly flitting across his face. Manami gave him time to answer her question, not wanting to rush him. She was just, after all, a stranger that had bumped into him on the street and nothing more. He owed her no answers. When his answer did come it was vague enough to make Manami want to know more. She smiled as he gave his 'kind of' and pressed him no further on the issue. It took time for people to open up about things, and though he was not of her village life had a funny way of bringing people together more than once. 

He seemed to be rather uncomfortable in the thrum of the crowd, and Manami was starting to feel as much as well. She was constantly being bumped into, and her height did not a thing to help with the matter at hand. If she was not seen, people would assumed she was not there. She could imagine quite well that this was how lost children might feel in a large crowd. He beckoned her to follow him, and she grasped his hand so as not to lose him in the crowd, completely comfortable with the close contact. She wasn't one for shyness at this type of situation.

He led her to the edge of a nearby park, where the air was fresher and the chatter was much softer. She could actually hear herself think. He explained more about her situation and Manami paid rapt attention, nodding resolutely when he finished. It was no less vague than before, but at least she no had an idea of what he had failed to explain beforehand when they had still been trapped in the thick of the crowd. Perhaps he had graduated a regular genin and just left the program altogether. It wasn't an uncommon thing. 

He then directed the conversation back to her, and with her talkative personality she was more than happy to oblige him. "Oh, no. The exams aren't really my sort of thing,"  she laughed good-naturedly, "But my teammates are taking part, so I'm excited to go and cheer them on. Plus any time when I can travel is great for me. I'm a little envious of you - travelling around the world as you please. It must be nice. Maybe one day I'll do that too." She sounded a little wistful towards the end of her answer.

She followed him onward into the park, eager to continue the conversation. Despite his slight awkward nature, Atasuke seemed like a nice person. "What do I do during my spare time? Well..." That was a harder question to answer than she'd thought. "I guess I just do a lot of research. I've been trying to track my family tree for years, seeing as us Uzumaki's don't really come together. Still working on that." She grinned. "Also trying to perfect this seal I came up with, but I'm sure you don't want me to prattle on about Fuuinjutsu." She was likely to get a bit carried away in the process.

"What about you?"

---

After he had finished speaking, he had listened intently to whatever she had to say. He had asked her whether she was going to take part in the Exams, and a few moments later he had pried a little further into asking what she did in her spare time. It was a thinly veiled question into finding out what she did in her spare time, it was also a doorway for him to remember the times past when he had been at the Academy in the Leaf Village. Had she been in my class? He doubted it, he didn't recognize her, but he was certain that neither of them would recognize each other after more than a decade of being separated.

He was about to interject between her answers, but he decided to do that after she had spoken and undoubtedly answered both of his questions. Members of her squad were taking part in the exam, for a moment he wondered what kind of people her squad were, or more accurately, what kind of shinobi they were. Were they as light of heart as Manami seemed, were they what most ninja village shinobi were supposed to be? Stone cold killers without emotions? He knew the Land of Fire didn't promote such teachings, but he speculated in his journeys that silently, in the shroud of shadows as if in a twisted version of the Village, that it was the ideal personality. No questions asked, they just did.

Before her own return question, he interjected.

"Yes, travelling the world is great, it's also quite the learning experience." He said with the smallest of smiles. "Learning about new cultures, clans, techniques, is great. It even sheds light on why some countries are named as they are." Of course he spoke about how the Land of Fire was home to many katon chakra users. Quite a few actually, history showed the Sarutobi and the Uchiha off of the top of his head, but he couldn't remember any others immediately. "Everyone should travel some time, but it's dangerous." He said with an almost joking tone to his caution warning words.

"You do a lot of reading then?" He asked, finally getting to the part of when she said she did research. Usually that consisted of reading, probably studying scrolls and books he figured. "I can say the same for my own Clan." He didn't like to say the name, despite his apparent pride at projecting his ancestry on his back. Then he remembered the one part she had mentioned about fuinjutsu. Something that he wasn't the best with, but the Uzumaki's sealing techniques were legendary all throughout the world, he knew that much.

He had finally gotten to her first and final question. The others he had spoken about were just things he had thought would be polite to make short mention about. A conversation didn't work that well if only one person spoke about themselves. What about me? Did she mean for the Exams and spare time, or both?[/i] A flicker of hesitation spread across his face, but soon enough he shook his head and said, "I won't be in the exams, heh." Another temporary pause. "You need to sponsored by a village when you're like me." He of course spoke of being a ronin.

Straight to the point, but friendly at the same time. It racked his mind as he tried to figure out how to accomplish that.

"I usually just explore the Land of Lightning, at least in recent times." With the Chunin Exams prevalent, there were plenty of people to see strewn outside of the Hidden Cloud in the hamlets and Inns around the Village. "Most days I train so I can become stronger." He didn't really want to specify what he wanted to become stronger for, but he did say, "to protect the ones I care about." Again, no specification but it would no doubt be enough he thought.

"Honestly, I'm in search of an Uchiha who has unlocked the sharingan to teach me a bit of our history." He knew there were quite a few from the Leaf Village, but he didn't want to impose on Manami, to make her feel as if she should recommend someone she knew back home. Mostly because, well, it meant going back home. So he had simply decided that a taijutsu specialist to train him would be good enough until the day came for him to return home...

But then he stopped their progression through the park, just underneath a fountain with some legendary shinobi vanquishing their enemy. "Tell me about this seal you're developing." To be taught by an experienced Uzumaki sealer would be perfect if he could find one, but at this point in his life he couldn't get the hang of it, and he also had other priorities in other sectors of training.

He made sure to engage her with his glinting ebony eyes in the sunlight, with a smile on his face to urge her onto answering his questions.

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Manami laughed as he gave his little warning towards travelling. After her disastrous trip here she didn't think she'd ever be able to expect to travel safely again. "I'll definitely remember your advice for the next time I travel." She bounced a little as she walked, content just to bask in the sunlight. 

"I guess I do read a lot. Konoha's library doesn't allow genin to access much stuff, but my dad had a secret cache of Fuuinjutsu scrolls and I've been spending a lot of time reading as much as I can. A couple of them even needed to be unsealed before I could read them." It had been so intriguing to her to find that one needed to actually possess the Uzumaki Sealing Style to be able to peruse that information at their own leisure. Manami knew she had had a very good time delving into all of that information and she supposed that it could be used for less savory means if it happened to fall into the wrong hands. 

Manami caught on to the fact that Atasuke had failed to mention his clan name. It was a bit strange, considering how he very openly displayed his heritage on his back for the world to see. Manami wasn't sure why he wouldn't want to utter as much out loud. "Yeah, I guess a lot of clans are like that nowadays. Scattered to the wind." She said, a wistful tone to her voice.

She had always wanted a big happy clan to be with. Everything she knew about her family came from books. No memories, no relatives outside of her small family unit. It was sort of like floating down river. She knew not what tales her family had once told to one another, as much as she yearned to know. It had played a big part in her wanting to come to Kumo in the first place, that yearning for family. She had sort of hoped to find a fellow Uzumaki along the way.

She understood him as he explained his situation. She had heard of that particular rule as well, and found it to be slightly unfair. Why did the villages need to keep track of the ronin in such a way. It was hindering, especially if you couldn't find a village that was willing to sponsor you. And then said village would have information on you. Had Manami been in his position she would have let it be as well. 

Another vague answer was given when he talked about his 'hobbies'. She didn't push him. It would probably be futile in any case. When he finally got to what he was actually doing in Kumo itself Manami's eyes widened a bit. Should she tell him of her own sensei? It would be rude of her not to, but Tenzo may not appreciate her selling out his services as such. Then again, he only wanted to know more about his family. What harm could it do?

Before she could answer he stopped, and she with him. The fountain they had paused by was beautiful, and the sound of rushing water was nice to listen to. His question caught her off guard and she blanched, debating about whether she should just tell him now, or after she had explained the seal.

"Well it's not much more than ideas and a few failed experiments, but I'm trying to find a way to seal an incoming jutsu during battle so that it can be released again intact whenever I please. It's proving more difficult to do than I'd originally thought." She paused. "My sensei's an Uchiha," She blurted. She had no doubt that he would be surprised by her proclamation, and went to amend her words.

"He's a Sharingan user as well, and I know you're looking for someone. He came with me and my team to Kumo but I don't know where he's staying at the moment. I'm sure I could figure it out though. If you would like, I could ask for him to talk to you?" Manami was not about to deny Atasuke a chance to connect with his family. It was an opportunity she'd often wished for herself. Why not allow him to do so?

---

The way she sounded while she laughed was beautiful, that much was for certain, but he made no verbal mention of it. To do that would be weird, and it would no doubt alienate Uzumaki Manami for him, and he didn't want that. She was quite easy to talk to, and on such a boring day, he didn't want to have to go looking for someone else!

Her next words were ones that interested him quite a bit. The words that she spoke of Konoha's library broke back memories, but they were limited, he didn't remember what the Leaf Village's library looked like. Did they even have one the last time he had been there? Then she had made mention of how her father had a secret cache of Fuinjutsu scrolls, and he soon became hooked on her words. It sounded odd though. To Atasüke it sounded more like a test issued by her father to test his daughter's fuinjutsu. If it was actually as big a deal to the Uzumaki as the Fireball technique was to the Uchiha, then Atasüke could understand what her father was trying to do. "If your father really wanted to hide them from you, wouldn't you think he'd make the seals hard to open?" She hadn't really specified, and if she hadn't thought of that possibility then, it was simply another avenue for conversation.

Scattered to the wind.

If it wasn't for the cloak that he carried upon his back, the ebony haired teenager wondered if he would even remember his heritage. Was it really that important to him? He couldn't say, on some days he felt more defensive to his Clan's name, he trained and looked for other Uchiha constantly in order to teach him numerous things. Then there were the days where he was absolutely repulsed by the Clan itself, simply based off of it's history of warfare and how the Uchiha were strewn about the world. He himself also had what appeared to be the traditional want for combat that was found through the historical figures of the clan, but without an actual ground for an Uchiha Movement, there was no way there could be another war. It disappointed him some times.

He had countless ideas as to how the Uchiha would be able to take revenge upon all of those who had wronged them, all of their past rivals, enemies, even allies. In the deepest and darkest nights, he planned and plotted, but with no connections to any other Uchiha he had no plans to use. Saddening. He had begun to think of his situation in such a way, and he wondered if he'd be able to find a sympathizer to his plight in his red headed friend. He glanced to the walking bouncy house in the sun dress that was Manami and he smiled a bit as they were both consumed with their own thoughts. He doubted it, she was too nice to harbour any ill will to the Leaf Village.

He listened intently to when she spoke of the seal that she had mentioned briefly in passing earlier in their conversation. While she explained it, he watched the fountain, the water spewing from unseen faucets. Then, she said the words the words that he would never expect her to say.

My sensei's an Uchiha.

He froze.

Could it be true? Before he could even open his mouth to ask the question, she had continued speaking. She would be willing to introduce him to her sensei? If she was truly willing to do so, it'd certainly be the kindest thing that someone had ever done for him, and there was a genuine smile on his lips, and he shook his head backwards, finally allowing the complete hood to fall off of his head and to reveal Atasüke at long last to his companion.

His arms wrapped around her quickly, but delicately. His words were caught in his mouth, but he did his best to hold back any excessive emotions as he embrace her. "Thank you." A pause. "I'll forever be in your debt," he spoke as he exited his own embrace of her.

"I wish I could do the same for you," he said recalling how she had spoken when he had brought up the clans being scattered.

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